The White House dog is finally here! Thank goodness, because I was really starting to worry about Malia and Sasha. They’re such good girls, and they had been waiting so patiently for their dad to get them a puppy, but Dad kept changing the date. Michelle Obama confirmed last month that the dog would arrive sometime around the Easter holiday, and President Obama told Jay Leno that the dog would come after the presidential visits in Europe.

Initially, the reports indicted that the new puppy would arrive at the White House on Tuesday, and that Sen. Ted Kennedy would formally give the dog over to the Obamas. But the Obamas pulled a fast one, and brought the 6-month-old puppy to the White House this weekend. It’s a boy dog named Bo, and he’s a Portuguese Water Dog, the favorite breed of Ted Kennedy. The Washington Post (story via People Magazine) says that Malia and Sasha named the dog, and that the early reports of the name “Charlie” were wrong. People Magazine has more:

Forget about hunting for Easter eggs. The president’s daughters have a much better treat in store this holiday weekend: a new dog!

After months of anticipation, a 6-month-old Portuguese Water Dog named Bo is now calling the White House home.

First, the name. According to the Washington Post , which published confirmation of the White House dog news Sunday, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, chose the name because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because Mrs. Obama’s father was nicknamed Diddley, as in Bo Diddley. The dog is a gift from Sen. Ted Kennedy, who owns three dogs of the same breed, known for high spirits and said to be a good fit for kids with allergies (such as Malia). Kennedy had been lobbying the Obamas to get a Portuguese Water Dog (or PWD) for months.

The newspaper reports that the Obama girls are delighted – they’ve been waiting anxiously since their dad promised them a dog during his presidential campaign – and that the family, first-time dog owners, are still deciding where Bo will sleep and who will walk and feed him. Under a veil of secrecy, the Post reports, Bo actually made a trip to the White House earlier to meet the family. “The Meeting,” as it was called by staffers, was a success.

But the highly-orchestrated canine delivery procedure didn’t go without a few hitches.

First, news began to circulate that a Portuguese Water Dog by the name of Charlie had been selected for the First Family after a Web site called firstdogcharlie.com posted the information, and a photo, Saturday. The White House called the photo “bogus” and told news organizations (including PEOPLE) that the First Dog would make its debut Tuesday – although Bo, it is now apparent, was already at the White House over the weekend.

Then there are the questions about the dog’s origins that are sure to bedevil the Administration. The Obamas originally discussed rescuing a dog from a shelter. But valuable and highly-bred PWDs rarely show up at shelters. Bo is said to have lived with a family that decided not to keep him, but that won’t likely satisfy animal rescue advocates who wanted the Obamas to take in a stray.

To help ease disappointment, according to the Washington Post, the family will make a donation to the District of Columbia Humane Society.

From People Magazine

People were going to complain about something, no matter what kind of dog the Obamas got. Personally, I’m a big believer in rescue animals (my dog’s a rescue) but I’m not offended that the Obamas needed a certain kind of dog to take into account Malia’s allergies. Plus, the dog is technically a gift from Sen. Kennedy, so it’s not like the First Family shelled out thousands of dollars for a fancy purebred dog. Although who knows how much Kennedy paid for his “gift”.

It should be mentioned, this is not the first purebred dog that was given to a sitting president. Just in the last administration, former governor Christy Todd-Whitman gave President Bush a little Scottish terrier as a gift in the first year – and Barney ended up being one of the most popular members of the Bush Administration! After Barney, President Bush grew so fond of the breed that he gave Laura her own Scottish terrier puppy – Miss Beasley.

Photos courtesy of WhiteHouse.gov.

Unlike some of Bob Dylan’s contemporaries in age (but not talent – he has no contemporaries in talent), whenever Dylan speaks, everyone listens. Perhaps this is because he rarely gives interviews. Perhaps it’s because when he does give an interview, he usually shows that he’s been paying pretty close attention to everything we’ve been doing.

Dylan’s done his fair share of political music and most of it is pretty brilliant. Dylan’s not known as a hopeless lefty or a secret Republican, he just seems to be anti-bigotry, anti-corruption, anti-pain. But Bob made a rare endorsement last year, for Barack Obama. So, is Dylan rethinking his endorsement of the now-president Obama? Not really.

