Obama Defeats Truman

As you've probably heard, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States last night. Our panel of experts (thanks to Christian, Karl, Maria, Elyse, Rebecca, Lisa, Tim, Brother Richard, Phil, and everyone who provided color commentary) covered the election returns live, but there wasn't too much of a chance to soberly talk about what this election means since most of us were nude and drunk. It's important to remember that although Obama's presidency will undoubtedly deliver plenty of disappointments and head-scratching decisions, the fact remains that America has gone some way toward washing itself of the seemingly permanent stain of racism we've endured since before we became our own country. But even beyond the symbolic importance, Obama is actually a candidate that fact-based science fans like us can get behind. Did you notice the nod to scientific progress in Obama's victory speech? We have a president who took the time to write in the prologue (that's the part that comes first!) of his book The Audacity of Hope that he believes in evolution and scientific inquiry. Those are his words: "scientific inquiry". Whether he'll be a good president, a great president, or the fattest president since Taft (it could happen) remains to be seen, but at least we have a president who lives in reality. Which is great for him, since reality is where all the cool stuff happens. It's nice to be happy for a while, isn't it?