The Middle East is afire with rebellion, Japan is imploding from an earthquake, and the battle of the budget is on in the United States, but none of this seems to be deterring President Obama from a heavy schedule of childish distractions.
The newly installed tandem of White House Chief of Staff William Daley and Senior Adviser David Plouffe were supposed to impart a new sense of discipline and purpose to the White House. Instead, they are permitting him to showcase himself as a poorly focused leader who has his priorities backward.
This morning, as Japan’s nuclear crisis enters a potentially catastrophic phase, we are told that Obama is videotaping his NCAA tournament picks and that we’ll be able to tune into ESPN Wednesday to find out who he likes.
Saturday, he made his 61st outing to the golf course as president, and got back to the White House with just enough time for a quick shower before heading out to party with Washington’s elite journalists at the annual Gridiron Dinner.
With various urgencies swirling about him, Saturday’s weekly videotaped presidential address focusing on “Women’s History Month” seemed bizarrely out of touch.
Obama Friday took time out to honor the 2009-10 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks. Thursday was a White House conference on bullying – not a bad idea perhaps, but not quite Leader of the Free World stuff either.
Obama appeared a little sleepy as he weighed in against the bullies, perhaps because he’d spent the night before partying with lawmakers as they took in a Chicago Bulls vs. Charlotte Bobcats game.
Meanwhile, the president has been studying for weeks whether to establish a No Fly Zone over Libya, delaying action while the point becomes increasingly moot as Qaddafi begins to defeat and slaughter his opponents. And lawmakers from both Parties are wondering why he seems to be AWOL in the deficit reduction debate.
The Libya indecision follows an inconsistent response to the protests that ousted former Egyptian President Mubarak and seemed to catch the White House off guard. The perfunctory response from the White House Monday to Saudi Arabia’s dispatch of troops to Bahrain suggested the administration wasn’t prepared for that one either.
But the fun stuff won’t end anytime soon. On Thursday, the Taoiseach of Ireland will be in town to help the president celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. And then Friday it’s off to Brazil for the start of a three-country Latin American tour.
Oddly, he’ll be missing Carnival, which went down last week.
1,288 thoughts on “President Obama’s Trivial Pursuits”
This should not be a surprise to anyone. The President is a “community organizer” with scant experience as a Senator. Neither of these positions required him to actual be a leader. Community organizers do exactly that, they “organize” communities through consensus and compromise. While consensus and compromise are valuable tools, “leading” often requires making decisions without putting your finger in the air to see which way the prevailing wind is blowing. As President, “leading” also requires acting like things in the world matter to the country you “lead.” The terms “ill prepared” and “over his head” come to mind or could it be that the terms “clueless” and “careless” are more appropriate? I’m just asking.
Competence matters. 2012 can’t come soon enough.
Obuma didn’t run for President to work, he wants to PARTEE and have the colon sucking media to lick his shoes. He’s a lousy Prez and golfer. The only thing he’s good at is going on vacation, flying on Airforce One with an adoring entourage and spending our money. I don’t know why he needs a plane with those Dumbo ears. At least as Senator he was there to vote present, which is more than he’s doing as President. No one cares what he thinks about the NCAA’s or anything else.
Of course, it’s become cliched to keep saying, “What if Bush had done that?” But let’s face it, the same people who think this is “ho-hum” would be shrieking in the most strident, enraged tones about “Dubya’s” fiddling.
“Nero fiddles while Rome burns”?
Somebody needs to seriously advise our President to get to work and work hard for the remainder of his term. His lacking performance has become an almost daily shame and embarrassment at home and abroad. If it were not for the comparable or worse inadequacy of who would fill the position until the next election, Joe Biden, I believe there would be a clarion call for the President to resign. Both the USA and the world need a sound President and Mr. Obama is not it nor is he even close to it after two plus years in office. That is the truth.
You are all missing the point. For Obama and his backers evrything is going according to plan. The decline of america, and the rise of Islamic radicals here and abroad were all part of this plan. That is why he is off golfing. Things are going well for him and his peeps. America destroyed from within…praise be to Allah. He quotes in arabic from the Koran and avoids all Christian holy days…wake up people! Barack Hussein Obama, not the Hussein. Is this thing on??? “We are just a few days away from fundamentally transforming america.” His words. Look up fundamentally in the dictionary.
Agreed 100%… Impeach!!!
I agree Joseph. I used to think birthers & those who thought Obama was Mulim were crazy RWF extremists. Now, I know either he wasn’t born in Hawaii, or his father wasn’t BHO I. And he wrote every word of “Dreams” just like JFK wrote “Profiles in Courage”. Yeah, right.
The tired old cliche is right – actions speak louder than words. Look at what Obama does & doesn’t do – and it’s clear his loyalty isn’t to the USA, and that he HATES America & his own fellow citizens, esp. “white” Americans.
Jarrett & Sunstein et al are deliberately creating chaos – just like Cloward & Piven advised doing, years ago.
I’m 52-years-old, and was one of those annoyingly precocious kids who was fascinated by politics by the time I was 12. I’ve read and studied an awful lot of American history, and I can’t think of any president who remotely compares to what Obama is doing right now.