With typical Dylan thoughtfulness, he’s reflecting on the nature of time, power and history. He says about Obama, “I have no idea [if Obama will be a good president]. He’ll be the best president he can be. Most of those guys come into office with the best of intentions and leave as beaten men. Johnson would be a good example of that… Nixon, Clinton in a way, Truman, all the rest of them going back. You know, it’s like they all fly too close to the sun and get burned.” Dylan also talks about how he finds Obama’s background fascinating, saying “He’s like a fictional character, but he’s real.” The Telegraph has more:

Bob Dylan has expressed fears that US President Barack Obama will leave office a “beaten” man despite beginning his term with the best of intentions.

Dylan was among the star names who voiced their support for Mr Obama during last year’s presidential campaign, citing him as someone “who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up”.

However, in his latest interview, the singer appeared doubtful that Mr Obama really can effect change. Asked if he thought Mr Obama would make a good president, Dylan replied: “I have no idea. He’ll be the best president he can be. Most of those guys come into office with the best of intentions and leave as beaten men. Johnson would be a good example of that… Nixon, Clinton in a way, Truman, all the rest of them going back. You know, it’s like they all fly too close to the sun and get burned.”

Dylan first became intrigued by Mr Obama after reading his autobiography, Dreams From My Father. “He’s like a fictional character, but he’s real,” the singer said in the interview with author Bill Flanagan, published in Newsweek.

The politician’s heritage – a Kenyan father from a tradition of “lion killers” and a mother from “wizard of Oz Kansas” – also proved fascinating to Dylan.

“I mean, it’s just so incongruous that these two people would meet and fall in love. You kind of get past that, though. And then you’re into his story. Like an odyssey, except in reverse. First of all, Barack is born in Hawaii. Most of us think of Hawaii as paradise, so I guess you could say that he was born in paradise.”

Dylan said there was nothing in Mr Obama’s book that indicated he would make a good politician. “In some sense, you would think being in the business of politics would be the last thing that this man would want to do. I think he had a job as an investment banker on Wall Street for a second, selling German bonds. But he probably could’ve done anything. If you read his book, you’ll know that the political world came to him. It was there to be had.”

Mr Obama is a fan of the singer and has spoken of having “probably 30 Dylan songs on my iPod”.

From The Telegraph

Dylan for President! Wouldn’t that be a hoot? We could elect him just for a few months, then impeach him for getting high or something. Now I’m obsessed with finding out Dylan’s views on all of the hot-button issues.

I actually like and agree with what Dylan is saying – it’s so common sense and pragmatic, and it’s something you would never hear from a pundit or journalist. I can’t even imagine Chris Matthews saying something like “Hey, he’ll do his best, but power corrupts even the best of us, dude. Just chill and give him time.”

Bob Dylan is shown performing at ‘Rock in Rio’ in Madrid on 7/6/08. Obama is shown on 4/2/09 at the press conference for the G20 Summit in London. Credit: WENN.com

Last week, President Obama held an online townhall, in which people could write in their own questions and vote about which he should answer. So of course, Obama got the question about legalizing marijuana. His answer: “The answer is no, I don’t think that’s a good strategy to grow our economy. All right.” So it’s pretty clear with Obama’s one-sentence answer that pot-smoking is not on his agenda.

Carlos Santana disagrees. The music icon spoke to the Associated Press about his desire to see state and federal officials step up and legalize marijuana. Santana has a plan too! He thinks that marijuana should be sold by the government (or taxed heavily) and then the proceeds can go to America’s school systems. The AP is billing this as Santana criticizing Obama’s statement, but Santana actually sounds like he’s directing his comments at California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

President Barack Obama brushed off a question about legalizing marijuana in his online town hall last month, but guitar god Carlos Santana says he wishes he would seriously consider it.

“Legalize marijuana and take all that money and invest it in teachers and in education,” Santana said in an interview this week. “You will see a transformation in America.”

During his online town hall on March 26, Obama fielded a question about whether legalization of the illicit drug would help pull the nation out of recession. Obama said he didn’t think it was good economic policy, and also joked: “I don’t know what this says about the online audience.”

But Santana said making pot legal is “really way overdue, like the prohibition with the alcohol and stuff like that… I really believe that as soon as we legalize and decriminalize marijuana we can actually afford a really good governor who won’t keep taking money away from education and from teachers and send him back to Hollywood where he can do ‘D’ movies and we can get an ‘A’ governor.”

