On April 29, Barack Obama turns 100. Presidents sure do grow up fast. In many ways, the first 100 days are the most important time in a president’s career, perhaps due to the lopsided attention and arbitrary, question-begging importance bestowed upon them.

If you’re looking for 100-days coverage, you’re in the wrong place. Maybe Maury Povich is covering it, along with CNN, Fox, and Time. We at Owl and Bear would like to remember Obama in his double digits. 100 represents pre-millennial, base-ten, pre-hope/change thinking and is therefore hogwash. 99 is a progressive base-eleven-in-intervals-of-nine thought system, which is very now.

Plus, who knows what tomorrow may bring?

In his 99 days in office, Obama’s efficacy has been obvious and instantaneous. Even at the moment of being inaugurated, Obama wasted no time in changing the country, becoming the United States’ first black president. Also, because he and Chief Justice Roberts stumbled through the presidential oath on January 20, Obama became the nation’s seventh president to retake the oath.

Even Bo, the first dog, has had a historic 99 days. Though only having moved in earlier this month, this Portuguese water dog has taken more than 500 dumps on the White House lawn, thanks to his full-blown case of IBS, which made for a rather confusing, and gross, Easter egg hunt. Bo’s record more than doubles that of President Reagan’s dog Lucky, which was credited to good constitution. This bumps Nixon, the man, into third place.

With 99 days at this back, Obama’s at the helm of a country whose greatness remains unparalleled, as well as one that could stand some changes. Accomplishments have been made, which will be emphasized with transparent yellow markers in future textbooks, but so have mistakes, which the administration will try to cover up with black Sharpies.

Highlights:
– Restored a sense of hope to a country that was staring into an abyss
– Administered a bailout package that attempted to reign in a seemingly out-of-control economy
– First interview as president with Arabic cable TV network Al-Arabiya, showing his preference for diplomacy over war
– Revealed to the world that we torture and that we’re sorry we did it
– Took measures to cut green-houses gases—toxic to life on Earth as well as Earth itself—and temper the erratic climate
– Bowed, customarily, to the Saudi king
– Hates unregulated free-market capitalism
– Probably a socialist

Redactions:
– Diminished hope with sucky world economy, continued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a failure to capture and torture Osama bin Laden
– Hurricane Katrina (though it didn’t happen on his watch, the fact remains that it happened)
– First interview as president with Arabic cable TV network Al-Arabiya and not Fox News
– Gave away the secrets of some pretty sweet torture techniques
– Bowed, customarily,  to the Saudi king (when everyone knows that the king prefers to hold hands for an awkward amount of time)
– Took measures to cut green-house gases, indicators of an industrious, healthy economy
– Hates unregulated free-market capitalism
– Probably a socialist

So, there you have it. Our president in his prime, and it’s a pretty even cut. If this much can happen in the first 99 days, imagine what Obama’s presidency will look like after 198 days. Before we reach that landmark, though, there’s summer. So, check in with us again on June 21, 2009, when we’ll give you an Owl and Bear Official Obama Summer Solstice Update!