Yes, I know there’s Coolidge’s philosophy on 9 out of 10 problems coming down the road will drive into a ditch before they get there, but these problems are here!
You said. accurately, that Obama seems “bizarrely out of touch,” but to me, it is more accurate to say that Obama seems weirdly disinterested, and I mean using the term correctly, not as in uninterested, but as in none of these problems having any consequences for him or the country he is supposed to be leading.
He says some brief consoling words about the Japan disaster as if he were talking about sending aid to typhoon victims in Bengladesh, not massive destruction wreaked upon one of our closest and most important allies. His feelings about Libya seem to be equivalent to those of an obscure former Soviet Republic disputing an election, he treats the budget nightmare as if he’s holding out for a better offer from a car dealer…there’s no need to go on.
As someone who’s far closer to all this, do you have any perspective on what’s going on? He has made it clear from the beginning that he does not want the US to lead in the world. For example, does that explain his attitude of disinterest in foreign affairs, that international problems are the responsibility of international institutions?
Or is he simply doing what he wants to do and assigning the problems to others? Or is he just way over his head? Or as he given up any hope of reelection and is letting everything slide?
It’s weird, man. He doesn’t even seem to feel an obligation to lead.
“but to me, it is more accurate to say that Obama seems weirdly disinterested”.
Great description, and I agree! It’s almost as if he’s gotten the job and now he’s just kicking back enjoying all the drippings that come along with being the president….but not actually doing anything to earn them. Kind of like some union folks I know….
Plouffe and the new staff were supposed to Gergenize the White House, but to little avail. Either the President is not listening to his advisors or the advisors are joining him on his 2011 Voting Present Tour.
Who is surprised by this?
He isn’t interested in the well being of our nation.
He is only worried about his rock star image.
“Yes we can” be a thrid world country.
It’s hard to believe… this is the President of the United States of America, our Leader. Almost as bad, so few media outlets are reporting just how awful Obama is doing or every thing he isn’t doing but should or even the really stupid decisions and things he has done. Where is America’s out cry?
there are no words to describe this , basketball and parties are first on the agenda. I can think of a few words but; they are unfit to print.
Well put
In many ways we might be better off with no leader than a bad leader.
O.thugo is the poster boy for bullying. Trying to find “whose ass to kick”, his boots on the throat of BP, summons BP to the White House to shake them down for $20 B, telling Congress to pass his policies because “I won”, telling Hispanics to take out their enemies (Republicans), firing the CEO of GM putting in his “boy” to implement the plan to bust the shareholders by giving GM to the union, stopping all oil drilling, not just the moratorium on deep water drilling, to prevent the US from being energy independent, decreeing the DOMA Act unconstitutional, in contempt of two judicial orders: lift the moratorium on deep water drilling and continuing to implement Obamacare against an injunction to cease and desist because the WHOLE law in un-Constitutional, bullying and bribing corrupt lawmakers in Congress for votes on Obamacare, banking regulations, and other countries to take the terrorists he released from Gitmo (in J. Ass third round of Wikileaks), picking winners and losers in the sweepstakes of “stimulus” money, distributing money directly with no House approval the only means to legally fund expenditures: $2billion to Petrobras, Soros’ Brazilian oil company and the first recipient of two oil rigs from the Gulf that O.thugo had “closed down” and $2M sent to Kenya to control their elections and rewrite their Constitution (seems to be very concerned about the country where he claims wasn’t born) and lying. O.Nero is partying, golfing and heading to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and on to Rio for serious festival partying while the World burns. He may be emulating Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned down, so he could rebuild and name it Neropolis. O.dodat golfs, picks basketball brackets, parties, vacations,,,new age fiddling… while America burns, so he can rebuild and name it ObaMAOpolis. What a waste of oxygen this mouth breathing neanderthal throwback is…
urstrange – excellent post. You summed him up.
“I will not rest until….
I’d say it gives new meaning to many words: Mistake…loser…pathetic…embarrassment…clueless…nightmare…etc!
tc. No look those words up in the dictionary, they are the true meaning of the ONE!
Be afraid, Be very afraid. We have a very sad excuse for a leader in the White House. SOS. Can we survive 2 more years os this….
Throw this BUM out now
What a disaster this President is…I love how the Media keeps coddling him and won’t call him on his inaction with Japan, Libya and the National Debt. Vote this bum out in 2012!
Plouffe and the other new guy were supposed to Gergenize the White House. Either the President has chosen to ignore what is supposed to be good advice from learned men (ahem) or the advisors are there for show and have instead, opted to join the President on his 2011 Voting Present Tour around the country (and the world).
Obama…the affirmative action president put up by racist democrats…unqualified, in-over-his-head, a real hack…NOT a leader.
I long for the Clinton days. Even as a republican, I have to admit that Clinton was far more presidential even with all of his shortcomings and distractions….
Bill Clinton? “Shortcomings and distractions”?
Are you referring to the lying, philandering, disgraced, disbarred, self-absorbed, lip biting, draft dodging git Bill Clinton?
That Bill Clinton…? You might want to conjure up another role model. Like Ferris Bueller, maybe.
