An interesting tidbit of information: If you create a cartogram of the United States, by county, based on the number of voters in the 2008 presidential election, and then shade each county red/blue based on the percentage of mccain/obama votes, it comes out looking strangely beautiful, like a purple bird in flight.

At the risk of sounding overdramatic, after 7 years in chains, hope now flies — on purple wings.