Okay, I’m convinced. I vaguely remember learning in school that you do not need to put a comma before “and” in a sentence like, “My favorite composers are Mozart, Bach, Dvorak and Beethoven.” In that sentence you could do it either way and there would be no confusion but in the example, “To my parents, Ayn Rand and God,” I can see how the extra comma would be helpful. So I guess I’ll use it from now on although it feels wrong.

By the way, what to make of Judge Sotomayor not knowing that Spanish has adjectives? Well, I’m sure someone will make something of it.