This not about the victory of Barack Hussein Obama ... its about the announcement of the highest civilian award in one of the largest democracies of the world. Bharat Ratna , the highest honor awarded for an Indian, has been trivialized with politicians, demanding the honor to be awarded to the party leaders, was last announced in 2001. In a nation where there were leaders who said NO to top awards for great genuine reasons, Bharath Ratna was not announced for the past 6 years just because of fierce politicking. Lots of names were on row: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jyoti Basu, Biju Patnaik, Kanshi Ram, Karpoori Thakur, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Jagjivan Ram, Jyotiba Phule ... a lot more. Atlast on 4th of November 2008, they announced a non-politician: "The Hindustani classical music legend Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is chosen for the Bharat Rathna award ".