While we're on letters to the editor:

This comes from a reader of the Wall Street Journal:

Could you please tell me what [Barack Obama's middle name] is? I know it isn't very important in the overall scheme of the universe, but I have looked twice on the Obama Web site, and I've found no mention of a middle name.

It seemed to me that the most effective way to get people to stop mentioning "Hussein" would be to promulgate his real middle name. At his Web site, Sen. Obama does not list his middle name, nor does he say specifically that he doesn't have one. If you have discovered what it is, you could do him, and the rest of us, a favor by saying so.

I think I've heard this one before

Yesterday's Chicago Tribune carries this "letter":

On my way to lunch recently, I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama; I need the money." I laughed. In a restaurant my server had on an "Obama 08" tie. Again I laughed. Just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came, I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Barack-Obama-redistribution-of-wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need—the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment, I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more. I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

The Eclipse of Liberty

I've been reading G.K. Chesterton's Eugenics and Other Evils and came upon this intriguing quote on skepticism:
"Liberty has produced scepticism, and scepticism has destroyed liberty. The lovers of liberty thought they were leaving it unlimited, when they were only leaving it undefined. They thought they were only leaving it undefined, when they were really leaving it undefended." (Part 2, Chapter VI, The Eclipse of Liberty)

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Eugenics_and_other_Evils

Cinco de Mayo

I just learned that although Cinco de Mayo is a big holiday in America, it's not such a big deal down in Mexico. I think it is a big holiday up here because more Mexican citizens live here.

Rambling Political Thought #4

From Jay Leno: "Everyone is so concerned now where all of the candidates are born. McCain was born on a military base in Panama. Hillary was born outside Chicago, and if you believe the media, Barack Obama was born in a manger."

Rambling Political Thought #3

MTV recently interviewed John McCain, and decided to ask him the same question they asked Bill Clinton: "Boxer or briefs?"

He responded: ".... Depends."

Rambling Political Thought #2

With oil prices hitting an all time high, Barack Obama today promised that if he’s elected, he’ll fund research into a car that runs on the bitterness of middle class voters clinging to guns and religion.