The REAL winner of the election last night...

President Barack Obama won! 

I'd say the American people, seconded by the rest of the world population. However, that would be wrong. First, I know more than a few Americans (mom) that would be more on the world-is-coming-to-an-end side of the scale.

Republicans think this is going to happen now, probably on Inauguration Day 2013.

While I don't think anything like baby kittens puking double rainbows is about to happen, I think total world devastation is a bit far. (Sorry mom.) Yes, Barack Obama won the election by a smaller than we would have liked margin, but more than enough to rock the electoral college, and the Dems made (albeit) slight gains in both houses of Congress.

When Romney called to concede the election.

The people

Voter suppression that was institutionalized in many states thanks to voter ID acts and intimidation in many states. I'm not going to list examples, you all have Google. Examples of voter intimidation and the borderline fraudulent ways Pennsylvania tried to suppress the Democratic vote are not at all difficult to find with a simple Google search. Seriously, search it, I'll wait for you to open a new tab. (ctrl+t  people!)

DREAM and comprehensive immigration reform would be exactly nowhere on President Romney's schedule. We NEED comprehensive immigration reform. And why why do politicians think that the only immigrants into this country are from Mexico? I get it, the brown people are digging tunnels under the fence and taking your highly coveted manual field labor jobs and speaking their wacky different words and such. But seriously folks, there are other humans that came to this country as children, have been living in this country for years, going to school, working, paying taxes and making their lives here. Why are they not part of the equation?

No, there is an obsessive focus on Mexico. How about Europe? Asia? Africa? Canadialand? South America? Antartica?... oh, wait.

"Dude, I heard America is Awesome!!"

I love you women!

Yes, Ann Romney, you do love women, and so does the electorate. 

Literally, female candidates rocked that election. Todd Akin in Missouri, Joe Walsh in Illinois, and Steve King in Iowa all lost to women. The next Congress will include the largest number of women ever among its membership; 20 in the Senate, an increase of two, and at least 77 in the House, up by four, with two others vying in races that have not yet been called.

Oh, and New Hampshire has an entirely female congressional delegation. Way to go women!

Yay for Women!

Roe v. Wade is a big freaking deal here too. There is a very good chance that one of the three older Justices (Ginsburg, 79; Scalia, 76; and Breyer, 74) will retire in the next four years, and with one conservative that Romney would nominate, there is a very real chance that the landmark Roe v. Wade would get overturned. 

FIVE Absolutely horrific examples of humans that managed to get elected were ousted last night after making the most offensive comments about rape and abortion. 

Missouri Rep Todd Akin lost his challenge to incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill for her U.S. Senate seat after explaining that "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down" during a "legitimate rape." 

Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, lost to Democratic Rep Joe Donnelly for the U.S. Senate seat after saying, “even if life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen." He and Donnely only differ on their abortion stances in the instances of rape, but it's still a step in the right direction. 

Illinois Rep Joe Walsh lost to Democrat Tammy Duckworth after saying that thanks to “modern technology and science,” abortion is never necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother. 

Iowa Representative Steve King lost to former state First Lady Christie Vilsack after coming out against abortion in the case of statutory rape because he hadn't “heard of that being a circumstance” that’s been brought to him “in a personal way.” 

Freshman Wisconsin State Assembly member Roger Rivard lost to challenger Democrat and hardware store owner, Steve Smith after Rivard had told a local newspaper that his father taught him to be careful about premarital sex because “consensual sex can turn into rape in an awful hurry,” if she regrets it or is underage or gets pregnant and her parents are mad. And my personal favorite, “Some girls, they rape so easy.”

Ok, Women did come out WAAAAY on top in the 2012 election. (We did!) both literally and figuratively, but women didn't win the election. 

No seriously, who really won the election last night? 

The LGBT community won the election last night. 

I mean, honestly, they did. First, and probably the most glaring win, FOUR STATES PASSED COMPREHENSIVE MARRIAGE EQUALITY ACTS!! Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington State all had Marriage equality ballot initiatives and they all passed. This is a HUGE step towards equality of civil liberties for all Americans, and today was a day in my life that I could say that I was absolutely Proud to be an American. Way to go, us. 

Also- The Employment non-discrimination Act, would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Good Sir Mitt Romney has stated that he opposes the ENDA on the federal level, the only level at which it has been proposed to affect.

ENDA Facepalm by Picard, because you can legally discriminate against George Takei.