Rose Colored news highlights the progress made by activists, scientists, engineers, and everyone else who strives to make the world a better place.

After the crushing defeat of the Democrats in 2004, it was hard to have much optimism for the future of the United States, or the world. The Republicans were bent on continuing the war in Iraq, and possibly expanding it into Iran and/or Syria. The Democrats seemed to lack the spine to stand-up to them, shouting down any amongst their ranks who dared speak out. And the American voters’ embrace of “family values” didn’t bode well for the future chances of any more progressive or libertarian politicians.

However, the “netroots” movement that gathered around Howard Dean’s presidential campaign was not lost. Some people were looking to the successes of Democrats in the “libertarian” mountain-west (such as Brian Schweitzer in Montana and Dave Freudenthal in Wyoming) as the model for the future of the Democrats. Howard Dean become the DNC chairman, pushing his “50 State Strategy.” It appeared to me that there was a new liberal/libertarian fusion alliance budding, and that its strategies were starting to work and win voters over. Meanwhile, Harry Reid seemed to be whipping the remaining Dems into some sort of a cohesive opposition party, giving me some faith that the Dems were finally ready to stand-up to the Republicans.

I started Rose Colored News in 2005 partially to track the successes of this “new progressivism.” The crowning achievement of the netroots movement came in 2006, with the Democrats taking back both the Senate and the House and, of course, wins by Jim Webb and Jon Tester.

But all that work and hope lead only to disappointment. Back in charge, the Dems seem to have accomplished precious little and have taken to playing it safe now that they’re in charge (Reid has been particularly infuriating). And don’t even get me started on the 2008 primary race. For the past several months, it’s felt more appropriate to critique (which I continue to do at my other blogs Technoccult and Klintron’s Brain) than to grasp at straws of hope.

But there is hope, and there always will be. I may be done being hopeful about politics (though I do still plan to vote for Obama) - but there are more solutions out there than political solutions. Rose Colored News has never exclusively covered politics anyway. So it’s with a renewed sense of purpose that I return to this site to highlight the progress made by activists, scientists, engineers, and everyone else who strives to make the world a better place. Keep up the good work.

-Klint Finley
Portland, OR 2008