Santana made the comments as he was promoting his upcoming rock residency in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The show debuts May 27 and runs through 2010.

[From The Associated Press Hosted by Google]

I do believe marijuana should be legalized and taxed to the extreme. My problem with the question directed at President Obama last week was that people were assuming the legalization of marijuana would have some major effect on the economy. I doubt it, but hopefully we’ll find out at some point. At the very least, the legal system needs to treat marijuana as a different, much lesser drug. The criminal penalties for it vary state by state, but too often possession of marijuana is treated with the same sentencing guidelines as cocaine or crack.

Here’s Santana in L.A. on October 3rd. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .

It looks like President Obama learned his lesson from the criticism he received by giving a bunch of DVDs to Prime Minister Gordon Brown when they first met. The Obamas arrived in London with some nice, thoughtful gifts for their hosts – gifts for both the Browns and the Queen.

The cable news channels are doing non-stop coverage of the G-20 summit (which actually doesn’t start until tomorrow). In case no one saw the royal visit (or would it be the presidential visit to the royals?), Michelle wore black and white, with a lovely pearl necklace, while the Queen wore pastel pink.

Anyway, everyone is going crazy. I’ve seen CNN’s special report on how the British people adore Michelle Obama. It was a bit of fluff journalism, and I was totally ashamed that CNN ran with it. But now People Magazine has a really good scoop – what the Obamas gave as gifts. The president gave the Queen an iPod. Which might be crass, but he also gave her “a rare 1951 printing of a 243-page Rodgers and Hart Songbook – signed by Richard Rodgers.” Now that’s more like it. So what did the Queen give the Obamas? A photograph of her with Prince Phillip. I was really expecting a Corgi puppy with a red ribbon.

So what do the new kids on the block give the woman who has everything?

On their maiden European tour as President and First Lady, Michelle and Barack Obama put a little of their signature youthful flair into what is usually stuffy old protocol: the exchange of gifts between foreign leaders.

For Queen Elizabeth? An inscribed iPod fully accessorized and loaded with the “ultimate Broadway” collection of 40 tunes, including “People” by Barbra Streisand, “Aquarius” by Ronald Dyson and songs from a wide range of shows from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to Rent and La Cage aux Folles.

And just in case the Queen, 82, and her husband Prince Philip, 87, are more in the mood for a sing along á deux, the Obamas included a rare 1951 printing of a 243-page Rodgers and Hart Songbook – signed by Richard Rodgers – and including music and words to toe-tapping tunes from 22 Broadway shows and two films.

“It was a fun and very welcome gift,” a palace spokesman tells PEOPLE about the iPod, which also contains photos of the Queen’s state visit to the U.S. in 2007.

Returning the generosity, Her Majesty presented the Obamas with a silver-framed, signed photograph of herself and Prince Philip – the traditional gift often given to visiting heads of state.

The President and Michelle Obama had a private audience with the Queen and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday afternoon – part of a series of high-level, closely watched diplomatic meetings for the Obamas. Their first stop Wednesday morning was 10 Downing Street, official residence of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his wife Sarah and their two boys – identified in official U.S. trip documents as “Master John” and “Master James.”

There were gifts for them, too. Mrs. Obama selected a personal style favorite for Mrs. Brown – a broach (to be specific, it was a “crochet black flower brooch with pearl accents”). John, 5, got a baseball bat signed by Derek Jeter, a baseball signed by President Obama and a book titled Classic Baseball.

For younger brother James, 2, there was a collection of 10 Dr. Seuss books. As for talks between the President and the boys? “We talked about dinosaurs a little bit in between discussions of Afghanistan and Iran,” Obama said with a laugh. “So we’ve had a wonderful time.”

[From People Magazine]

Wow, the Obamas really stepped it up a notch for gifts. Dr. Seuss books, a brooch, something signed by Derek Jeter. Much better than a sack of DVDs.

There was an old Time Magazine article that discussed the various gifts the Queen has given world leaders over the years. One of my favorite gifts was a special present she gave to Boris Yeltsin. The Queen and Yeltsin had bonded about gardens, and she gave him an intricate glass case full of seeds from her own Buckingham Palace gardens. That was a thoughtful present. Perhaps the Obamas will get something better next time.

Here are President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Philip during an audience at Buckingham Palace today. Images thanks to WENN .

