First, and I feel I need to get this off my chest: Boo-ya!  Take that, Permanent Republican Majority.  In your face.

Okay, thanks.

We watched CNN most of the night last night, except for one period of time between when they called Ohio and they called the Presidency, when the CNN pundits clearly knew Obama had won, but were not being allowed to say so.  Most salient during this period was when John King tried to show how McCain couldn't win by giving him every single state left in the Union and showing how it didn't add up to 270, when instead he could have just added California, Oregon, and Washington to Obama's total and shown how he had more than 270.  I got so irritated by this (I actually felt insulted by them) that I switched to ABC's coverage for half an hour or so.

But during our stay with ABC we only got to hear Cokie Roberts once, and George Will less than that, and frankly, seeing George and Charlie and Diane each at their Command Station™ made me yearn for CNN's crowded Island of Opinion™, so we went back.

One of the best coverage comments of the night came from James Poniewozik on Time's liveblog of the event, "God, switching over from the frantic cable news to Shields and Lehrer conversing on PBS is like listening to the Ents talk in The Lord of the Rings. Pontificate faster!"

From stuff I've read, it seems none of the Nets had the cojones to call it earlier than the poll closings on the West Coast.  Which I guess is okay, given the need to get voters out for Prop 8 in California.  But really, everyone with half a brain and elementary math knew it was over.  The Time liveblog noted the lack of a Tim Russert, a Big Dog, as they characterized him, able to buck the conventions and call it early.  RIP, Tim Russert.

As for what I thought (beyond my pithy one-liner at the top of this post), I had a couple of very random thoughts as I got ready for bed last night.  I Twittered one of them, but I'd like to expand on it a little.

My boys are 2 and 5.  The two-year-old sees Obama signs in yards (and on my chest) and declares "Rock Obama!"  But the five-year-old understands enough to know that Mommy and Daddy were eager to see Barack Obama win.  For my birthday he drew me a picture of Barack Obama (in a rocket, I think, I'll have to find it and post it).  He was happy this morning when I whispered to him who had won, and gave him a great big hug.  But who am I kidding, he doesn't know what the Hell is going on.  But I do.  I know that he will grow up in a world where black men (men, I realize, not women) know that they can be President.

The world is better.  In a small, tiny way, I have made it better.  For my children.  Damn.

Then, as I was falling asleep, I thought to myself, what is Obama going to do with his web site?  Will the White House site be turned in to a bully pulpit like barackobama.com?  That would be all kinds of awesome.  All kinds.