The Roots project from FDL is another sign that the people are taking back the the country.  Yesterday, they delivered copies of Crashing the Gates to every Democrat in Congress.  You can watch the delivery on video at PoliticsTV.

Political progress is slow, until it's not.  The organizing work of the 1930s-1950s led to the Civil Rights movement of the next decade; the same can be said about the New Deal, which was based on 40 years of populist and progressive organizing.  Political change looks rapid, because opportunities open up quickly, but the actual work to make that rapid change happen is slow and filled with losses, self-doubt, and heartache.  Every successful movement has been tagged as a group of losers who are childish and angry.  Every successful movement has lost political battles; a lot of them in fact.  And every successful movement has persevered through those times, learned from them, and ultimately validated itself.

9/11 and the few years after that was a dark time.  Fake heroes like Giuliani and his minions, Bush and his minions, and Fox News and its stable of entertainers ruled discourse.  Clinton's impeachment had laid the Democrats low.  Iraq happened with no public debate, right-wing extremists took Congress in 2002 and strengthened their grip in 2004, and progressive politics were bereft of leadership, resources, and ideas.  Or so it seemed.  

Below the surface, progressive energy was simmering, and we're only starting to see a boil-over.  At the same time, the right-wing movement, which looks so healthy as it governs the country and controls the levers of power in corporate board rooms, is dying.  These two trend lines are crossing with increasing frequency; the people are on our side and not theirs anymore.

Since 1998, the progressive movement has been building its leadership structure, its tactics, and its coalition.  In that year, Moveon.org and Campaign for America's Future emerged.  Both groups worked together to save Social Security.  In 2002, we saw the birth of the progressive blogosphere out of the ruins of the Iraq War debate.  In 2003, the media reform movement came together for the first time to attempt to stop the FCC from loosening ownership restrictions. In 2004, Dean and Democracy for America emerged.  Drinking Liberally was born the same year in a bar in Hell's Kitchen.  In 2005, a generation of bloggers matured and engaged on public policy issues (including Bolton and Social Security), and in 2006, we saw the internet dominate the culture of Democratic campaigns with local blogs popping up everywhere.  These blogs are largely progressive and run by normal citizens, not traditional Democrats.  

The signs of a real movement are accelerating.  The Roots Project and PoliticsTV is now seeing video and people-powered collaborative action.  How Would a Patriot Act and Crashing the Gates are showcasing a new market for progressive ideas and an ability to publish books around the mainstream editorial filter.  IPac is leading the political charge around intellectual property issues, Freepress around media reform issues, and Moveon around every other issue.  The Progressive Legislative Action Network is creating legislation for state legislators who desperatey are looking for solutions.  The net neutrality fight scared Bourbon Democratic lobbyists like Mike McCurry and pushed them out of the structure of the party.  SEIU is making labor relevant again, with Donna Shalala finding out what it's like to be organized against by the people.  

We've also created a new generation of heros, intermixing ordinary citizens with legislators.  The highest calling is that of citizen, yada yada.  We have stars, such as Stephen Colbert, and heros, like Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer.  We have emerging political leaders, like Ned Lamont and Deval Patrick, and emerging internet leaders, like Jane Hamsher, Christy Hardin Smith, John Aravosis, Ezra Klein, Juan Melli and others that we haven't seen yet.  

I want to clear up one misconception.  This is not a bottom-up movement.  Things like this don't just happen, spontaneously.  People make them happen.  This is a movement about leadership and citizenship.  This movement is living proof that anyone, any American, can make a difference.  We have the tools, now all we need is the will.  In the next fifteen years, we're going to see a tremendously different political system.  Progressive politics will be one pole, and it will be powerful.  We'll see progressive solutions to global warming, the energy crisis, and a new counter to the global war on terror frame that is suffocating this country.  Will we win?  I think so.  But we're going to keep trying, regardless.

It all starts with you, or with each one of us.  The Roots project is about that ability of any person to be a leader.  The people are back.