YES WE DID! - Top 3 Election Night Moments

1) In Washington DC’s U Street neighborhood, from where we watched the elections, Obamania knew no bounds. It was no surprise since 93% of Washingtonians voted for him. The jubilant crowd danced, hugged and cheered. Honking cars and fireworks added to the festivities. In 1968, this neighborhood was the scene of mayhem and destruction when racial riots erupted in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination. Who would have thought that forty years on a diverse crowd would gather at the same spot to celebrate the first African-American President. I was proud of my adopted homeland for coming full circle.

2) As a new Virginia resident, I was thrilled to see the once staunchly Republican state go blue. Virginia hasn’t backed a democratic presidential candidate since 1964. So this was HUGE!

3) On a split screen, CNN showed two victory celebrations – one in Grant Park, Chicago as the crowd awaited Obama’s speech and the other in his ancestral village in Kenya. The Kenyan President actually declared a public holiday in honor of Obama’s landslide victory!

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm

Most Americans have not had the pleasure of laying their eyes on the US Immigration and Citizen Services ' I-485 application. In this form, people who are applying to be a permanent resident are asked a range of "interesting" questions. Here's a taste:

Have you ever engaged in, conspired to engage in, or do you intend to engage in, or have you ever solicited membership or funds for, or have you through any means ever assisted or provided any type of material support to any person or organization that has ever engaged or conspired to engage in sabotage, kidnapping, political assassination, hijacking, or any other form of terrorist activity?

Have you ever engaged in genocide, or otherwise ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the killing of any person because of race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, or political opinion?

Do you intend to engage in the US in
a) Espionage?
b) Any activity a purpose of which is opposition to, or the control or overthrow of, the Government of the United States, by force, violence, or other unlawful means?

Do you plan to practice polygamy in the United States?

Within the past ten years have you been a prostitute or procured anyone for prostitution, or intend to engage in such activities in the future?

Some lawyer somewhere probably got big bucks to come up with these questions! The thought of answering "YES" just for kicks did cross my mind. But spending the rest of my life behind bars would have been too high a price to pay for curiosity.

Here's a question that may be added to the list in the unlikely instance of a McCain-Palin win - Do you harbor or intend to spread liberal or socialist values?

Honoring the Dead

Here's an interesting bit of trivia - Barack Obama's grandmother passed away on Nov 3, a day before the nationwide polls. However, she sent in an absentee ballot in Hawaii on Oct 27. Does this count?

ANSWER: YES!

Not all states allow "ghost votes". California, Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, and West Virginia are among those that do. USA Today made an interesting observation about "ghost voters" in 2004:

"Considering that an average of 455 voting-age people die in Florida every day, and that the 2000 presidential election was decided by a mere 537 votes, dead votes that slip through the cracks could become a meaningful bloc."