Clintons and Obama set to remember Bloody Sunday

WaPo - At Site of '65 March, an '08 Collision: Sunday's Selma Event to Be a Stage for Obama -- and Clinton(s)

Sen. Barack Obama and both Hillary and Bill Clinton plan to attend events on Sunday in Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday". I'm not 100% sure how I feel about that. I know that the event has always had as much political significance as it does historical significance, but it has garnered bi-partisan participation in the past that appears to be lost this year.

Lewis -- an icon of "Bloody Sunday," whose skull was bashed by Alabama police as he helped lead a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery on March 7, 1965 -- organizes a pilgrimage back each year, traditionally with a group of both Democratic and Republican members of Congress in attendance (though this year, few Republicans are expected to attend, in part because the event appears poised to become dominated by Democratic politics).

On the one hand, it shows that the candidates are interested in the black vote, which seems to be fitting as a way to commemorate the event and show how far voting rights have come. On the other hand, however, it seems to me that the popularity of the Clintons and Obama could have the potential to draw in a large crowd that is really unconcerned about the significance of the day, which bothers me on some level.

It is possible that it could be a good thing. Those who do not feel passionately about the voting rights struggle or Black history, but attend due to the celebrities involved, could learn somethings and gain a greater appreciation for the struggles of others. On the other hand, the significance of the event could get overpowered by a political and media circus due to the celebrities. I hope for the former, not the latter. We shall see.

The DNA trail

BBC News - DNA clue to presidential puzzle

DNA tests carried out on two British men have shed light on a mystery surrounding the ancestry of Thomas Jefferson, America's third president.

In the 1990s, DNA was taken from male relatives of Jefferson to see if he fathered a son with one of his slaves.

They found the president had a rare genetic signature found mainly in the Middle East and Africa, calling into question his claim of Welsh ancestry.

Okay, I was familiar with the Thomas Jefferson/Sally Hemings story and I knew that DNA evidence had confirmed that her children were Jefferson's, either by Thomas or one of his male relatives.

I was not, however, familiar with the other part of the story. I did not realize that the testing had suggested that Jefferson himself could be of African or Middle Eastern descent. So I guess I'm a step behind. However, this new evidence seems to indicate that he was Welsh after all. It's kind of a shame really. I think it would have been good for us as a nation if he had been otherwise.