Exhale.........OK.

Last night there was dancing in the street in my hometown of Olympia, WA. Obama T-shirts were everywhere, and my friends and I watched the speeches in a standing-room-only packed bar. There was much screaming and hugging of strangers.

Now it's time for reality. Certainly, Obama was the major candidate who called for an end to the war in Iraq. However, he is not our savior. We are our own saviors. And we must not lose this momentum. The nation has arisen to demand change. We must work incessantly, now more than ever, to channel that historic energy and consciousness into an effective and cohesive peace movement, never forgetting that the President-elect continues to spout the rhetoric of "winning" in Afghanistan.

I believe in his core motivations. I do not think he intends to betray those who facilitated his rise to the White House. But without CONSTANT pressure from activists he will be pummeled into submission by corporate greed, militarism, and their lobbyists and money that saturate DC. We must fight for the future we believe in (non-violently, of course). And we must not stop.

So enjoy this victory. It is truly significant. And it is the first step on a long, long road.

Lets begin.