YES.

I'm seriously almost crying, and I wasn't even that big an Obama supporter (I was a Hillary girl in the beginning). But it's like this huge release of tension. And seeing the huge crowds of people screaming and cheering is incredibly moving--did you see the celebration in Kenya? My friend in Morocco told me they had a screaming celebration when Obama took Ohio, and are having a huge one now even though it's like 4 am there. And I'm still a pragmatist and a realist at heart, so I still know and believe that it's going to be a hard road and many of those who see Obama as The Answer are going to be incredibly disappointed in the long run, but, but, but--how can you not look at all this and not feel something akin to hope? There're a lot of things that have become associated with America over the past years that we have not felt good about, but this is something that fills me with pride: the fact that we have a working democracy; that we as a people can look at something in our government, make a decision on it, and if we want, as a people effect change. I loved standing in line with a million other tired, yawning people this morning, stretching in a long snake around the block around some public school, each waiting our turn for our two minutes behind that plastic curtain with the polling machine. I loved being one of the faceless many, being a part of the whole. We didn't know each other, but we were all there for the same reason: to take our turn to say what shape we wanted our country to be, no matter what our opinion on that shape was. I am always so proud to be an American during the Olympics, when I see how racially diverse our athletes are compared to those of other countries. I've loved that our country espouses such a ingrained belief in meritocracy, whether or not it's always been true in the day-to-day practice. I've loved that we have always been a people who have gone into the world with the conviction of the right of individuals to have a determining say in their own futures. And though often these things come off terribly wrong or arrogantly or just plain FUBAR in practice, I'm still so proud that all of these things have come together tonight to show that we practice what we preach in our own nation, that we believe in our own ideals. Of course, it's easy for me to say this now. My candidate won. But just look at him. I defy you to tell me that who he is--his background, his story--doesn't embody some of what is good, much of what is best, about America. My dad called me at 11:03 when CNN called it for Obama, and we both just sort sat there on the phone saying "this is amazing" "this so, so amazing" to each other for awhile. Then he said with this sort of catch in his voice, "You know, I'm a lot older than you and I've seen a lot more. And I didn't grow up in racist country, exactly, though there was a lot of that around, but this ..." And he sort of trailed off, and floundered for the right word, and then he said, "This is something. This is truly something." And by God, it is. **Note. I realize that I only got 3.5 hrs of sleep last night, plus I'm PMSing (or as Grey would say, bleeding from my bajongo), which may explain the somewhat delerious and overly emotional nature of this. BUT. Even though tomorrow I'm sure I'll be embarrasse dby it, I'm still going to leave it up. I tend to be a glass-half-empty kind of girl, but tonight: GLASS HALF FULL.