For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am proud of my country.

Now, that is the "infamous" Michelle Obama quote, but it is also a very apt summary of how I feel right now. Barack Obama will be the first African American President of the United States of America. I know he's just the Democratic candidate right now, but barring some incredibly unfortunate series of events, he is going to crush John McCain. I will be surprised if Obama leads by less than 5 points in national polls at any time between now and November and I'd be willing to bet that Obama wins the electoral college by 50 votes or more. Exhibit A. Exhibit B. Exhibit C. The prosecution rests.

Just so you know, I am currently supporting Obama and will be volunteering for him this election cycle. And it is not because he's black like me, or because of my man crush on him.

It's because of speeches like this. And this. And TFJ's.

He recognizes that his candidacy is actually bigger than himself. He recognizes that he needs to advance progressive causes, and the best way to do that is not to limit focus on contests like California and New York which are easily won. He's following Howard Dean's incredibly successful lead and will likely have huge coattails this November.

Now, I suppose that I should addend my opening line. I'm actually proud of most of my country right now. I'm very proud of the 18+ million people who voted in the primaries and the million plus people who donated to his campaign. Those people recognize that he is truly a way forward, and represents not just "hope" but a beginning of changing Washington for the better.

Now this election, if you're a rational, thinking person, will not be easy in the slightest. I'm pretty sure we all know the biggest obstacle he will face in the coming months. My father has already been sending me incredibly offensive "OH NOES HE'S BLACK" emails which I kindly told him to knock off. But don't worry. There will be tons and tons and tons and FUCKING SHIT TONS of stuff like this to go around. The best thing you can do is just gather it all up, and respond in a calm, reasoned manner to the fucking morons who sent it to you.

However, I'm very glad that this is finally going to happen in our country. I want every last inbred redneck to show up on the local news channel or Fox News and give their most sincere thoughts and feelings to the "negro boy" who they won't vote for because they're not racists. I want every op-ed columnist to give the most transparent arguments as to why Obama really should be trusted, or is a Muslim sleeper agent. I want it all out in the open, so we can finally realize that this country is full of casual racism. I'm guilty of it. You're guilty of it. In fact, I'd be surprised if we had more than 5 non-white active users on this whole site. And isn't that just sad?

I sincerely hope that we can use this opportunity as a country to make some real headway towards combating and extinguishing racism in this country. It's not going to happen overnight, and it's not going to be easy. For every person who doesn't even see color, there are a hundred thousand assholes who I truly have no idea how they find the door handle to leave their houses in the morning. Over the past 12 years, we've had to live with those people gaining more and more power in America. It's time those people be shunned from polite society. And then raped with hot pokers.

I'm just saying.

Now, I also want to put a bit of a caveat here. Barry's not perfect. He's screwed up a couple of times in the past. Which is fine. It's best to realize that your politicians aren't the second coming because you'll just set yourself up for a hooker. Er, I mean a fall.

All in all, I'm more upbeat about this election than I have been since '96. I really feel we have a good chance to do some serious damage to the anti-intellectuals in this country who have been running it for the past 16 years. Obama seems like a fantastic candidate, who truly does want good, progressive change in the country.

Now, let's Hope he doesn't get caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.