Progress the GOP can’t stop

>>> as president obama 's first term comes to a close, one might look back on the landmark policies he enacted. financial reform, a health care plan, the rescue of the american auto industry , the winding down of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. one might look at one of those and sigh as in there's no way he's going to get anything done in the next four years. between rounds of the boxing match that is the fiscal curb. now content republicans have issued proclamations about the implications of presidential overreach. squander the good will now and you will pay the price later, mr. obama. which is to say squander the good will now and we will continue to do exactly the same thing we've done for the last four years? never mind the strategory. isn't part of good will playing by the rules? setting aside the hypocrisy of threating among the good will, the reality is president obama may end up overseeing one of the most progressive eras in american history . the news that the supreme court is set to take up the issue of marriage equality is inconclusive. it bodes well for an america that aims to treat its set zens equally under the law. most republicans know this, and if they don't, history is a useful guide. in 1967 , 16 states banned interracial marriage when the court legalized the union of men and women, regardless of their skin color . in 1954 , 17 states had segregated school systems when the court declared in brown versus board of education that separate was not in fact equal. and in 1973 when roe v wade was decided, abortion was legal in only four states. given the court's historic inclination to favor expansion of freedoms, even when public opinion is not on its side, it would seem plausible the justices will conform what a majority believe is right and up hold the constitutionality of marriage equality . if this is in fact the result, president obama will guide one of the last remaining civil rights battles to completion. a moment that may come to define his presidency as much as anything he has done to date. similarly on the subject of immigration, president obama has made clear that comprehensive immigration reform will happen in the next four years. stung by rue milluating losses at the polls in november, the gop understands the problems its faces among the young, the brown and the young and brown. the only question is just how long it takes the republican party to come to terms with this. if conservatives are smart they will try to find a seat at the table. less the president and the democratic party secure the votes of every single one of the 11.1 undocumented immigrants who play a foundational role in both the spirit and the the economy of this country. as well as their children and their children's children. if the grand old party is unable to quiet the most extreme and divisive members within its own ranks, then the bigoted strategy will become the party's ruination. there are enough on the right that understand this and the democratic cliff facing the party and they are the ones likely to make a deal on immigration. what remains to be seen is whether the treats as outcasts or are party's new standard. it is president obama 's first term that may strangely pale in comparison with hitz second. for republicans to get in on the game, they must acknowledge that the country has changed, and so too must they, ideally with full hearts and good will. as the president has said countless times the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. the gop has taken full advantage of this and dragged its feet on justice, but that time unless action is taken the party's time is coming to a