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Joan Didion weighs in on the election over at Salon with typical cynicism and eloquence. We hesitate to tamper with her prose, so here's the rundown: "What seemed striking about the long and impassioned run-up to this election was not how different it had been—but precisely how similar it had been to previous such seasons. … [I]n the end the old notes had been struck, the old language used. The prospect for any given figure had been evaluated, now as before, by his or her 'story.' … Time got wasted in the familiar ways. The presence of Barack Obama in the electoral process allowed us to talk as if 'the race issue' had reached a happy ending. … Amnesia was our preferred state."