On June 14, Sunni rebels threatened Baghdad after seizing much of Iraq — and President Obama fearlessly played a round at the Sunnylands Golf Course in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The next day, the militants posted pictures of their mass execution of Shiite members of Iraq’s security forces — and Obama boldly teed off again, at Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s Rancho Mirage estate.
These split-screen scenes were reminiscent of the weekend in March when Russia was about to annex Crimea. Obama played golf both Saturday and Sunday at Ocean Reef resort in Key Largo, Fla., with former NBA star Alonzo Mourning and former NFL player Ahmad Rashad. It’s enough to make one wish the president would take up a different pastime — say, stamp collecting.
Yes, a president needs down time. And, yes, he can run the country whether he’s in a sand trap or the Situation Room. But Obama’s golf habit needlessly hands his critics a gimme.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, writing in the Wall Street Journal with his daughter Liz, complained: “Terrorists take control of more territory and resources than ever before in history, and he goes golfing.” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers gave a TV interview asking Obama to “please come back from the golf course” and find an Iraq solution.
Is golf really so important that Obama is willing to handicap his political standing? Evidently so. CBS News’ Mark Knoller, the unofficial statistician of presidential activities, reports that Bush played golf only 24 times while in the White House; Obama is up to 177 and now has a round-a-week habit.
More:
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/264664161.html#qXSj5GF4OPfDAMIf.97
These split-screen scenes were reminiscent of the weekend in March when Russia was about to annex Crimea. Obama played golf both Saturday and Sunday at Ocean Reef resort in Key Largo, Fla., with former NBA star Alonzo Mourning and former NFL player Ahmad Rashad. It’s enough to make one wish the president would take up a different pastime — say, stamp collecting.
Yes, a president needs down time. And, yes, he can run the country whether he’s in a sand trap or the Situation Room. But Obama’s golf habit needlessly hands his critics a gimme.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, writing in the Wall Street Journal with his daughter Liz, complained: “Terrorists take control of more territory and resources than ever before in history, and he goes golfing.” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers gave a TV interview asking Obama to “please come back from the golf course” and find an Iraq solution.
Is golf really so important that Obama is willing to handicap his political standing? Evidently so. CBS News’ Mark Knoller, the unofficial statistician of presidential activities, reports that Bush played golf only 24 times while in the White House; Obama is up to 177 and now has a round-a-week habit.
More:
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/264664161.html#qXSj5GF4OPfDAMIf.97