How cool would it be to have a pregnant First Lady? To have a newborn in the White House? It hasn’t happened since the Kennedy family, when Jackie Kennedy entered the White House having just given birth to baby John Jr. Jackie was also pregnant in the White House – months before President Kennedy was assassinated, Jackie had given birth to their son Patrick, who tragically died just days after birth.

During all of the inaugural festivities, there were some rumors that Michelle Obama was sporting a baby bump. Some claimed that it wasn’t so much a bump as a couple of ill-fitting dresses where the fabric gathered around Michelle’s mid-section. Turns out the “unfortunate dress” theory is right – Michelle is damping down any excitement that there might be more babies in the White House. She told Oprah (in April’s O Magazine) that “I was like, ‘Baby bump’? As hard as I work on my abs? Here’s the scoop: Not pregnant. And not planning on it.” It would have been really cool, but alas, it’s probably not going to happen.

While campaigning for her husband, French fry addict Michelle Obama said she started to change the way they both eat.

“My big concern was making sure we ate well on the road. So we started looking at our diet, trying to eliminate junk, getting seasonal fruits and vegetables that were grown locally,” she tells Oprah Winfrey in April’s O. “We walked the kids through reading labels. We talked about why one juice might be better than another.”

They’ve carried their healthy lifestyle to the White House. “There’s a small gym here that has everything we need,” she says. “I work out about four or five days a week — and Barack does six. He’s a workout zealot.”

Besides treadmill and weights, Michelle says, “I also do some jump rope, some kickboxing — and I’d like to take up Pilates, if I could figure out whether there’s time. After I had [daughter] Malia, I began to prioritize exercise because I realized that my happiness is tied to how I feel about myself. I want my girls to see a mother who takes care of herself, even if that means I have to get up at 4:30 so I can do a workout.”

Nevertheless, rumors have spread that the first lady is expecting — and she is just baffled.

“I was like, ‘Baby bump’? As hard as I work on my abs?” she says. “Here’s the scoop: Not pregnant. And not planning on it.”

She says she has her hands full with Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, who just picked up an interest in basketball. “Barack’s losing his mind,” she said of her husband, an avid basketball fan. “I was like, ‘Settle down – don’t act too excited, or she will not want to do it.’”

She also said her mom Marian Robinson is adjusting well to the White House.
“There are many times when she drops off the kids, we hang out and talk and catch up, and then she’s like, ‘I’m going home.’ And she walks upstairs,” she said.

Winfrey told Michelle that Robinson told her that she wanted her own apartment but agreed to live in the White House because she didn’t want the Obamas to have to pay for a separate home.

“Oh, that’s good,” Michelle replied. “We’re cheap, for sure. And I bet she said so!”

[From US Magazine]

It was just announced by the First Lady’s office that the Obamas will reject the federal money that goes to every First Family for redecorating costs. Usually, the budget allocated is somewhere in the $100,000 to $200,000 range, and the money is used for both private and public spaces. The Obamas aren’t taking it though, instead Michelle will uses their own money to redo the girls’ rooms and whatever else needs decorating.

It’s an interesting move, one that might endear Michelle even more to the public. But here’s a little fact – Laura Bush did extensive renovations to nearly every part of the White House, so there’s probably not much that needs to be done right now. President Obama even likes the “sunburst” yellow carpet Laura Bush designed for the Oval Office. Probably the only thing that needs to be done are the girls’ rooms, so it makes sense that the Obamas wouldn’t want taxpayer money going for that.

Here are Malia and Michelle Obama returning from their weekend at Camp David on Sunday. Images thanks to WENN .

Yesterday, President Obama held a “virtual townhall” in which people could write in questions and he would answer them both online and via a live (and cable news) audience. One of the most memorable questions he got was about the legalization of marijuana, but Obama kept his distance from that pretty well.

“[Question:] With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals?”

Obama actually interrupted the M.C of the event — Jared Bernstein, chief economist to the Vice President — in order to tackle the topic. He kept his answer brief.

“There was one question that voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation,” he said. “And I don’t know what this says about the online audience, but … this was a popular question. We want to make sure it’s answered. The answer is no, I don’t think that’s a good strategy to grow our economy. All right.”

