During every presidential transition, the news cycle slows just enough for the American public to gain valuable insight into their next commander in chief.

For instance, during a recent lull we learned that Barack Obama often wears powder-blue neckties!

More than that:

"It’s the color attached most to dependability and constancy," one expert was quoted as saying in a wire story that ran in this paper the other day.

Blue, the expert said, sends "a message that Americans want to believe in in troubled times."

Well sure. When you’re blue, blue is for you — I guess.

But hold on. Obama isn't married to blue ties.

"The red and silver striped necktie Obama wore at his news conference in Chicago on Monday looked conspicuously like the one he wore on the night he won election as the first black president of the United States."

To read the complete column, visit The Kansas City Star.