November 7, 2012, A real and MEANINGFUL number
No... not the vote total of the winner of the Fake Election[TM], my college classmate, Barack Hussein Obama, but the fact that at measuring stations in Arctic and other Northern climes, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have come in at the devastatingly high 400 parts per million.
Even as much of the New York area continues to reel from the aftermath of "superstorm Sandy," with a new "Noreaster" storm expected within hours, it would appear that, whether Americans chose to recognize reality or not, reality has decided it won't wait for us.
Ah, I remember a candidate who suggested that "today is the day the oceans stop rising." Well, that candidate is no longer constrained by a reelection campaign. Perhaps he'll do something about man-made climate change (or for that matter, Guantanamo, or even the Imperial Presidency). It's not how I would bet, but I can certainly hope that those millions of people who, against all evidence and reason, continue to believe that there is a difference between "Democrats" and "Republicans," will have their unjustified beliefs vindicated with some necessary action on these most critical concerns we have.