The End Of The Last Day Of The Last Eight Years

January 19th is drawing to a close here on the East Coast and tomorrow brings a new day and quite possibly a new era for this nation. Barack Obama will become our 44th President and embark on a different course for the America that elected him...and even those that cast their vote for McCain or none of the above. It is going to be quite an adventure in the ensuing months and years, one that will not be easy, but that should be marked with progress.

That stands in complete contrast with the last eight years. Every single day was a fight to keep the country from regressing into the Gilded Age. Liberals won some of those battles, but ended up losing many more. Sure, we have the numbers in Congress now, but at one time we were destined for nothing more than obscurity.

Of course, the nation wised up to what George Bush and the Republican elite were up to. Many had been shocked and horrified by the response to Katrina, the war, the attempt on Social Security and just the President's lackadaisical smirkish behavior in general. A man that had ninety percent approval seven years ago has been reduced to a target for shoe-throwers.

By and large though, he was more of a puppet than anything. The man with at least a few of his strings continues to be disregarded, disliked and despised by even many in his own party. Cheney took executive power to the extreme and enriched himself and his brothers in the military industrial complex multiple times over with the blood of Iraqis and Americans among others. At the end of his reign as Vice-President, he has given the figurative finger to a limp-wristed Congress that refuses to try him for the many crimes he's committed. In fact, Dick is going to write a book to "settle scores" once this is all said and done just to prove that no one is willing to mess with him. What a sad, miserable excuse for a human being that he is.

Throughout this national nightmare though, there have been rays of sunshine in our long-running darkness. ThinkProgress notes 43 people or groups that have made a difference, if only in the psyche of society. From musicians to Congressmembers, Gold Star parents to Judges, many Americans have made a difference in the fight against George Bush's assault on our democracy. They should all be proud of their actions as we are grateful to them and all those that helped bring this colossal shame to an end.

Now we need our heroes and everyday folks to stand up just as tall and fight just as hard during the Obama Administration. There are forces against us that still reside in halls of Congress and office buildings of K Street. All of us need to put them in their place....and continually remind President Obama who put him in his spot in the White House.