Sober up, people

Political cartoonist Ted Rall offers a less-than-glittering appraisal of the state of the American polity:

…[V]ery nearly half of the American electorate voted Republican. After seven years of not finding (or looking for) Osama. After five years of horror in Iraq. After eight years of shrinking paychecks. After everything that's happened, nearly half of voters wanted more of the same.

If the Republicans had picked a better candidate, they would have won. If Obama had presented a truly distinct alternative to conservatism — socialized healthcare, say, or opposing both stupid wars rather than the least popular stupid one — he would have lost. Conservatism? Dead? Not a chance.

A change is gonna come. But this ain't it.

The election of Barack Obama is a first step towards an American future based on rationality, justice, and compassion — not an end in itself. There is still much work to be done.