If you're a reader who thinks President Barack Obama is the reincarnation of Stalin, Hitler or Satan, there's no need to upset yourself by reading this column. But if, perhaps, you voted for Obama because you finally had enough of the Bush-Cheney posse, or if you just thought Obama was the better candidate but now you're feeling a bit discouraged, please read on.

Who is hyping the idea that Obama is a savior with magical powers or a megalomaniac who desires only adoration? Seriously, it's not the people who voted for him. It's Exxon-Mobil, sponsor of MSNBC's "First Hundred Days," Fox and other bastions of big-business America.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: We who voted for him were most impressed with the way he inspired us to try harder and think smarter. We all knew that Obama's administration would have to undo a great many wrongs from previous administrations while also attempting to set straight the economy, foreign policy, education, health care, energy and so much more.

The media, however, along with the far right, are in a frenzy over "the first 100 days" of the Obama administration. These are the same media that love to feed us 20-second sound bites instead of serious dialogue, the same media that bring us important news of a Michael Jackson sighting but don't often mention bloody coups, famines or - heaven forbid - human achievements and successes.

Is this reasonable? What will we learn in 100 days?

So far, we've learned that Team Obama has had problems vetting its members. It's not surprising that Washington insiders know how to fool the tax man, but it's disappointing that Obama's team didn't get it earlier. Bill Richardson, for example, is the focus of wave after wave of scandal in New Mexico, and this began while he was still a candidate for the nomination. Tom Daschle thinks having a lobbyist pay for his car and driver is the equivalent of being treated to a cup of coffee. Tim Geithner "forgot" to pay a big bundle of taxes.

Fair enough. But look what else is happening. The Environmental Protection Agency is taking fresh looks at policies that favor chemicals over people's health. Oil and gas leases on pristine wilderness land, hustled through at the last minute in December, have been voided. Green energy is finally getting serious attention, to the oil and coal industries' dismay.

The Food and Drug Administration is revamping its factory inspection policies (for Bush's FDA, manufacturers self-reported) and is considering new rules on medical device safety, at long last. Proposals are being developed in many agencies to enhance our ability to be confident of the products we buy.

The Justice Department has ordered federal agencies to loosen up on providing information to the public. This might not seem to be a big deal, but under Bush, agencies stopped providing a great deal of routine information that citizens simply have a right to know. And the Justice Department is producing the memos that show the extent of the dictatorship that Bush and Cheney demanded.

The president has reversed policy on embryonic stem cell research, favoring people actually living over embryos with an infinitesimal-to-zero chance of being born. The Obamas have earned much-needed goodwill from our European allies, along with a few thousand support personnel for Afghanistan - not enough, maybe, but more than we had.

I'm betting that if Congress is silly enough to pass a retroactive tax on AIG bonuses, the president will veto it. With the economy still in meltdown, it's hard not to wonder if we are all being held hostage by the big shots who collect megamillion dollar salaries and bonuses and are now having tantrums because they don't get things exactly their own way anymore. Nevertheless, Congress is wrong, not to mention cowardly, to impose retroactive taxes.

So, in the first 100 days, a great deal will have been accomplished and some failures will be on record. But above all, we will see that this administration really means to set things right.

Let's all calm down. Politics can be entertaining, but our nation is in crisis. Yes, investments are expensive and transformation is disruptive, but most of us stand to benefit from sustained new attention to human rights, justice and the health of Mother Earth. The here-and-now is not all there is.