Testify!

Whoa.

I've been obsessively watching cached video from CNN, MSNBC and YouTube this morning, as well as reading the NY Times, Politico, and the Huffington Post; I still can't quite believe Obama is our next president. I even performed the digital equivalent of face-slapping: I looked at Fox News online.

Slowly, slowly, it's sinking in, and the proclamations are out in force: this is an historic end to racial barriers; this is a decisive victory for the Democratic Party; this is a victory for democracy, which hasn't seen so many participating in voting since women's suffrage was on the ballot; this is a victory of hope over fear.

My cynicism prevents me from buying into all of those, even as much as I want to (and as much as they make me secretly weepy---don't tell!).

But I just watched Obama's victory speech, and I can decisively say this: it is a victory for grammar. A victory for syntax and enlarged vocabulary. A victory for diction, and for language for all Americans, and every global citizen who comes within earshot of a Presidential Address.

Of the many things to be thankful for on this post-election day, let's not forget the small things.