Class Counts, Well, Not Everywhere

A man's gotta know his limitations! Let me confess at least one of mine that I've discovered. There are a few universities where I probably couldn't make the grade... Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Arizona State.

Arizona State?! No, don't think I could cut it there. Heck the President of the United States can't even get an honorary doctorate there!

“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,” university spokeswoman Sharon Keeler said after the school’s student newspaper first reported the decision.

At the beginning of his presidency?! Let's see, at last count in the 239 year history of this country he's one of only 44 presidents. That doesn't count? I mean after all, you do have to convince the majority of eligible voters in this country that you can do the job.

Degrees from Columbia and Harvard Universities don't count? Constitutional law professor doesn't mean anything? Community organizer (don't start, I'm pretty much through trying to convince people predisposed to believe that its not a real job)? State representative? No points for becoming a state senator? In one of arguably, the toughest political state in the union? No? Becoming CEO of a company which generated almost a billion dollars in revenue in less than two years (essentially that's what the campaign for president became - someone said if the campaign had been an actual corporation its advertising budget would have rivaled McDonald's!), whose sole purpose was to get him elected President of the United States - and succeeding? Not enough, huh? Best selling author? No? How about best selling author of two books?! No go? How about the first African-American president in the history of a country in which 45 years ago, his father couldn't vote and indeed his parents would have been arrested or lynched?

No?! Did I mention he did it all by the age of 47?! "His body of work is yet to come..."

REALLY?! Wow!

Do you think our standards are a little high?

The President spoke at ASU's commencement anyway. What did he say? Among other things he said,

"...I come here not to dispute the suggestion that I haven’t yet achieved enough in my life. I come here to embrace it; to heartily concur; to affirm that one’s title, even a title like president, says very little about how well one’s life has been led — and that no matter how much you’ve done, or how successful you’ve been, there’s always more to do, more to learn, more to achieve.”

He went on to say...

"This is what building a body of work is all about — it’s about the daily labor, the many individual acts, the choices large and small that add up to a lasting legacy. It’s about not being satisfied with the latest achievement, the latest gold star — because one thing I know about a body of work is that it’s never finished,” Obama said. “It’s cumulative; it deepens and expands with each day that you give your best, and give back, and contribute to the life of this nation."

Arizona State University is tough I tell you! You can't even get extra credit for having class!