As published at AlterNet

AlterNet is inviting essays on a vision of Obama's first 100 days in 100 words. They have just posted this piece from me:
A comic framed the issues precisely, “I don’t wanna be an alarmist. Lemme rephrase that. I’m an alarmist.” When Obama said he wanted to “change the mindset that took us to war,” he elevated the global conversation and created a new profile for American leadership. It’s the perfect moment. The outlaw capitalism driving the warlike mindset has just crippled itself. Simultaneously the Earth screams out it can’t tolerate the inherent destruction and waste. If Obama can model a new mindset in calm, confident and reasoned terms, the path to sustainability, no matter how radical, will emerge spontaneously, obvious and welcome.