I'm Not Sure That's A Realistic Option But I Admire Your Optimistic Spirit Dept.

The good folks at The Onion asked Harvey Martin, Systems Analyst, "Texas state Rep. Betty Brown suggested that Asian-American voters should change their names to something 'easier for Americans to deal with.' What do you think?"

Harvey's response: "Wouldn't it just be easier to teach Texans how to read?"

UPDATE: Although Brown is something of a ditz, she is (unsurprisingly) not quite as dumb as the out-of-context quote makes her sound; and I thought the conversation between her and the young man who was testifying, was actually very interesting. Naturalized Americans who immigrated from Asia have some difficulties in complying with voter ID acts that I hadn't thought of; and it says something about Florida that any fool can apparently get a driver's license (see half the articles on Dave Barry's blog), and people who are too brain-dead-moronically stupid to be able to tell whether they are voting for Al Gore or Patrick Buchanan are passionately encouraged to vote -- but a Chinese-American whose Chinese name is transliterated with a hyphen on his driver's license but without a hyphen on the voter registration role, will be denied the right to vote on the grounds that he's not the same person as the one who registered. (I presume, that is, that this rule is suspended in the case of persons who are being paid by the Democratic Party to vote on behalf of Democrats who are unable to cast their own votes due to the inconvenience of being, you know, dead.)

At any rate, here's what I thought was a very interesting discussion between a very smart young Asian-American and a well-meaning and polite, but not very bright, Texas state representative. (Note, by the way, that the funniest moment is actually not where she suggests that they pick easier names, but when she asks about whether the Chinese government is strict about requiring ID before letting you vote in Chinese elections.)