And the results are in

First of all, my congratulations to Barack Obama.  Not just for winning the election; it shouldn't matter to us that he is the first African-American to be elected President, yet it does, and to the extent that it does, that too is an achievement.  Still, that race is closer in many ways than it seems; that huge 202-point lead in the electoral college translates to only a 6% lead in the popular vote, with 48 of 50 states reporting.

So, after the longest and most expensive US Presidential campaign in history, the Democratic Party controls — or will control, come January — the White House and both houses of Congress.  Their control is not strong enough that they can completely ignore the other side of the aisle, though in the House they came close, 39 seats short of a two-thirds majority.

"Audacity won", the AP reported.  "Now Barack Obama must validate the hope and deliver the change he promised."  In the next four years, we'll see whether the Democratic Party actually does have any better answers, and whether the hope and change were just campaign talk.  I, personally, will be hoping the Democrats have the restraint not to use their almost-complete control of the government to punish or take revenge on the conservative side of the political spectrum.  (And, if truth be told, I won't be in the least surprised if we see a more-or-less-immediate flood of new draconian gun-control laws.  It would be terribly ironic, given the racist origins of gun control laws in the US.  I can but hope that the Democratic Party has learned, and internalized, the lesson that gun control cost them Congress and the Presidency eight years ago.)

And you know what?  I hope we've heard the last of the near-hysterical chorus of "OMGOMGOMGOMG BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID" that's been coming out of Washington for the last seven years.  But I'm definitely not holding my breath on that one.

Scalzi on Obama and the Democratic Party

John Scalzi points out a few truths about yesterday's election:

1. It was Obama who won, not necessarily the Democrats.

2. The United States did not become a deep blue paradise overnight.

3. Obama will not give you everything you want, when you want it.

4. Your next president is going to disappoint you.

5. Last night’s election didn’t change the country; it offered a chance for the country to change.

In which ariyanakylstram makes an excellent point

As ariyanakylstram pointed out about California Proposition 8,

If marriage is so damned sacred, get rid of divorce, not the right to marry.

Ah, but that would impact those who think they have a god-given right to say who may and may not marry and divorce as they please, wouldn't it?  Whereas banning gay marriage only impacts, you know, them.

Look, folks, it's this simple:  If you disapprove of gays marrying, DON'T MARRY ONE.  If your marriage is in such jeopardy that two people marrying several states away can put it at risk, maybe you should be paying more attention to your own marriage instead of worrying about who else is doing it.

You know, mote, eye, beam, all that jazz?  . . . You did actually read that book, right?