Martin divides his time between a Gold Rush-era house atop San Francisco's Telegraph Hill, where the theme is the Wild West (racks of Colts and Winchesters, plus an 1880s roulette table with scrimshawed ivory chips), and a country house in the Napa Valley town of Rutherford.

FORBES: Trigger-Happy

In 2000 he launched an unsuccessful primary campaign for a U.S. House seat running against U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, a former Black Panther and Chicago alderman.

FORBES: Obama Kick-Back Cronyism - Part 2: Illinois Health And Human Disservices

Normally on October 31, my twin brother and I would step out of our shotgun house and rush to every home within a three-block radius.

NPR: Stepping Out of Fear

Later, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Illinois, wore a hoodie on the House floor.

CNN: Rush to judgment in Trayvon Martin case

Henry Waxman ( CA) and Bobby Rush (IL) wrote a letter to Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Fred Upton (R-MI) calling for hearings on an asserted link between Hurricane Sandy and global warming.

FORBES: Harry Reid, Shawshank Redemption, And The Invention Of A Phony Global Warming Scare

The Senate has yet to act, but passing a similar bill to the House would be an ill-advised rush to policy-making.

CNN: graphic

Sotomayor supporters brought up the 1994 speech themselves, after former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, radio host Rush Limbaugh and others labeled Sotomayor a racist over the remark.

CNN: McConnell blasts Dems over Sotomayor hearing date

Those opposed to Mr Obama will say that Tuesday's oratory proves only what they already knew: that Mr Obama gives a fine speech, but that questions remain over the young candidate's rush to the White House.

ECONOMIST: Barack Obama speaks about race

This is a bit like someone who, having been told his house is on fire, says there is no rush.

FORBES: U.S. Decline: An Open Letter to a Closed Mind