A long national nightmare is over

I've been up since 5.00 watching the results, scarcely believing it, my glee rising with each passing moment, each state falling to Obama, each gain in the House or Senate. I cried as I watched Obama's acceptance speech, maybe more from relief than anything else. Maybe this for Britons is analogous to Tony Blair sweeping into power. And let's bask in it before the cynicism seeps in, which it undoubtedly will. There is so much to be done - a horrific economy, two ongoing unwinnable wars.

By the way, Bush apparently called Obama to tell him he had an 'awesome night.' I'll miss W's stirring, Jeffersonian rhetoric.

There will be a lot of talk about America finally living up to its all men created equal credo. To an extent that is true, that so many rednecks and crackers apparently managed to vote for the black guy. But I think it is just another tiny step on a long road to America ever having any kind of racial equality. Obama may be in the White House, but most blacks still live in poverty, the divides are still deep.

And something that nobody seemed to have mentioned at all during the campaign is that America has already had a popular black president: David Palmer in 24. I'm joking but not entirely. I honestly believe that seeing a black president battling terrorists with Jack Bauer for five years perhaps subliminally helped Obama's profile with the dumb-asses who make up the majority of the US electorate.

But the big news, of course, is the people of Massachusetts voted overwhelmingly to decriminalise marijauna. Hey, I might move back!