"Yet to Come"

I really don't think it has anything to do with the fact that their home Senator lost the presidential election to him, but Arizona State University, where the President will be addressing graduates in a few weeks, has decided not to award the President an honorary degree, saying, "His body of work is yet to come. That's why we're not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency."

Really.

The first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review.

A community organizer who bettered the lives of the impoverished and disenfranchised.

A senior lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

A state Senator of Illinois representing the 13th district for seven years.

A United States Senator representing Illinois for four years.

The 44th and first African-American President of the United States.

Not to mention the Grammy-winning author of two bestselling memoirs.

But nay, President Obama's achievements are "yet to come." How insulting.

To offer some perspective here, ASU bequeathed an honorary degree to Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) after serving one term in the Senate. It offered a degree to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor after she'd served on the Supreme Court for three years. Walter Cronkite and Cesar Chavez were also handed honorary pieces of paper by the public Arizonan university.

Other ASU honorees: Erma Bombeck, Hugh Downs, Howard Pyle, Jerry Colangelo, Art Buchwald, and Steve Allen.

Never heard of 'em? Don't worry, you're not alone. But these household names were more worthy in the eyes of the ASU board than some dude named Barack Obama.

Apparently ASU has apologized for the "incident" ("Dear sir, our apologies as we failed to realize you are actually the elected Leader of the Free World") and has decided to rename a scholarship program "The President Barack Obama Scholars Program." Gee, thanks for throwing him a bone.

Speaking of bones, the following is an exclusive update on the FDOTUS situation (see "The Politics of Dogs"):

Barry & Bo