The
Presidential elections loom. I
urge all of you to be sure and vote, provided that your political views align
with my own. You know who you are.
If
you are one of those benighted souls who plan to vote for the other side—and I
know who you are—permit me to remind you what a glorious day November 6 would
be for a long ride in a remote part of the country, far from jangling phones
and crowded polling places. Go
early, to enjoy the sunrise, and stay till midnight.
Those
of you who are still considering the two nominees will want to know something
about their names—other than what they are, I mean. Earlier this year I provided you with the underlying meaning
of the surnames of all the candidates at that time: seven Republican contenders
and the sitting Democratic President.
See “Name That President!,” January 9, 2012 at: http://wordsgoingwild.blogspot.com/search?q=Romney%2C+Obama
Now,
we have the opportunity of looking at the first names of the last two
candidates standing: Mitt and Barack.
As
for Romney, it’s probably well known by now that his first name isn’t really
Mitt. It’s Willard, a name he was
given in honor of his parents’ good friend J. Willard Marriott, the hotel
mogul. Usually pronounced with the accent on the first syllable, Willard is of
Old English origin and means “strong desire.”
Mitt
is a shortened form of Milton, after Romney’s cousin Milton “Mitt” Romney,
onetime quarterback for the Chicago Bears. Milton is also Old English and can
mean either a “town by a mill” or a “middle town.”
The President's first
name, Barack, is Swahili and has its origins in Arabic. The original root of
the name (B-R-K) means "blessed." The root word is used in many other
phrases to denote blessings and to describe people who are blessed:
- Mabruk! = "Congratulations!"
- Barakallah feek = "May God bless you"
- Barakah = blessings from God (feminine version of the name)
In its Hebrew form, barak, it is found throughout the
Bible. It first occurs in Genesis 1:22: “And God blessed (ḇāreḵə) them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the
waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.”
Obama's middle name is Hussein, which was his grandfather's first name. The name, of Arabic origin, means "good" or "handsome one."
Armed with this
information, you cannot fail to make the right choice when marking your ballot.
And may blessings rain upon you, handsome one.
The Bard of Buffalo
Bayou has already voted (early and often), but he’s keeping mum about his
choice. Warren G. Harding would be
my guess. Elections
notwithstanding, the Bard emerged from his lair down in the doldrums just long
enough to leave this little calling card:
Well,
fiddle-dee-diddle,
Mitt’s
town’s in the middle
Or
perhaps it’s just by a mill.
He
has strong
desire,
No
doubt, to acquire
A
job as the king of the hill.
But
wait, I have heard
From
a talkative bird,
Who
just flew in through the transom,
That
Barack is blessed,
And
the bird, when pressed,
Added
the fact that he’s handsome.
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