A recent New York Times piece on an internet-based micro-trend amongst Barack Obama supporters got us thinking got us thinking about the linguistic ploy of saying "I am [insert person, place, or thing that you actually don't have anything to do with here]." See (yes, we're bringing back see, see, we're a corrupt, cigar-chomping Chicagoan now, like Al Capone or Hinky Dink Kenna), some Obama supporters are trying to express solidarity with the candidate by adding his much-maligned middle name to their own in their Facebook profiles. This is an familiar idea, of course—the Obama supporters profiled by the Times say they were inspired the films Spartacus ("I am Spartacus") and In & Out ("I am gay.")

They could've been inspired by lots of other things, though. Like Nike's old "I am Tiger Woods" commercials. Or "I broke the dam." Or—perhaps Obama can incorporate this one into a speech sometime—"I am Brian of Nazareth."

The middle-name tactic could be appropriated by McCain supporters, too, if any of them are on Facebook. How about Sean Sidney Hannity? Joe Sidney Lieberman? That doing anything for you?

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