[From Huffington Post]

President Obama also got a question about health care policy from a nurse, and he gave a surprisingly personal answer. He spoke about his youngest daughter, Sasha, and her life-threatening case of meningitis when she was just a baby. I knew Sasha had been very sick when she was a very young child, but I didn’t know she had meningitis.

Even the leader of the free world has his weak spots. President Obama’s is his daughters.

When Sasha – “our little precious pea” – was just three months old, she was hospitalized with life-threatening meningitis, Obama said at an unprecedented White House Internet town-hall meeting Thursday.

“Very dangerous,” the President said, responding to a health-policy question from a nurse in the audience. “The doctors did a terrific job, but frankly it was the nurses that were there with us when she had to get a spinal tap, and all sorts of things that were just bringing me to tears.”

The result: Sasha, now 7, got better, and Obama will always appreciate RNs.

“I’m biased toward nurses,” he said. “I just like nurses.”

[From People Magazine]

I’m sure there are a lot of nurses out there who appreciate some love from the president. It must be absolutely terrifying to watch your infant daughter go through a spinal tap. He really just adores his girls so much, it makes me a little weepy.

As far as the marijuana stuff – well, what did you think he was going to say? That he would announce sweeping changes to drug policies to help out the stoners? Munchies are not an economic stimulus plan, and burnouts don’t help the economy.

Here’s President Obama at the Town Hall meeting in D.C. yesterday. Images thanks to Newscom.

Perhaps Simon Cowell doesn’t appreciate the American presidency because he’s British. That must be the reason he was too busy to meet President Obama. As Cowell told the story to Jay Leno, Obama wanted to have dinner with Cowell, but they couldn’t get their schedules straight.

Was this just some throwaway story for The Tonight Show audience, or would President Obama really invite him to dinner? Only to have Cowell refuse? Even people who couldn’t care less about Obama would rearrange their schedules if invited by the president. PR-Inside has more:

Music mogul Simon Cowell snubbed a dinner party invite from newly appointed U.S. president Barack Obama – insisting he was too busy to make time for the American leader.

The American Idol judge boasted to U.S. chatshow host Jay Leno that he was invited to meet the new president at the White House – but cancelled due to his hectic TV schedule.

He told the talkshow host, “He wanted to have dinner and our diaries didn’t quite match. We just didn’t quite connect.”

A shocked Leno replied, “And what were you doing – whitening your teeth? Fixing your hair?”

Obama recently likened U.S. capital Washington D.C. to Cowell’s TV show, saying: “I do think in Washington it’s a little bit like American Idol. But everybody is Simon Cowell. Everybody’s got an opinion.”

[From PR-Inside]

Whitening your teeth? Fixing your (flat-top center-parted) hair? Stroking your man-boobs? I’m with Jay on that one. I really hope this was just some story that Cowell made up for an audience rather than a refusal of a formal invitation. Cowell is rude, but I never really thought that he was rude enough to disrespect a president.

Here’s Simon with Terry Seymour at the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar viewing party on February 22nd. Images thanks to WENN .

When President Obama appeared on Leno last night, Leno asked him how his bowling was going. Obama is famously a horrible bowler, and he made a joke about how he was using the White House bowling alley to practice. Obama then made an unfortunate remark about his current score of 129, “It was like the Special Olympics or something.”

People were freaking out about it before the interview even aired. Keith Olberman talked about it on Countdown, and it seems like Obama knew he made a bad joke just minutes after he made it. Obama called the Chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver (some sort of Kennedy relative) to apologize for the joke. Radar Online has more:

President Obama is apologizing for a flippant joke aimed at the Special Olympics during his appearance on The Tonight Show on Thursday.

The President, discussing his mediocre bowling skills with host Jay Leno, said he was disappointed with his latest score of 129.

“It was like the Special Olympics or something,” the President said.

On his way back to Washington on Air Force One, Obama called the chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, to say he was sorry, even before the taped program aired late Thursday night.

“He expressed his disappointed and he apologized in a way that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate this population,” Shriver said Friday on ABC’s Good Morning America. Obama, Shriver said, wants to have some Special Olympic athletes visit the White House to bowl or play basketball.

Still, Shriver said, “I think it’s important to see that words hurt and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can be seem as humiliating or a put down to people with special needs do cause pain and they do result in stereotypes.”

Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters traveling with Obama that the president’s offhand remark was not meant to disparage the Special Olympics, only to poke some fun at the commander-in-chief’s bowling skills.

