Oh, dear. Even the heartwarming Presidents Day reminiscence posts offend. A propos my admiration for the name “Julius Caesar Coolidge”, a reader writes:

  • committed to small government? are you mad? caesar destroyed the roman republic and founded the roman empire, the progenitor of the modern totalitarian state. think darth vader in a toga.

Er, all I meant was the “Coolidge” part of the name suggested a commitment to small government while the “Julius Caesar” bit was pleasingly warlike. And, either way, I’m happy to do without the toga, though I expect if Barack Obama started wearing one he could singlehandedly bring it back into style.

And in any case isn’t “Darth Vader in a toga” Darth Sidious?