Go count them… only 42 people have ever been the President of the United States to this day, and on January 20th, Obama will become the 43rd.

Also… Gerald Ford was never elected President or Vice-President. Nixon appointed him VP AFTER the 1972 Election, and he took office as POTUS when Nixon resigned in 1974. Since he lost in 1976 to Carter, Ford is the only President we’ve ever had that was never elected.

So has most of Fox…LOL

You know, I’m ambivalent about her, but Dr. Rice was on point in her congratulations to Obama.

I’m extremely proud to be an American today, as we’ve been a part of a major milestone in our history, and hopefully a moment that young black people in our country can look at and be optimistic about concerning their own lives. For all the racist people that did not vote for Obama solely for the color of his skin, he still can attribute 61% of the votes that he got to white voters. That speaks volumes for how far we have come.

Revel now in this victory as a major milestone in the civil rights movement, and use it as inspiration for the future, but also acknowledge that Barack Obama is not a political statement alone, he is also the man that I think can lead this country to better days, for ALL of us. And very soon, he will have his opportunity to prove that.

We had a small post-election church service tonight (the day after), it was announced in advance. As I said to a friend walking in, you feel more like you need it when you’ve lost. It was a small group. We are a liberal white church, everybody there was pro-Obama — and most folks were jubilant. “This is a new day.” “We have finally conquered racism.” “I’m so thrilled to see all the young people involved.” Etc. So I was more the voice of pessimism. I’m glad he won, I think he is a wonderful person and I have great hopes for him. And I am so glad it is so meaningful to Black folks. As my spouse said, it will be great to see a black family in the white house, great to move around who is a “real American.” But I’m with your father, too — he isn’t a descendant of slaves (although Michelle is), in the mainstream white media he ran an aggressively non-racial campaign, kind of as a white man with dark skin. I’m worried about all the terrible problems that white people will think are all ok now. AND 49% of the people did NOT vote for him, and some (not all) of them are pretty hostile. But my hope is this: Wanting to make things better is half way towards making things better. It is a good thing than we want to make things better. And that is my hope, that we will want to make things better.