"I'll be there, with bells on" seems a quite reasonable and measured level of euphoria to mark the replacement of George Bush by a recognisable member of the human race.

What have you got against bells anyway, akenaton? Just because they don't have Morris Dancers in Scotland...

Regardless of whether Obama lives up to all the hopes that have built up around him - could anyone? - the fact that Americans have pretty convincgly voted for a black man promises to be a nail,in the coffin of racism in America. Of course the corpse of racism still has to be nailed down into that coffin and planted underground- its still running around killing people like a zombie in a movie (for example). But this last election in itself represents a significant advance, and it's worth celebrating,