That's because, said Weinberg, the two crossed paths when Lincoln was in Alexander Gardner's Washington, D.C. photo studio, when Lincoln went there to sit for a photographic portrait in August of 1863.

To sit for such a photograph at the time, Lincoln had to remain absolutely still.  If he moved to, say, swat a pesky fly, it would have caused the photo to blur, Weinberg said."

Now, the fact that Obama finds he has something in common with the man he so admires, and it turns out to be a fly, is kind of amusing.  I admit I got a bit of a chuckle out of it.  But when I read "the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which announced it was sending Obama a contraption that traps but does not kill bugs", I just let out a groan.  My immediate reaction was 'oh, puhlease!'  Bugs reproduce at an alarming rate and are certainly in no danger of extinction, much to the dismay of many people (like me) who cringe at the sight of, or who are afraid of them.  This is taking things waaaaayyy too far, PETA.  First of all, bugs are not ANIMALS, they're insects;  Second, if no one ever killed bugs they would overtake the world; and third, what do you do with the flies and the other bugs once you've trapped them?!  (I know....if you listen carefully you can hear them all saying----'we're going to Walt Disney World!')      LOL

I absolutely love animals (real animals) and believe that anyone who abuses animals should be thrown into a cage and forgotten about.  But gimme a break, PETA.  You actually hurt your image when you go to these kinds of extremes.  Your initial objective of keeping animals from harm is a truly noble idea and unfortunately, very necessary.  There are those in this world who have absolutely no respect for the life of an animal and consider them as either property or sport, and think they are there to use, abuse or kill at will and in any manner they so choose.  I sincerely appreciate you for always giving voice to the animals in those cases. 

But what's next?  Protecting fleas by banning the products that kill them?  And while you're at it, what about the exterminating companies?  They kill bugs all the time.  Are you going to send all of them your contraption and require them to place them in all their customers' homes?  Yeah, that'll work.

Why is it that when an organization is successful in their initial goal to do good, that they try to exert their rightfully gained power in that area, to areas that don't need their championing?

All I'm saying is: let's try to find a happy medium in our battles and stay away from the extremes.  What do you think?