I’ve wondered how Obama has managed to change his position on something like unconditional meetings with rogue leaders without formally changing his position. This e-mail explains it, and I’ll have to bank this line of analysis for some later column (subject to the approval of Derb or anyone around here who knows physics). E-mail:

Dear Mr. Lowry: The concept that comes to mind when I see Obama’s sea-changes in his position, is a quantum phenomenon, e.g., electron tunnelling. This is a phenomenon that occurs because of the Uncertainty Principle, enunciated by the great Werner Heisenberg, that one cannot know precisely the position and momentum of a particle, because of its wave behavior with an associated wave-length. The principle is mathematically expressed as: lamda (wave-length) = h/p, where h is Planck’s constant and p is momentum (mass times velocity). The fundamental particle (such as an electron) cannot be located more precisely than within the wavelength described by the equation. What this means physically is that an electron, if close (close defined as within the distance of its associated wavelength) to an impenetrable barrier to its passage, can be found, with a statistical probability based on its wavelength, on the opposite side of the impenetrable barrier without actually having “passed through” that barrier. This is essentially what Barak Obama has done with the political barriers to his positions. He is suddenly and inexplicably found on the opposite side of a political barrier without actually having crossed that barrier. Hence, an understanding of quantum physics is required to fully understand the political phenomenon of Barak Obama. Who knows how long his wavelength is. It could be infinite. But, mathematically by the equation, the longer his wavelength, the less his momentum (p). Thus, quantum calculations would predict a very much slowed momentum with his markedly lengthened wave-length, as manifest by his being found on the opposite side of multiple positions than in the primary, which would bode well for his Republican rival.