John, on your first story....OK, you say you're not pointing fingers....fine...all I'll say is that what I donate in the course of a year might surprise you (or maybe not).

I've never been to the other side of the world, and so I don't have the stories that you do, but I do have one. In 1992 I was doing some software work at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. One day during lunch I wound up having a brief conversation with a girl who was about 11 or 12 years old....7 months pregnant....and HIV positive. I'm normally a rock on the outside when it comes to seeing things along those lines, but it was everything I could do to keep my eyes dry the rest of the afternoon. I never claim to have the answers for everything, and I sure don't claim to have an answer for people in that position.

On Jefferson....I think one would first need to debrief any of the Founding Fathers on the events over the last 200 years before engaging in any talk about Mr. Obama. :)