Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Blessed One

It bothers some wingnuts that President-elect Obama's given name means "Blessed One" or some such thing. I don't reckon that they've considered that all the Presidents have had given names that meant something. John means "God is gracious", and I don't hear anyone freaking out about that. James means "Supplanter"; George means "Farmer"; Andrew means "Manly". William means something to do with the desire for protection or a helmet. Go figure what that means in connection with President Clinton. Ronald is a royal advisor. Richard is a wealthy ruler. Lyndon is "flexible". Franklin is a free man. Warren is a preserver. Herbert is a bright ruler. Calvin is bald. Woodrow is a trail through the forest. Theodore is God's gift. Grover is from a grove. Chester is a fortress. Martin is warlike. Benjamin is the son of my right hand.

Unless you have one of those made up names like the Palin kids, your name means something. You could do worse than Blessed One.

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