It's been a long road, y'all. A long hard road filled with combativeness, divisiveness, lies, "misspeaking," media-manufactured scandals, race cards, sex cards, pandering, and foot-in-mouth moments, but after last night, it's finally over. Barack Obama won North Carolina by 16 points, and he lost Indiana, where he was expected to lose by 5-7 points, by fewer than two points. Seeing that there was no way for her to win the nomination by any means that will sit well with a majority of her party, Hillary Clinton has announced that she has gracefully bowed out of the race and will commence supporting Barack Obama's presidential candidacy immediately.

Oh, wait. That was just a dream I had last night. Clinton's still in (it's probably better for Obama that she is such a fighter) and is getting revved up about West Virginia, a shoo-in state for her. Commentators will continue to ask, "Why can't Barack Obama win those white, blue-collar voters? How will that play out in the general election?" They will continue to not ask (or to not ask as much), "Why can Hillary Clinton barely pull 10 percent of the black vote? How will that play out in the general election, especially if she wins the nomination using tactics that, perceived or otherwise, stole the nomination from Barack Obama?"

CONTINUED »

This one's for North Carolina! If you have to ask why, then you probably weren't watching the news last night… or for the last month. There are obviously some musicians that rep Indiana (the Jacksons being a notable bunch), which also had a primary last night, but I'm partial to the state of North Carolina and it's past time for a Rewound from the North-Carolina-raised Jodeci. Just to be clear, I'm not, however, partial to K-Ci's shirtless chest.

Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

What are you predictions for tomorrow's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina?

• In other "older women talking about their decades-old interracial affairs with married men" news, Mary Wilson of the Supremes says that Tom Jones broke her heart. [SP]

• Why exactly would Beyonce need any of Jay-Z's money? [NB]

• Voter suppression tactics in North Carolina? [TS]

• I don't really keep up with the televangelist set, but apparently Juanita Bynum and her abusive ex-husband are just getting more and more ridiculous. [C&D]

• "Northwestern University withdrew its offer to give the Reverend Jeremiah Wright an honorary degree at this year's commencement because of the controversy over past sermons by the former pastor to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. … Wright's invitation wasn't rescinded because of his views. Rather, Northwestern President Henry Bienen didn't want to compromise the celebration." [NPR]

Did Barack Obama really "brush the dirt off his shoulders" yesterday in North Carolina? Yes he did.

• If Nate Dogg's alleged stroke had happened a few years ago, all popular black songs would have had to have been recorded with no hooks. [GW]

• How well do you know your 2007 entertainment trivia? [BG]

• North Carolina black voters aren't getting the same love that their southern counterparts are, but they still care! [State]

• R.I.P. Thomas Morgan III, the first openly gay president of the National Association of Black Journalists and a New York Times reporter. [ND]

• So long, Kwanzaa? [WP]

• Blacks in North Carolina bring about $46 billion a year to the states economy. That's all? They need to start helping out their state a little more. [WSJ]

• Lots of people are pretty skeptical about this poll. [BAW]

• Mathew Knowles is trying to squeeze all he can out of the Beyonce Experience. [PE]

• Someone really, really liked Jay-Z's American Gangster show at the Apollo. [MTV]

• Can we get some good black syndicated news shows on the radio? [BAR]

A Chinese artist has been tapped to be lead sculptor on the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial project in DC, and people are up in arms. I'm not really offended. [DG]

The guy's being paid with proceeds from a benefit concert featuring Queen Latifah and Babyface. [EUR]

Ebonics: the word that shall not be uttered in education circles. [HC]

Racial politics in North Carolina? No way! [WJ]

At least Sunday night wasn't a total waste for Lil Wayne. [NYT]

Like Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama is deeply, profoundly, immeasurably sorry for the role it played in American slavery. Georgia's still not sure, but it should jump on the bandwagon, lest influential voters get the idea that they aren't sorry.

Obviously, apologizing for slavery is the cool thing to do. And I don't know if it's because it is currently trendy or because these proclamations are coming from politicians who may preside over people still struggling from slavery's after-effects but did not have any direct involvement in the institution itself, but all of these apologies annoy me. Pandering is rarely sincere. Neither is succumbing to peer pressure. Instead of a making a declaration, maybe these state governments should put more resources into righting slavery's wrongs, something no one has managed to completely accomplish since it was abolished.

[MSNBC]