And we did. Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. The eight-year nightmare is coming to an end. Voters came out in record-breaking numbers to cast their vote for change and renewal.

Now the hard work begins. It’s not about blue vs. red any longer. It’s about reuniting and rebuilding this country.

Yes, we can.

One of the interesting things about today’s election is that Colorado may go Democrat for the first time in a number of elections. If so, I hope that means we’ll be included in the seccession from the country (see below). I’m afraid that they might not take us because of Colorado Springs, though.

Dear Red States:

We’ve decided we’re leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we’re taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren’t aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California. read more

Just in case you’re still wondering why you should vote for Obama, how about this: McCain is either an out-and-out liar or he’s demented.

This site documents someone’s clever approach to keeping cats off his kitchen counter. Basically he used off-the-shelf home-automation hardware to build a motion detector that turns on a noisy blender and flashes a bright light when the cat pokes around on the counter. The site also has several videos of the response of the cat. It appears that the system is quite effective.

The McCain campaign has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to cover up the fact that he picked someone completely unqualified for the office of Vice President as his running mate. Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has emphasized what Obama plans to do to aid the economy. Who would you rather have in charge?

Two choice quotations from two articles in CNN.com today:

“Exxon Mobil: Biggest profit in history
The largest U.S. oil company surges past analysts’ estimates with a posted net income of $14.83 billion and sets a national record for quarterly profit.”

“As of September, 760,000 jobs have already been lost this year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And a quarter of U.S. employers expect to make layoffs in the next 12 months, according to a recent report by consulting firm Watson Wyatt.” read more

This entry is partly intended for my own future reference. A few weeks ago we were trying to remember what the autumn weather in 2006 was like. 2006 was the year in which a blizzard dumped quite a lot of snow on us. We both had a vague recollection that the autumn weather that year was somewhat like the weather this season, and wondered whether that means that we might be in for another snowy winter. I figured that I probably said something about the autumn weather in my blog that year, but it appears that I didn’t mention the weather at all until it snowed in earnest. So, for future reference, I’m writing about this autumn’s weather now. read more

I was going to try to stop blogging about the presidential candidates because that seems to be all I’m blogging about these days, but this is just too good. As related at CNN.com, it seems that things are quite a mess in the McCain/Palin camp. I particularly like these statements:

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

“She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone,” said this McCain adviser. “She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. read more

“If it’s true that Barack Obama really is a terrorist, then we have the worst Department of Homeland Security in the universe.”

–Bill in Portland Maine, Daily Kos