It’s so cold here in our swanky, new, modern, expensive, 21st century (heat broken) research facility, that I might come over all 1970’s shop steward-like and bunk off early to watch Barack Obama’s inauguration. Because this is a significant day, which has taken a lot of time and effort and change to bring about. Let us hope Obama will not be lambasted come the fiftieth anniversary of Martin Luther King’s famous speech for not being the anointed miracle worker that many seem to be assuming he is.

Most of us are hindsight politicians. It’s easy after the fact to question how on earth Bush ever got elected in the first place. (Because of the righteous right’s exploitation of gullibility? And maybe the Democrats carried the association can for Clinton’s alleged penchant for interned cigars.) The tough thing is prescience. Which requires a willingness to listen and learn, rather than follow the ostrich. So, let’s rejoice that much of America has seemingly learnt. That Obama is putting science back on the agenda. And hope that he is as squeaky clean as his beautiful smile. And dream of the beginning of a move to end ideologically-driven politics.