During the presidential campaign of 1928, the Republican Party circulated fliers with the promised that, if Herbert Hoover won the presidency, there would be “A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” Many people mistakenly think that Hoover himself made that promise, but it was the party backing him that pushed that slogan out to voters.

Eighty-one years later, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (probably the most famous doughnut franchise in the country, although personally I can’t stand them) is promising a FREE doughnut to every single American on Inauguration Day next Tuesday, January 20, 2009.

It’s a nice gesture, but someone else will have to eat mine.