Make Hillary Secretary of State? Rescue the American car industry? Bail out the national banking system? Barack Obama may do all these things and more. But one thing he can't do: mess with college football.

Thus the shock waves when Obama, at the end of an otherwise uneventful debut interview as President-elect, suggested that college football might follow the example of every other major league and college sport in the US, and establish a series of playoffs between the top teams, to produce an agreed national champion.

The furore has yet to die down. "I don't know any serious fan of college football who disagrees with me on this," Obama told CBS 60 minutes. Well, he might start by reading the sports columnists who've been sputtering with outrage at the notion for the past week.

Read more.

Question: What's this all about? Is it important? Is it a distraction? Or is it just pre-inauguration banter that means nothing.

Michael McCarthy writes: Can you hear it, the great unlocking sound? It's the sound of the door swinging open at last after nearly eight long years of being bolted and barred, the door that leads to progress in the world's attempt to grapple with the biggest problem it has ever faced: global climate change.

Barack Obama's statement of intent about the coming year's negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol suddenly raises an electrifying possibility: the possibility of success.

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Every sign of change is pounced on, almost ravenously, as Obama gives signs of fulfilling hopes. But this is the easy bit. Do you think the idealism will sruvive the realities of office?
 

Johann Hari writes of Obama's chance to end the Star Wars programme:

One of Obama's first choices will bewhether to bring to an end one of the strangest episodes in American political history.

This is the tale of how a man with Alzheimer's Disease came up with a physically impossible fantasy based on a B-movie he once starred in – and how the US spent $160bn trying to make it come true. These billions succeeded only in making some defence companies very rich, and making Russia point its nukes at Poland and the UK once more. And if Obama doesn't decide to close this long-running farce now, it will make one more contribution to world history: the number of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the world will dramatically increase.

Read more.

Will Obama take the opportunity to make a dramatic shift from the policies of his predecessors? Would it be the right thing to do or would he immediately draw criticisms over the state of US security?

Oh they've all changed now. Suddenly they all like Obama, so even Republican spokesmen are saying things like: "This great and truly memorable moment shows what a wonderful country we are.

"Sure, during the campaign we called him a sleazy Marxist terrorist dirty Muslim atheist thieving anti-American Arab anarchist lying cowardly darky, but let's not allow that to cloud this joyful, wonderful result."

Some of them almost slip-up and say, "Can I be the first to say how glad I am that this moment, which I've spent my entire life trying to prevent, has happened."

Andrew Grice writes on our blogs of the rush in the UK to be seen withObama:

Barack Obama's remarkable victory is already making waves in British politics. On the face of it, the triumph of change over experience is good news for David Cameron. The Tories have been cosying up to Obama in recent weeks, conveniently forgetting that John McCain addressed their party conference in Bournemouth two years ago.
"America has made history and proved to the world that it is a nation eager for change," Cameron said this morning. "In these difficult times people everywhere are crying out for change." No decoding required there.

It's Melissa.  I left Harlem, New York 24 hours ago, flew over the North Pole and landed back in smoggy ol' Delhi. A heady rush of emotion (and severe jet lag) left me sobbing with emotion as President-elect Obama accepted the nomination.  Wow. President Obama.  Pretty amazing.
  
I'm sorry I'm missing the wild parties back in the US, but I'm excited to be back in India for the election for the chance to see how the rest of the world reacts to the news. This is one of the greatest benefits to being an expat abroad: I get to see my country and myself through the eyes of others.  It is incredibly easy to forget the outside world when you're living in a nation, like the US, that takes up so much of the news on the world stage.  And the US media often opts to forgo international news for the latest sensational news story.  In fact, I had a hard time while in the US staying current on Indian news.  But for now, there is a good reason all eyes are on the US.  We're making history.

From the Indian corner of the world, it seems that people abroad are pretty proud of the US, and excited about the new direction.  It's the first time in a long time that being an American abroad doesn't draw complaints, but rather draws complements and congratulations.  Since 9/11, I haven't felt such a unification of international and national pride.

That feels pretty good, especially since I've felt my country has been so divided over the past few years, and especially the past few months.

I know: this is rather an incoherent posting.  Blame the jet lag.  But I do want to ask you guys something.  Actually, I want to ask the McCain supporters something.  In Obama's acceptance speech he told you he was going to be your president too.  Will he be?  Can he be?  What does he need to do to be?

I, for one, hope so.