He has to be the weakest president I can remember; worse than Carter.
One of the worst presidents this country has seen in a long, long time.
AS in “EVER?”
Obama could throw a pillowcase full of kittens into the Chicago River and the sniveling DC press corp’s headline would read, “Obama Fights Animal Over-Population’.
He didn’t want to compete with Carnival for people’s attention while he reads off teleprompters.
Our public schools are a disaster. Too many are classified as failing by “No Child Left Behind”, so rather than hold unionized teachers accountable, and possibly alienate a MAJOR Democrat source of funding, our President wants to LOWER THE STANDARDS.
Thank you for reporting this. This story needs to be front page news all across the country. This story and the racist horrible event going on in Dayton concerning the dumbing down of America. We need to stop this NOW, and we need a president who is in-tune to what is going on in this country, not what social event is happening. If we do not get this man out of the presidency soon, this country is DOOMED!
I normally am not one to wish time away however, 2012 cannot come soon enough.
Is he on vacation?
Yet again, while the World is in crisis, President Obama finds it perfectly okay to do some golfing, put together his bracket picks and party with the Hollywood set. Nevermind that thousands have lost their lives and the third largest economy is being devastated by natural and environmental disasters. Nevermind that Saudi Arabia is activating thousands of troops, Libya is crushing the rebels and a chance to oust the wicked Gadaffi is being lost. Nevermind that Egypt, our strategic ally is being taken over and dictated to by the Muslim Brotherhood. Yes, these are all small potatoes…when upstart Belmont is about to upset Wisconsin in the first round…man, these bracket decisions are tough…good thing Obama has his priorities straight. Meanwhile here at home, jobs are being lost, oil is NOT being drilled, the economy weakens, the dollar falls and Obama just keeps dreaming up ways to spend more of what we don’t have. Spending money foolishly seems to be the only thing he has been successful at. If the guy can’t lead and won’t lead, why doesn’t he just resign. His heart isn’t in it. His brain isn’t in it. He wasn’t prepared to be in it and now it is clearly obvious to all what a mistake it was to vote for a community organizer with no credentials.
Picky, picky, picky
This poor excuse for an American needs to be removed A.S.A.P. for the country’s sake and the worlds sake.
Sorry, did I say American?
What a good for nothing President. God help us all!
The Goof Off-Spectator and Chief hopped down the rabbit hole and is hiding with Alice and the Queen of Spades. He will never be a true leader and all he can do, is to rev up the lying teleprompters and lecture school children. The non citizen is telling other world leaders what to do, while he plays golf and tries to locate the long form BC. He is one pathetic person!!
Priorities.
WHAT?!?! I am going to miss Carnival!!! What stupid person is responsible for my schedule? Oh well, I may as well just bring the golf clubs with me.
What else did you expect from the most incompitent and least qualified president in our lifetime? The only thing he cam to office with is a socialist agenda and he can not even carry that off.
Finally we see this moron doing something that he is well qualified to do….pick NCAA BBall games. What an absolute disgrace for this putz to be in the highest office of the land and be reactive rather than proactve in almost everythign that he does (except for shoving a Healthcare bill down our throats that 63% of Americans do not want)…he was pretty active on that one…whoo hoooo
The world is a distraction to NObama. He wants to be the community organizer and not be bothered with running the United States.
If he ignores the world long enough all of the problems will fix themselves.
Basketball is more important than anything else in the world, well maybe golf is as important.
Impeach this poor excuse for a president! Country and world wrecker!
All talk, and no action. Can you say the words, “Lame Duck!”
Any CEO acting like Barry would be fired.
Barry is both inept and lazy.
This man is a joke, he’s worse than Chamberlain before WWII.
All talk, and no action. He should be taking a leading role visual in the Japanese crisis. Can you say the words, “Lame Duck!”
All this “Leader of the Free World” stuff isn’t really all that much fun!
ya, this what you elected as a President
boy 2012 can not come fast enough.
Herman Cain in 2012
If only….love Herman Cain!!!!
And this is surprising??? Its like our fearless leader is on a 4 year vacation….all at our expense…..
Is he deaf? Or just dumb?
Obama is just an unbelievable, feckless, impotent, disgrace for a President; who when he isn’t dithering, does everything he can to intentionally muck things up. Mr. “My plan would necessarily cause energy prices to skyrocket.” His current Hamlet redux performance is matched only by his oblivious arrogance, prancing before the camera while the world burns. Clearly he doesn’t like to govern; that’s just not worth his time. What with coaching his daughter’s basketball team (when she’s off skiing), golfing, hoops, photo ops, TV face time, vacations, and fund raising, you cannot expect him to be bothered with pesky decisions. That’s what the commi-czars are for. It’s good to be the king when the only vote needed is “present”. The media covers up for their wunderkind, great black hope, who makes the pilotage of Jimmy Carter look like the golden years. Keeping this contemptable failure at 43% approval ratings clearly is a full time job and a testimate to the ultimate gullliblility of much of the electorate.
I miss George Bush.
All talk, and no action. He should be taking a leading visual role in the Japanese crisis. Can you say the words, “Lame Duck!”
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