So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

“Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

– President Barack Obama, January 20, 2009 

I feel as if I’ve been holding my breath since… oh, the first week in November or so. As if I were only dreaming that change — real change, historical change — had *actually* happened. That if I were less than careful, if I misspoke or misstepped or mistyped, then that dream would unravel like so much glittery, gossamer star-stuff. 

Today, finally, it seems solid and real and I feel I can breathe again. And write again. 

Happy New Year. How ya been?

It would be a mistake to think this is anything but the beginning of a long road that will be filled with every obstacle that an opposing party — and some very evil people — can think to put in our path.

Oh my, but what a beginning.

Morning After Update: See John Scalzi’s Reality Check for a bit more grounding than I can offer at the moment, myself.

Whatever your conclusion — and whomever your candidate — please exercise the rights that were won for us all.

Vote.

Update:

I voted today.

No line to speak of in Williston, Vermont, ‘cept for a flock of white-headed old-timers getting chatted up by some of the local candidates over their thermoses of coffee (white, two sugars.)

No silly electronics to trip up the unwary, either… just fill in the oval with the felt-tip pen and drop your card in the tabulator. Sure, somebody could rewire the tabulator and make it count electric blue sheep instead, but there’s still all those cards with ovals on them… so no worries.

Oh, and on the way out, make a selection from the vast array of baked goods made fresh by your neighbors.

Ah, Vermont.

Good on them.

For what it’s worth, I’d be delighted to see every indy shop in the country follow suit. You voted? Have a cup of our best… no matter *who* you voted for, no questions asked. Yes… even if you voted for Ron Paul. (In Montana, *especially* if you voted for Ron Paul!)

Vote!

‘Cause it’s our democracy, after all… and it’s about time we took some ownership of it. Don’t ya think?

Hey! Nice pumpkins!

Let’s be clear… we talking about carved gourds here, okay?

Tonight I heard it from *all* the folks who were walkin’ their little ones down the candy gauntlet. All of them. Every. Single. One.

Even some of the kids thought they were pretty cool. The three-foot-high guy dressed up in a Tron costume — I suspect a parent who’s a major geek… what’s a kid that age know from Tron? — even spelled ‘em out…

V-O-T-E. Vote!

C-H-A-N-G-E. Change!

Hey… Candy!

That’s right, buddy. Keep things in perspective.

It begs the question, though: is it wrong to wedge a political message in between the cracks of a seasonal celebration? Is it crass to politicize an otherwise strictly non-partisan festival?

Maybe… but not this year.

This year there’s too much at stake. Too much at risk. And too little time to *not* get the message out there, to let folks know where you stand, and that you think it’s time for a change.

Doesn’t mean that I can’t *still* help get out the vote from my phone, right here at home. ‘Course, you can, too.

Dear Editor—

Some of my little friends say there is no Virginia… or that there is a Virginia but it’s not real. Mama Claus says, “If you see it on the Internet, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a real Virginia?

~Santa Claus

Santa, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Santa, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Santa Claus, there is a Virginia. It exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Virginia! It would be as dreary as if there were no Santa Claus.

P.S. Maybe you should put naughty little Nancy Pfotenhauer on that other list.

The candidate was, himself, clearly impressed by the sheer mass of the crowd:

“All I can say is… wow.”

This is Obama’s largest crowd ever in the United States, all the more remarkable for a battleground state like Missouri, where issues of politics and race run deep, and where a one-point victory can sometimes be considered a landslide.

Update: In Kansas City (my ol’ hometown) 75,000 people greeted Obama at the Liberty Memorial. Not a bad turnout… but they’ll have to do better than that to top St. Louis.

Kansas City Photos:

Obama in Kansas City

Obama After Dark

That’s what Sam “Joe” Wurzelbacher — Joe the Plumber, to his legion of fans — asked Barack Obama on the campaign trail in Ohio. The story goes that Joe, an uncommitted voter, quizzed Obama on his tax plans, adding that, he wanted to buy the plumbing business he was working for, but… “I’m being taxed more and more for fulfilling the American dream.”

Meh. Not so much.

Turns out that Joe the Plumber… isn’t. He’s not a plumber: he has no plumbing license, never finished his plumbing courses, and hasn’t apprenticed as a plumber. His income of about $40,000 today is unlikely to put him in a position to buy that $280,000 plumbing business, and certainly today’s tight credit markets — largely the result of Republican political and regulatory malfeasance — won’t find him getting a loan any time soon. More, it seems that Joe already has a tax lien against him for about $1200 bucks.

Oh, and he’s actually a registered Republican, who voted in this spring’s primary. You betcha.

Despite the fact that in one day he talked to more folks in the press than Sarah Palin has since her VP nomination, Joe will soon be just another speed-bump under McCain’s Straight Talk Express, ’cause when pressed by CBS news, he admitted that, yeah, Obama’s tax plan would probably save him money after all.

So, Joe — now that your fifteen minutes of fame are tick-tick-ticking down, now that your bank account and your tax status and your failings as a wannabe plumber have been… well, thoroughly plumbed, and now that you’ve been tossed aside by your candidate, having served your purpose as a ready and willing stage prop in a debate — I have only one question.

Do you believe in the American Dream?

Oh! And also…

Last night, Sarah Palin said she didn’t want to talk about Wurzelbacher. “I begged our speechwriters, ‘Don’t make me say Joe the Plumber, please, in any speeches,” she said. After failing to properly vet Wurzelbacher’s situation, the McCain campaign is apparently now throwing him overboard and moving on.

I like pie as much as the next guy. Probably more. Matter of fact, my birthday cake today was not cake at all. It was pie. Pumpkin pie. It’s the season, after all. On a scale of one to, well… pi, I think I like pumpkin the best.

Much as I like pie, I think this guy might like pie still more. Anybody likes pie this much, well… he’s got my vote. And of you think that’s a silly reason to vote for somebody, well then, you should hear some of the *amazing* stories folks have thunk up to vote against him.

I mean… wow.

Meanwhile, have some pie.

And if you’re really wondering just what in the world Barack Obama is getting at… well try this link.