Once the crowd of supporters and media dispersed, police stepped in and grabbed 10 women, including Susan Silverman.

‘My mission is the same… I want every girl, every child, to be educated,’ she told the world in a video announcing the Malala Fund.

‘He’s basically the beneficiary and the author of a new America…a new demographic, a new cultural America.’

If his win in 2008 was extraordinary, then 2012 is confirmation that demographic change is here to stay.

Please sign the petition, if you are so moved, and send this on to others who might be as well. The honor and survival of a very brave 14-year-old girl may depend on its success.