And now we must really be vigilant.
When an animal is cornered it will fight for its life. And the Republican party -- as it has been since first being highjacked by radical corporate-fascist interests -- is cornered.
One result of the health care legislation victory -- not for Democrats but for all Americans -- is that people who formerly opposed All Things Obama will come to learn that they benefit from his being leader in ways their previously obstructionist approach would never allow. They will, in fact, be reminded of an America they dreamed of, that they were told could be achieved only at the point of a gun, the shaking of a finger or the threat of damnation. But it will be an America that functions as the founders truly envisioned: through patient, open, Democratic process in which the facts are known and the virtues and vices are clearly stated.
The other result is violence.
As we saw during the presidential election, people could be whipped into frenzies by wolves in conservatively cut skirt suits and lapel pins; they could be encouraged to engage in uncivil disobedience and low-brow invective by greed-bloated media magnates who broadcast from heavily guarded booths.
And those who have tasted blood have a hard time going back to salad.
What about those who have taken "going rogue" literally and are prepared to, out of loyalty to their humiliated, defeated leadership who so casually spun the most vile of crypto-racist fantasies, carry their cause to the death?
We saw their red, quivering faces, heard their endlessly regurgitated talking points, read their misspelled signage. We blanched when they brought guns to gatherings, hurled Nazi salutes while brandishing the American flag and took cues from Fox News producers at "grass roots" rallies.
And we know the truth about the way Americans "lose." And it ain't pretty.
So now, We The Majority, We The People must be vigilant and form a phalanx around this momentous movement toward equity and sanity. Health Care legislation, even in its nascent, not wholly perfect form, is only the beginning. The possibilities for a better America, a better world, are as endless and boundless as hope itself.
And now we must really be vigilant.