What Can You Do When You're Branded, And You Know You're A Man?

The fact that the Maverick family doesn't like John McCain calling himself one is no more interesting than the fact that the Foo Fighters don't like the McCain campaign playing "My Hero." (As Heart and Jackson Browne are already well aware, when you sign a license for public performance, you no longer get to control where your music gets played, just so long as you get paid.) But as a fan of word derivations, I think "maverick" has a pretty cool backstory.