“He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world,” Burton said.

[From Radar Online]

There’s no question the joke was in poor taste, but I also knew what Obama was trying to say. He was trying to be self-deprecating, but it just got mangled. It’s great that he apologized, and it sounds like the Special Olympics chairman is giving Obama a pass now.

President Barack Obama (with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, above) speaking about AIG on the South Lawn of the White House before his departure to California on Wednesday. Images thanks to WENN.com.

President Obama just keeps on breaking new ground. Thursday night, Obama became the first sitting president to appear on a late-night talk show. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and it was a pretty good interview.

Before he even sat down with Jay, there was a lot of consternation from Congressional Republicans and conservative pundits that Obama was sullying the dignity of the office by appearing on a late-nihgt talk show. Once Pres. Obama came out on Jay’s set, I kind of saw the Republicans’ point. He didn’t look bad or anything, but coming across as “just a normal guy” can always backfire. He’s not a normal guy – he’s the President of the United States. But on to the interview.

Jay and Obama did three segments, roughly seven minutes each. There was some joking around and Obama had several good and funny lines throughout, but most of the conversation revolved around actual policy and political talking points. Just so I wear my affiliation on my sleeve, I voted for Obama, and I still adore my President. In interviews, I have always found him charming and relatable, with an ease and a grace that only comes along once in a political generation. Tonight was no different. If anything, Obama seemed more wonkishly intelligent, as well as charismatic and pleasantly exhausted.

On “life in the bubble”
The interview started out with Obama talking about “life in the bubble” of the presidency. He told a funny story about how the Secret Service wouldn’t let him walk 75 yards to a location, that they made him take the motorcade. He also joked about the circus vibe the motorcade gives off, saying “the doctor is walking behind me with the defibulator.”

On the AIG bonus scandal
Obama talked about AIG and the criticisms that he and his administration have received this week (and this month, and last month, etc). He said, “It’s a little bit like American Idol, only everyone is Simon Cowell.” Obama reiterated that it will take “a while” to get out of the financial mess we’re in, and that AIG and the financial system failed because they were built on “a house of cards”. He criticized AIG’s (and other corporate barons) for their “sense of entitlement”, and said he hoped America would be able to “get back to the values that built America.”

On fairer tax rates
Obama said that he hopes America can get back to the tax rates we had in the 1990s, even if it would mean he and Jay would have to pay more. When Leno asked him if some of these corporate crooks should go to jail, Obama responded “Most of the stuff that got us into trouble was perfectly legal… [which is why] we need to get back to some financial regulation.” I disagree, Mr. President. I’m not even a lawyer, but I know fraud when I see it. This, out of everything, is what I have always felt is Obama’s Achilles heel – he is much too generous with his enemies. And there’s no question in my mind that AIG and so many other corporate wankers are the enemy.

Takes responsibility for problems
Obama also defended his Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner. I find Geitner rather hapless, but Obama’s got his back, so I guess he’s sticking around for a while. Obama also takes some of the weight off Geitner, saying “I’m the president, ultimately this is my responsibility.” This comes literally hours after Vice President Dick Cheney’s denial-filled interview on CNN, where Cheney would not admit to any mistakes, or admit any wrong-doings, ever. The fact that Obama owns many of the mistakes that weren’t even made on his watch is what makes him extraordinary, in my opinion.

A new dog, basketball court are coming to the White House
Leno didn’t let Obama talk about the fun stuff until the end. Obama confirmed the dog is coming, most likely after the NATO summit next month. He also said that Sasha and Malia are totally ambivalent with all of the trappings of the White House, saying that in their first ride on Marine One, the girls were more focused on who had the Starbursts. He also confirmed that he will most likely transform one of the White House tennis courts into a basketball court.

Throughout the interview, Leno gave Obama plenty of time to explain his points, and Leno never got in his face. It was a very nice way to interview Obama, a politician who seems to shun the easy 10-second talking points that most journalists thrive on. All in all, it was a good interview, and I totally understand why Obama did it. No matter what has happened in the past 60 days (and seriously, this administration is only 60 days old), most people still really like and trust President Obama. He is his own best messenger.

