V.P. Cheney speaks about Barack's inaugural

via Andrew Malcolm:

"I have the same feeling that I think many Americans have, that it's really remarkable that -- what we're going to do here in a few days is swear in the first African American president of the United States. When I came to town in 1968, we'd had the Martin Luther King assassination, Bobby Kennedy assassination, riots in the cities, major, major disturbances, a lot of it racially motivated around the country.

"And in fact, things have changed so dramatically that we're now about to swear in Barack Obama as president of the United States. That's really a remarkable story and I think a record of tremendous success and progress for the United States."

I'm proud that many colorblind votes were cast for both candidates. In that respect, the inauguration will be a proud day. Peggy Noonan:

For me, the quote of the year was from a Democratic political strategist, a black woman, off air on election night. She walked up to an anchorwoman who is white, and said,

"I'm trying to figure out what so moves me and I realize it's this: You meant it."

The anchor shook her head.

"You all said you would vote for a black man,"

said the strategist.

"You all said you'd judge him on his merits, race wouldn't stop you. I didn't know until tonight that you meant it."

When I heard it, I emailed the strategist, who told me that for a year America's open-mindedness toward a woman or a black had shown up consistently in the polls. And yet,

"It's still hard to believe it. I grew up believing all things are possible through Jesus. Well, this tops the world of possibilities."

The thing about America is it is always ahead of the clichés, always one step ahead of an assumed limit.