Party's over: Festivities are at an end. And now, it is back to work.

The stars have stopped singing and the wall-to-wall media coverage is over.

President Barack Obama is officially president for four more years.

And while the president might believe his press -- the adoring Hollywood throngs and the Democratic leadership talking about legacies and victories -- there is still the little problem of the jobless rate, the economy and the dozens of other reasons that this country is not OK.

That means there is work to be done -- now.

No one in Washington -- Republican or Democrat -- has the luxury in basking in the glow of the inauguration or succumbing to the lure that another four years of Obama administration policies are a foregone conclusion.

And we should not either.

Now is the time to speak up, to fight for the issues we want to see as a priority over the next four years and to stand for the principles we want to see upheld.

And that also necessitates support for those who will have to do the fighting for us in Washington.

It will take courage. It will take a loud voice. It will take determination.

But then again, this is our country, isn't it?

Well, then, we should fight for its future.

Published in Editorials on January 22, 2013 10:45 AM