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Obama - not important enough for Arizona State

Everybody wants Obama on their team – except Arizona State University, which, despite his speaking engagement there today, won’t be giving him an honorary degree, having explained that becoming Leader of the Free World does not constitute a great enough achievement. “His body of work is yet to come. It’s inappropriate to recognize him at this time.”

The Daily Show investigates…

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Arizona State Snubs Obama
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Biden insults Obama's dog

“It as an idyllic setting. Nobody saw it coming,” says Jimmy Orr on the vote blog.

And then it happened. Biden insulted the one thing Americans won’t stand for the insulting of. The first dog Bo.

Watch the video footage here.

Your 100 days reader

• John Dickerson in Slate: Inventory Day
• Jonathan Martin in Politico: 10 decisions for Obama's next 100 days
• Editorial in The New York Times: One Hundred
• 100 Days Blog
• Dan Balz in The Washington Post: Obama's first 100 days
• Arianna Huffington in The Times: Has it really been only 100 days?
• Joe Klein in Time: The President's impressive performance thus far
• Symposium in The National Review: 100 Days later
• Mike Allen in Politico: At 100 days, Obama still stumps GOP
• Andrew Sullivan in The Atlantic: Steady in tough times
• Marc Champion and Peter Fritsch in The Wall Street Journal: A new era abroad - but a still-war world
• Panel in The Daily Beast:  100 Days Report Card

How Obama rebranded the war on terror

You may have noticed that the Obama administration - using language you would be hard pressed to make up - has decided to rebrand the war on terror. According to a piece three weeks back in the Washington Post:

In a memo e-mailed this week to Pentagon staff members, the Defense Department's office of security review noted that "this administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror' [GWOT.] Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.' "

Now Joe Queenan has responded with a brilliantly witty column in the Wall Street Journal:

If the intention of the Obama administration is to tone down the confrontational rhetoric being used by our enemies, the effort is already reaping results.

This week, in a pronounced shift from its usual theatrical style, the Taliban announced that it will no longer refer to its favorite method of murder as "beheadings," but will henceforth employ the expression "cephalic attrition." "Flayings" -- a barbarously exotic style of execution that has been popular in this part of the world since before the time of Alexander -- will now be described as "unsolicited epidermal reconfigurations."

In a similar vein, lopping off captives' arms will now be referred to as "appendage furloughing," while public floggings of teenaged girls will from here on out be spoken of as "metajudicial interfacing."

Barack the Barbarian v. Nemesis Palin

There really are no adequate words to describe the new series of Obama comics. So we'll let the pictures speak for themselves and just pick out a few salient plot points.

In a nutshell...in one Barack the Barbarian hails from Kickassistan.  In another, he must grapple with his nemesis, the bikini clad Sarah Palin, in a battle for the Treasure of Stimuli.

Throw in Sorceress Hilaria and you've got quite a story. After this, 2012 is guaranteed to be a letdown.

Obama answers your questions

The 44th administration burnishes its online credentials once again.

As I type, Obama is answering questions put to him in an online town hall. You can watch the stream live at the White House website.

Obama's teleprompter speaks

Question. What finishes Obama's sentences, helps him gather his thoughts and has been known to land him in a spot of hot water?

No, it's not Rahm Emanuel. It's the 44th teleprompter. And now it's blogging as well.

Some enterprising individual has liberated the omnipresent screen's voice.

Tune in for meditations on news conferences, twittered updates and precisely what happened in the Obama-Cowen St Patrick's Day mix up.

(Hat Tip: Chris Ayres)

Peas and carrots at the White House

Barack Obama may be busy planting seeds of hope all over the place but it's his wife who is really getting her hands dirty.

With her new plans to create a vegetable patch on the South Lawn, Michelle has taken on the role of Gardener-in-Chief. She follows in the gumboots of Eleanor Roosevelt who dug for victory during World War Two. Michelle Obama is rather less ambitious: simply hoping that her organic veg will find its way onto the White House dinner table.

And now for Comment Central's piece of Friday trivia. Arugula makes it into the First Patch but there's one vegetable that will be conspicuously absent due to the President's picky tastebuds. Can you guess which?

Watch Obama on Jay Leno

Anyone who missed the Obama-Leno interview last night can watch it here.

Take a look to see Obama's anger on AIG bonuses, careless crack about his bowling skills and explanation of why everyone in DC is like Simon Cowell.

Wanted: Someone to sort out Obama's gift-giving

The Telegraph's story about the DVDs President Obama gave to the Prime Minister is hilarious:

While not exactly a film buff, Gordon Brown was touched when Barack Obama gave him a set of 25 classic American movies – including Psycho, starring Anthony Perkins on his recent visit to Washington.

Alas, when the PM settled down to begin watching them the other night, he found there was a problem.

The films only worked in DVD players made in North America and the words "wrong region" came up on his screen.

There is a natural temptation to mock Mr Brown for this so that this fits neatly into "the narrative".

But the truth is - minor though a gift might be - it is spectacularly useless and thoughtless of the Obama team. I think they could do better giving a gift to the leader of an important ally.

Coming on top of the ludicrous episode involving Hillary's gift to the Russians, it seems they could do with putting someone in charge of details.