It Happened. What Now?

Obama's victory has taken some time to sink in, a week exactly. I guess that in my subconscious I was expecting some Republican court decision or other tactic to overturn the result. This irrational fear stems from the last election result, the media's coverage during this campaign (recently, e.g., Khalidi), and the fact that the stakes were so high. Now that reality has dawned on me and I have assuaged my fears, I celebrate. Celebration is definitely called for: the only thing Obama did not accomplish was a supermajority in the Senate. Furthermore, even with Missouri undecided he has a stellar mandate: 53 percent of the popular vote and a victory very near Clinton's first term win (a win in Missouri would push him close to Clinton's stellar second term victory).

The day after the election I watched this photo essay of Obama's life, which leads to the next point: What now? This essay reinforces why Obama is such a good choice: I have repeatedly said that the Cuban Missile Crisis in the hands of most other men would have ended in annihilation. Obama is a similar case: his intellect, character, wisdom, and decisiveness are particularly suited to these difficult times. Bush has now been rendered even more irrelevant, at least now I can watch W. knowing that it is a chronicle of the past not a telling of the future.