Some Congress members don't want to name a post office after Maya Angelou.

Maya Angelou--poet, activist, Medal of Freedom winner, Oprah enthusiast, and notorious slow talker--has touched the third rail of politics from beyond the grave.

How?

Some members of Congress voted against naming a Winston-Salem, NC, post office after her.

Yes, those largely derelict buildings with squat, blue boxes out front that you rarely walk into still exist, and occasionally they're formally named after someone or something. Case in point, a post office in California was recently named "Medal of Honor," and Congress voted 381-0 in favor of such a resolution.

But Angelou? Nine congressional members, all Republican, from states as varied as Wisconsin and Alabama, voted against the naming measure for her, largely with the same excuse: She once said nice things about Fidel Castro.

Lauren Vandiver, a spokesperson for Rep. Mo Brooks (AL), told NBC News in a statement:


"While Maya Angelou did many good things in her life, Congressman Mo Brooks did not believe it appropriate to name an American Post Office after a communist sympathizer and thereby honor a person who openly opposed America's interest by supporting Fidel Castro and his regime of civil rights suppression, torture and murder of freedom-loving Cubans."


We all know that when we think of the great triumvirate of communists, it's Lenin, Stalin, and Maya Angelou.

It's notable that no Floridian congressional member voted against Angelou--and they arguably have the most to answer to Cuban-Americans--and no congressional member from Angelou's state, North Carolina, dissented either.

Communist sympathizers, clearly, all of them.

Ernest Hemingway liked fancy hamburgers. Here's the recipe.

In case you're jonesing for a funky hamburger recipe inspired by famous literary types--good news! The John F. Kennedy Library this week released a burger recipe considered Papa's favorite.

Wine, parsley, capers, India relish, Mei Yen powder, Beau Monde seasoning--everything you can imagine that's nowhere near a McDonald's burger--that's what Hemingway wanted in his beef patty.

The recipe is listed here.

You might be wondering--why was this recipe released from the JFK Presidential Library? The BBC explains it involves Hemingway's time living in Cuba and his fourth wife, Mary:

After Hemingway's death in 1961, as relations between the US and Cuba deteriorated, Mary needed help getting back into Cuba to reclaim documents and memorabilia. President Kennedy and Fidel Castro intervened to make it possible--which explains the JFK Library's interest in Hemingway's papers. This recipe was among those left behind.

Don't forget, as Papa says, as part of the recipe you need to set the table. You'll want a salad, too. Hamburgers are no excuse to forget proper etiquette.