Hey, O: Could you at least try to *look* like you care?

Sigh:

[Canada – G20] When U.S. President Barack Obama stepped off his helicopter in Huntsville on Friday, the first thing he said was, “You’ve got a lot of golf courses here, don’t you?” Industry Minister Tony Clement told the National Post in an exclusive interview.

“I told him, ‘We would really recommend and love it if you could come back here with Michelle and the kids at some point — we think you’d really love it here,’” Minister Clement said on the sidewalk of Huntsville’s Main Street, in his home riding. “I think I’ve planted a seed in the President’s mind.”

Uh, yeah. It’s not like he’s familiar with golf courses or anything. 8-|

I’ve been hesitant to criticize Obama on the issue of him “playing golf during a crisis” – because I know, just like everyone else does, that a President never truly is “on vacation” or “on break.” Folks on the left relentlessly criticized Bush for “taking vacations during a time of war” as if a President isn’t conneted 24-7 with key members of his team and in tune with anything relevant going on that he needs to know about. Not only that, but President Obama being on the coast there 24-7 would be nothing but a distraction since he doesn’t know what the heck is going on anyway – or how to resolve it, apparently.

What I have an issue with is the image it projects. One golf game is one thing, but this guy is on the golf course every week, it seems, and during a crisis like the Gulf oil spill, it just doesn’t make sense to be seen every week out there looking like you’re having the time of your life while oil is gushing into our waters and thousands of people across the Gulf coastline are suffering. Can you imagine if this were Bush? Oh wait, we don’t have to imagine it, because Bush was relentlessly dogged by both the left and the mainstream press for not being at the WH “covering all the bases” in the days leading up to Katrina, for not being in the flood waters trying to rescue people after Katrina, and for taking “days” before he visited the affected areas (and let’s not forget that there was a “raaacist” motivation behind his response). And no matter how Bush tried to rectify the mis-perception, his political enemies remained relentless.

But with President Obama, many lefties and media types are treating him like, “Oh, leave him alone. He needs the break, because he’s got a tough life right now.” As if there was a time when any President didn’t have it tough.

All of this makes President Obama look disengaged and removed from what’s going on, almost as if he didn’t care like a President should care. And, quite frankly, I’m starting to wonder if he really does.

PS: And one more thing: The admin had some nerve criticizing Tony Hayward for his “insensitive” yachting excursion while at the same time defending President Obama’s numerous golf outings, one of which, I believe, happened on the same weekend Hayward was out yachting. Talk about chutzpah!

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