12-dimensional chess, 12-dimensional chess!!

Actually more checkers-level sophistication but still rather humorous. Obama has identified one of the few sane and rational Republicans who might have run in 2012 and shipped him off to China.

President Barack Obama plans to name Utah Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr., a rapidly rising star in the Republican Party, as ambassador to China, a senior administration official said.

The move is freighted with political intrigue. Huntsman, who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, quickly emerged after November as one of the leading moderate GOP voices.

Huntsman is often mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012, although some of his advisers think the party primary voters will be more prepared to accept his moderate views on the environment and gay rights in 2016.

Yeah, as for those last two things, you might want to think in terms of Chinese Years and apply them to the "A.D." format before that will happen.