OK Barack, Time to Hit the Ground Running

AlterNet asked dozens of writers, experts and activists on key issues to write about where the country needs to go, and the priorities for Barack Obama's early days in office. The following is the first in a series of articles we'll be running this week.

Michael Ratner, President, Center for Constitutional Rights:

It is historic. A black family in the White House that slaves built. Yes, slaves were used in the construction of the White House. When I was a child this never could have happened. In the 50's when I visited Florida, even after Brown v. Board of Education, there were separate drinking fountains and bathrooms for Blacks. When Center for Constitutional Rights was founded in the 60's there were only three elected Black officials in the Black belt; today there are thousands. So we are seeing an amazing moment in American history.

This is not to say our work is done. Obama is not a progressive. But he is certainly more liberal than Bush and McCain. He will redistribute some of the vast wealth that has gone to rich in a county that has plundered its poor since Reagan in 1981. It will not be a social democracy, but it will better than what we had. The disastrous economic crisis is pushing him in this direction, but citizenry will need to keep up the pressure.

Obama has been disappointing regarding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These must be ended and time is now; the time to revive our anti-war movement is now. We cannot await what Obama might do: he has already told us about wanting to send more troops in Afghanistan. We must push him to end the current wars and eradicate the poison of aggressive war.

Obama has promised to close Guantanamo and end torture. We must hold him to that promise. He must close secret CIA sites and off shore prisons. He must end the kangaroo courts called military commissions. He must end the massive surveillance state America has become.

Finally, he must appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the war crimes of the Bush administration: the aggressive war in Iraq, torture and warrantless wiretapping. In short he must bring America back into the world of civilized states where fundamental rights and the prohibition on aggressive war are not just slogans but guide U.S. actions.

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Dahlia Lithwick, contributing editor at Newsweek and senior editor at Slate:

Hit "control+ alt + delete" on the Rule of Law. Literally restart the whole system like its 2000 again. That means: Close Guantanamo and either try or release the remaining prisoners in real tribunals. Renounce water-boarding. Re-assert that the Geneva Conventions still matter. Do away with the Patriot Act reforms that allowed abuse ranging from "national security letters" to terrorizing librarians. Restore FISA. Stop using the "state secrets" to shield judicial scrutiny into government wrongdoing. Ditto for blanket claims of executive privilege for anyone who's ever muttered a word to the president. Stop with the cryptic and deceptive signing statements. Stop snipe hunting vote fraud.

A lot of new "law" was invented over the past eight years. But legal?

Not so much.

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John Cusack, Actor, Director (War, Inc., Grace is Gone):

The world looks to America. The planet sighs in relief. It deserves a righteous party. And now, the real work begins.

The first thing Obama should do is pray. I would hope he would start to dismantle the infrastructure of the occupation of Iraq. And make transparent the gorging on the state -- cut off these corporate interests and start reallocating money back into the United States infrastructure and people.

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Antonia Juhasz, author, The Tyranny of Oil: the World's Most Powerful Industry -- And What We Must Do To Stop It (HarperCollins Publishers, October 7, 2008).

To President Elect Obama: