Even with Obama at the helm...

Given than John McCain is now relying on non-Euclidean geometry to construct a scenario in which he prevails on Tuesday, I think it safe to pour to cold on water the hyper-optimism now coursing through progressive America.

Yes, Barack Obama's victory will be cause for celebration. It will be a good thing if for no other reason than his presidency will represent an unprecedented sea change, one that signals to the country and the rest of the world that the 21st century has finally arrived, seven years delayed but hopefully not too late. Regardless of Obama's real capacity to effect change, the world will be a different place on November 5, one in which racism is that much more diminished in power, and one where hope has replaced fear as the dominant political currency. And yet...

Many things will remain as they have long been. America will still be a nation in which most adults deny the reality of biological evolution, preferring instead superstition and myth. One in which close to half the nation rejects intelligence and genuine accomplishment in favor of the assumed folksy accent of an inarticulate "hockey mom." One in which the orthodoxy of unfettered capitalism and consumerism still holds sway, its abject and near-catastrophic failure this past month notwithstanding. George Monbiot has penned some sobering thoughts on the subject:

Obama has a good deal to offer America, but none of this will come to an end if he wins. Until the great failures of the US education system are reversed or religious fundamentalism withers there will be political opportunities for people, like Bush and Palin, who flaunt their ignorance.

That's how he leaves his readers on the eve of the election. The rest of his column is here. It is an important reminder that Obama's election will mark only the beginning of an enormous challenge, one that all Americans, and many others around the world, will have to embrace if we are to bring about the brave new world that still lies over the horizon.