Aw: Stingy president stiffs daughters’ school with weak charity gift

Fluffy fun on a slow news night. Look, as much as we’d all like to believe he’s the Superpresident, and as glad as we are that he and Michelle are “the planet’s hottest rock stars,” we need to cowboy up and face a hard truth:

The guy’s just not very good at giving gifts.

In 1996, a round of golf with Bill Clinton went for nearly six figures; another year Chelsea Clinton offered up her babysitting services to the highest bidder.

This past weekend was the Obamas’ first chance to participate in the Sidwell Friends School Dollars for Scholars benefit, and some families who remember the Clintons’ support are disappointed in the Obamas’ first showing.

According to a source with ties to the school, the only items up for bid from the Obamas included a signed copy of the Rolling Stone issue featuring the president and a signed copy of the January Vogue that featured the first lady.

“There were expectations that they might donate something more personal, like the Clintons did,” said another source who knew about the auction. “Lots of people were disappointed.”

Michelle’s anniversary gift this year: A Garfield card with the inscription, “Thanks for all you do — Best, B.” Some of our readers were goofing on him in the Headlines thread about this for being narcissistic in signing his own magazine cover, but that barely even rates on O’s self-admiration scale. We are, after all, talking here about a guy who goes around telling colleagues how gifted he is. Today’s official most self-regarding presidential gambit, in case you’re keeping score at how: Terrorizing lower Manhattan for a photo op of Air Force One.

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