Following the brouhaha surrounding Mr. Obama’s lipstick on a pig remark, I decided to let Mr. McCain on a little secret: Saying that “You can put lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig,” doesn’t necessarily mean that you are calling somebody a pig. (Although one can always argue that a gun-loving, pro-death penalty, anti-abortion pig wouldn’t look any cuter on make-up.)

Of course, Mexicans couldn’t care less for pigs or lipsticks. We prefer to call a female monkey dressed in silk just a monkey: Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda.

How I wish everybody could master the beauty of popular wisdom!