Generation Landslide: Post-Election Party in Union Square

A couple hundred young people, with reinforcements rotating in and out, clambered over Union Square Park tonight to celebrate the result of the Presidential election. They climbed light poles and the statue of George Washington carrying flags, until the cops made them get down. They banged pots and drums, blew whistles, and waved an Obama banner and newly-printed editions of the New York Daily News with President-elect Obama on the cover. They chanted "Obama!" and "Yes We Can!" and "U-S-A!" -- this last particularly striking, as it has been the exclusive cheer of Republican chuckleheads seemingly forever, and is at last the property of people who live in places like ours.

Up and down the nearby streets kids high-fived passers-by, whooped, and greeted one another by calling out the name of their hero.