The Name Game

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

I can remember a time when it was a popular concept to name babies after prominent Americans, particularly historical figures. Thomas Jefferson Jones, Benjamin Franklin Brown, and George Washington Smith were all common occurrences. I went to school with a Dwight, and even knew a Lyndon. But, for the most part, babies today are more apt to be named after athletes, movie stars, and soap opera characters.

It now looks as though there is a boomlet emerging for naming babies after our new President-elect, especially in Africa. The day after the election last week, six of ten baby boys born in Sierra Leone's main maternity hospital were named Barack Obama. From election day until this past Saturday, forty-three children born at the Nyanza Provincial Hospital in Kisumu, Kenya, were named after the Obamas: the twenty-three boys were named Barack Obama, and the twenty girls are now known as Michelle Obama. Another news report stated that in the past few days Barack, Michelle, Malia, Sasha, and Obama have become very popular first and middle names for babies across the United States.

Everyone seems to be anxious to hang an Obama tag on their babies. Sheikh Abdullah, the leader of 8,000 Bedouin tribesmen in the Galilee section of northern Israel, has disclosed that he believes his entire tribe is loosely related to our next President. He said that Africans came to work in Palestine during the early part of this century, and that one of those men was a relative of Obama's grandmother who left some of his genetics behind. The Shiekh says that several men in his tribe look remarkably like Obama. Two baby boys born to the tribe this week have been named Barack Obama.

So there are legions of babies around the world being named after the Obamas. That's a good thing. It's a tribute to our next President and to the good people of America. We have elected a leader who is seen as a beacon of hope to the rest of the world, a man of peace who isn't afraid to take a world view of the future. May he be worthy of all of those children who will bear his name.

Renegade and Renaissance Visit the White House

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Barack Obama took his daughters to school in Chicago this morning, mugged briefly for the cameras, and then hopped on a plane with his beautiful wife and headed to Washington DC. The Obamas paid a call on the Bushs at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in our nation's capital.

There were some great photos of the out-going and in-coming White House residents on the Internet and television news today. The Presidents, current and future, along with their wives, standing in front of one of the many entrances to the Executive Mansion, Bush and Obama sitting in the Oval Office having a private chat, and both men walking along the White House portico. The two men could hardly be more different (in their backgrounds, intelligence levels, abilities, and, of course, skin tones), but they appeared very relaxed and engaged in visiting with one another. President Bush, to his credit, has been very outspoken about wanting a smooth transition - while most of the country would be thrilled if it could just be a speedy transition!

Today the Secret Service released its code names for the Obama family. (I guess they aren't supposed to be secret, so I wonder why they even assign code names to Presidential families.) Barack Obama in Secret Service speak will be referred to as "Renegade." The three ladies in his life have also been assigned code names beginning with the letter "R." Michelle is "Renaissance," Malia is "Radiance," and little Sasha is "Rosebud."

The Secret Service seems to have developed a habit of naming White House families with the same first letter. Richard Nixon was "Searchlight," and his wife, Pat, was "Starlight." Bill Clinton was (probably still is) "Eagle," Hillary was "Evergreen," and Chelsea was "Energy." Jimmy Carter was "Deacon" and sometimes "Dasher," Rosalyn was "Dancer," and daughter Amy was known as "Dynamo."

And even the Vice-Presidential families have code names. Joe Biden is now referred to by the Secret Service as "Celtic," and Jill Biden is "Capri." Dick Cheney is "Angler," though many Americans have more colorful names for him!

Prior to today, the only Presidental code name of which I was ever aware was the one given to JFK: "Lancer." His press secretary, Pierre Salinger, was on a plane heading overseas on the awful day in November of 1963 when he got a message telling him to return home. The voice on the radio told Salinger simply, "Lancer is dead."

If you would like to know more about Secret Service code names (for people, places, agencies, and other things) check out this web site: http://www.2600.com/secret/more/codes.html