With so much change and upheaval going on in America, sometimes we need to pause and give ourselves and our side of the political battle credit where it is due. I mean, especially those of us who frequent RedState. We are activists after all, and we cannot be expected to labor endlessly without seeing tangible results.

For me, that includes gloating just a little over stories like this at Politico. Don’t ya know it just burned the left and the old guard’s britches to have to read a story titled, “The Death of the Sunday Shows”? Gloat with me for a minute:

The Sunday morning shows once occupied a sacred space in American politics.

Today, many influential Washington players can’t even remember the last time they watched.

The public affairs shows — “Meet the Press,” “Face the Nation” and “This Week” — used to set the agenda for the nation’s capital with their news-making interviews and immensely influential audience. Now the buzz around the shows is more likely to center on gossipy criticism about the hosts, notably “Meet the Press’s” David Gregory, whose fate has become an incessant subject of conversation, most recently in a Washington Post story on Monday. Meanwhile, fans complain about the recurrence of familiar guests — Sen. John McCain again? — who simply relay party talking points that often go unchallenged.

Naturally, the hosts and producers of all three shows are in denial about their decline:

“I do not agree that ‘Meet the Press’ is not what it has always been, which is a driver of the conversation,” said David Gregory, the current host, echoing remarks made by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and CBS’s Bob Schieffer. “Administration figures, politicians and candidates come to ‘Meet the Press’ because they know what ‘Meet the Press’ represents.”

But for those with their eyes wide open, the truth cannot be denied:

“For political junkies and those who just want to catch up, the Sunday shows still are relevant, but they’re not the signature events they once were,” Tom Brokaw, the NBC News veteran who briefly moderated “Meet the Press” in 2008, said in an interview.

Just for pleasure, it’s worth reading the rest of the article.

All gloating aside, this is really great news. I know we have our work cut out for us and there are still more treacherous times ahead, but clearly, we are making progress with one of our biggest adversaries — the media. After five years of watching them cover, lie for and just flat out ignore the ongoing scandals of the Obama administration, the public is catching up with us in realizing they can no longer depend on them for even a modicum of accuracy or the truth. The internet explosion of new conservative sites and rapid responses to current events through social media is a refreshing and much needed medium for people who are hankering to be informed and even to take action when crises such as the Bundy incident or the Justina Pelletier travesty are taking place.

I still want to believe in the goodness of Americans. While all of this upheaval and decentralizing of powers — in politics and the media — is more than a little unsettling (watching Boehner, McConnell, Rove, etc., plot how they plan to betray us and squirm because they can no longer hide while they do it), I’m reminded of that saying I heard when I first became politically active: “Leaders don’t create movements; movements create leaders.” That is what I’m seeing on the horizon. New leaders naturally emerging to rise to the occasion and fulfill the need for desperate Americans to be informed. All of us need to be ready and willing to do our part whenever and wherever we can. We are making progress.

(Note: You can hover your mouse over the arrow on the right side of the picture above to view more scenes of activists protesting against corrupt media.)

The Watercooler is always an open thread.