Transitivity and direction of "binding" (was Re: Comments requested: brief summary of Python)

[Peter Hansen]

Cameron Laird wrote:
> 
> The approach I like is to discard any language that
> encourages newcomers to regard
>   i = "Hello"
> as an "assignment", and to identify it instead as
> what it is for Python:  a *binding* to the name 'i'.

Is it "binding the object to the name", or is it "binding the name
to the object".  

Or both?  

Or neither?  

Why?

And does it matter? ;-)

(Seriously though...)

-Peter