If there were any difference between Democrats and Republicans, I might buy this. But there aren't and I don't.

The Democrats will use different excuses and explainations, but nothing will change in America. The only progressive new laws will be the ones that the rich and powerful either 1) can use to get rich off of, or 2) don't care about one way or the other.

And 2) will be very rare.

Who said Al Franken will be seated soon? This is the first mention I've seen of that. It would be about time, but everything I've read including here on Salon is that there are still at least two possible court challenges pending and that a resolution to the problem is not imminent. If the writer knows something different, that would have been worth more than a passing mention.

What will Democrats do with that magic bullet?

They'll do what they always do: form a circular firing squad and fire it into each other's heads. Or, to be less metaphorical, they will continue to feign utter helplessness to pass any legislation that contravenes the wishes of their corporate owners - and in particular the banking industry.

Lost civil rights will not be restored. The banking system will not be reformed. Warrantless wiretapping will continue unchecked. Government secrecy will remain absolute. The looming environmental collapse will be ignored with minor lip service. Torture will go unpunished and uninvestigated, with the possible exception of a few more low-level scapegoats.

Remember, you read it here first, folks!

This article is naive to think Democrats will vote like a block of progressives. The 60 votes will certainly help on some issues, but there are plenty of moderate democrats in the Senate (and the electorate) who disagree with many of the left wing initiatives....especially on scope. I suspect those differences will be enough to keep the far left howling throughout the Obama era. It may surprise the author and many hardcore liberals to learn many of us Democrats who voted for Obama did not do so because we hoped for a Pelosi agenda....Sorry.

Will be Americans. Let's start with Comprehensive Immigration Reform AKA Amnesty. What is the % of the US population that wants that? 20%?

I just want health care. Please please please please please!!

Specter's screwed the Democratic Party more surely than any Republican ever could have. He's created a situation where the public perception is that the Democrats can do whatever they want, but the reality of voting on the senate floor remains unchanged. The political fortunes of the country have been, and will remain, in the hands of the gang of 12-15 moderates of both parties. Democrats will not vote in lock step, not even to the degree that Republicans did during the Bush years (which was hardly sure-fire in and of itself). The result is that they'll be no more able to get things done than they would have been with 58 or 59 senators, but the perception will be that they are failing to properly capitalize on their "insurmountable" party control of the chamber.

The Democrats are just the less socially conservative half of the ruling party. They'll throw a few sops to actual liberals: a little gay rights here, a little clean energy there, etc., but regarding the fundamental rules of the game -- our plutocracy -- they will do absolutely nothing. Why? Because, as any sentient being knows, the majority of Democrats, like their non-insane Republican counterparts, are in the pockets of the business oligarchs who actually run the United States.

I look forward, with dread, to watching as Russ Feingold and Dennis Kucinich are marginalized by Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and a very calm and stately Barack Obama.

The way you depict the process is just a little, shall we say, black and white. It's not like all Dems are the same; they don't play ball in the same 'brownshirt' way the recent Republican regime did. They don't all pretend to agree on everything and vote along party lines in every instance. They embrace the range of their own opinions and those of their constituents. And they are not 'right' about everything either. This is not to say there are not deeply problematic stands taken by the Repubs in the last eight years, and that we don't need to drastically change course in some arenas.

But to posit that it is an imperative, if the Dems are 'real men and women', then they ought run the show their way and run roughshod over the Republicans is to reinforce politics as usual in a way that I know you know Obama is not inclined to do. Obama is doing his best to nudge the body politic back into the process of forging a consensus. To run the show the way it has been recently is also to invite more of the same abuses we just endured when the Republicans inevitably return to power once again.

Now, you may think that consensus is for sissies, and that politics should be conducted like war, always pressing your advantage and attacking while 'the enemy' retreats. If you have ever made decisions in a group that operates by true consensus, however, you'd find that it's darn hard work, but also, that when done right, it brings about the best decisions. Might not make sense to you until you've tried it, but it's also proven true in politics: better decisions are often made when the views of the minority must be considered.

Or put another way, absolute power breeds absolute corruption. The need to, or the choice to, include the needs of the other side is healthier all around. That's a better goal to shoot for.

Sirota is onto something here and it's high time we all admit it. The Democrats are bought and paid for by expensive lobbyists, who work for corporate America and various other masters. Why do we still hope things will "change"? There is no difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. The Dems won't allow Congress to reform health care, pass meaningful bank and/or financial regulation, or anything else that the American people want and deserve. The Democrats will fail the American people because they aren't paid by the American people. When will we learn? Everyone thinks Ralph Nadar is nuts, let's face it, he's right! The Supreme Court decision in 1973 that allowed money to be interperted as free speech was the beginning of the end of our Republic. Hey, look at it this way, we had a good run of it..Rome couldn't last forever, and neither can we.