When British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Washington at the beginning of the month, it was more than just a visit with two heads of state. The general rule for an incoming American administration is that the British head of state (or the prime minister, since many consider the Queen the British head of state) will be the first world leader to visit a new American president. It has something to do with the British-American “special relationship” and all of that stuff.

Since it was their first formal meeting as Prime Minister and President, a gift-giving ceremony was in order. Generally, presidents and prime ministers give gifts to each other upon the first meeting or for special occasions. As formal gift-giving has become a bit of scandal in America with the hints of pay-offs and tax frauds, American gift-giving has taken a hit. George W. Bush was somewhat famous for giving away pens.

So what gifts did Gordon Brown and President Obama exchange? I hate to admit it, but Brown’s gifts were really, really cool, and Obama’s gifts sucked. According to The Daily Mail, Brown gave Obama “an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet.” Brown also gave Obama a first-edition seven-part Churchill biography, and lavished gifts on Malia and Sasha, getting them dresses and as-yet unpublished British-authored children’s books. Cool.

So what did President Obama give The Browns? Twenty-five DVDs, stuff you could pick up at Blockbuster. The movies were good, don’t get me wrong. The collection included Veritgo, Schindler’s List, The Grapes of Wrath, E.T., Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Casablanca, On the Waterfront, To Kill a Mockingbird, Chinatown, Some Like It Hot and The Searchers. But considering the thought Gordon Brown put into his gifts, Obama’s gifts are totally lame. The British papers thought so too:

As he headed back home from Washington, Gordon Brown must have rummaged through his party bag with disappointment. Because all he got was a set of DVDs. Barack Obama, the leader of the world’s richest country, gave the Prime Minister a box set of 25 classic American films – a gift about as exciting as a pair of socks.

Mr Brown is not thought to be a film buff, and his reaction to the box set is unknown. But it didn’t really compare to the thoughtful presents he had brought along with him.

The Prime Minister gave Mr Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. The unique present delighted Mr Obama because oak from the Gannet’s sister ship, HMS Resolute, was carved to make a desk that has sat in the Oval Office in the White House since 1880.

Mr Brown also handed over a framed commission for HMS Resolute and a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert. In addition, Mr Brown and his wife showered gifts on the Obama children giving Sasha and Malia an outfit each from Topshop and six children’s books by British authors which are shortly to be published in America.

In return, the Obamas gave the Browns two models of the presidential helicopter, Marine One, to take home to sons Fraser and John. The Prime Minister has not had the best of luck when receiving gifts from U.S. presidents.

He was given a fur-trimmed brown leather bomber jacket by George W. Bush during his first trip to America in the summer of 2007. Commentators gleefully pointed out that the garment was hardly in keeping with Mr Brown’s usual sober attire of business suit and tie.
Downing Street yesterday refused to state which movies were in the box set.

But the Mail has learned it included classics such as Star Wars, The Godfather and Citizen Kane and was produced by the American Film Institute as a ‘special request’ for the White House last month.

Perhaps pertinently, given Britain is floundering in an economic slump, the DVD collection was thought to feature the movie of John Steinbeck’s Great Depression novel, ‘The Grapes Of Wrath’. The gift also included the Oscar-winning boxing biopic ‘Raging Bull’ starring Robert Di Nero and Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller Psycho – maybe a comment on the PM’s notorious short fuse?

And he will hope that at a General Election the British public do not shun his imploration for another term in office by thinking at the ballot box of the famous line from another of the movies, Casblanca: ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.’

But following Mr Brown’s his recent troubles – the UK entering recession, soaring job losses and home repossessions, Labour struggling in the polls and threats of leadership challenges – he may be pleased at being able to settle down for a quiet night in front of the ultimate feel-good movie: It’s A Wonderful Life.

From The Daily Mail

I would totally understand a movie-related gift if Gordon Brown was some sort of famous movie-buff. But even then, I wouldn’t give him a set of DVDs anyone could order from Amazon. If Brown was a movie buff, you’d get him a limited edition Japanese poster from The Searchers or something like that.

One of the best gifts (in my opinion) that an American president ever gave a head of state was when President Bush took the then-prime minister of Japan Koizumi to Graceland. Prime Minister Koizumi was famously obsessed with Elvis Pressley, and it was a remarkably sweet gesture from President Bush to his friend.

Obama and Gordon Brown are shown in Washington on March 3, 2009. Credit: Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/MCT; KRTPhotos/Newscom