Don't say you weren't warned: If President-elect Barack Obama follows through with the initial direction set out by his transition team and senior advisors in key policy areas, the Democratic party will be, understandably, voted out of power within four short years. Obama has assembled a team of "pragmatists," "centrists," "managers" and "deal-makers"--so naturally progressives such as myself are going to grouse. Then again, he never actually promised to pursue any particularly progressive agenda ("change," "hope" and "fired up" notwithstanding).

During her six terms as Democratic representative for Georgia, Cynthia McKinney gained a reputation for being one of the most controversial members of Congress as she single-mindedly (and often single-handedly) pursued issues like black voter disenfranchisement, U.S. corporate pillaging in central Africa, vanished Pentagon funds, and the Bush administration's inaction in the face of warnings prior to Sept. 11. As she left the House in 2006, her farewell gesture was to introduce the first articles of impeachment against the President.