Sunday, November 9, 2008

What to do next?

So Obama has won, with increased Democratic majorities in Congress and the Senate.  What's next?  Are things going to be much better now that The One is President?  Will everybody chant kumbayah and work together for the "right" things?
I don't think so.  As Obama said in his victory speech: "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep."

Here is a great article by Tim Wise:

...we can savor the moment for a while, for a few days, perhaps a week. But well before inauguration day we will need to be back on the job, in the community, in the streets, where democracy is made, demanding equity and justice in places where it hasn't been seen in decades, if ever. Because for all the talk of hope and change, there is nothing--absolutely, positively nothing--about real change that is inevitable. And hope, absent real pressure and forward motion to actualize one's dreams, is sterile and even dangerous. Hope, absent commitment is the enemy of change, capable of translating to a giving away of one's agency, to a relinquishing of the need to do more than just show up every few years and push a button or pull a lever."


This encompasses what I have read occasionally elsewhere (mostly on dailykos!) - whether we revert to "rule by politician" and trust Obama to make the right decisions, or get more involved.  After all, Obama is human like the rest of us, will make mistakes, will probably do something that we think is wrong - but it's up to us to call him on it, or support him, as we see fit.

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