The Real America

As clearly as the economic meltdown heralds the death of Reaganism, the election of Obama marks a turning point in the culture wars. The social conservatives have had their aberrational 8-year last gasp. The real America is moving on.

And the real America is what you see in the video below (via SLOG), taken during the spontaneous street party that erupted on election night in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

In the real America, cynical hipsters give irony a rest and earnestly celebrate an event that makes them proud of their country. In the real America it’s perfectly fine for a heartfelt Star Spangled Banner sing-a-long to be led by a drag queen.

For the past eight years, people in the real America have been crushed with the reality of our country’s spitefully intolerant and disastrously incompetent leadership. And on election night, these real Americans experienced a cathartic release at the prospect of change.