Well, he’s not a miracle worker. How many people really believed that he was?

Whether or not he is the progressive messiah many people thought he was a year ago, he sure has all the right enemies. He has brought all the negative forces in American society crawling out from under their rocks, and, given the crippled political democracy we have in this country, it’s no wonder so much of his program hasn’t gone through.

The anniversary is clouded by the news that the Democrats have lost their sixty-vote margin in the Senate. To begin, everyone take a breath. They still control the Senate with 58 votes — 59 if you count Joe Lieberman. Their only small-d democratic obligation is to have 51 to pass legislation. This may be what finally motivates someone to do something about bringing majority rule to the Senate. If they can’t figure out a way to pass legislation with this majority — starting with health care — not only will they lose control for sure in November, but they’ll deserve to. No more excuses.

But this has never been about waiting for elected officials to give us change. We have to take it. We’re going to need to be more militant — even willing to get into the streets a bit. We need confrontations that will yield compelling visuals — like all those people screaming at the town meetings last summer — and enough cell-phone cameras to record them. This is not the time to play nice. (Pickets in front of the homes of insurance executives, anyone?)

Keep in mind that we have a “structural” majority now. The resentful white Christians who have provided the center of gravity to American politics for a generation are on the way out — however much noise they can still make. The future belongs to the non-white — and the white people who don’t mind sharing the country with them — and the religiously and socially tolerant. We have to make it very clear that we are the ones to worry about now. It’s going to be hard few years, but on the other side is a better world.