My Prez wants to party all the time, party all the time, party all the ti-ime

Libya, Bahrain, Egypt, & many other parts of the Middle East are burning, Japan is suffering its worst catastrophe since WWII with deaths likely in the tens of thousands from last Friday’s earthquake, Republicans and Democrats in DC are in crisis mode, unable to agree on how to continue funding the government and cut the deficit. The economy is still in the tank, with no end in sight and with millions still unemployed. What’s our celebrity President up to? Partying (via Memeorandum):

Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama headlines a Democratic party event Wednesday night, the second time this week and fourth time this month he’s been the main attraction at a party gathering.

[…]

Monday night the president attended another DNC event in Washington, meeting with approximately 50 supporters and potential supporters of his 2012 re-election bid. Obama raised a record breaking $750 million dollars in his 2008 campaign for president and could bring in up to $1 billion for his re-election bid.

On March 4th he headlined two fundraisers in Miami Beach for Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Last week he helped the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee bring in around $1 million at a fundraiser in Boston, Massachusetts.

Just yesterday, we learned that the President was busy filling out his NCAA tournament bracket – and taped his picks for an ESPN segment:

Nice.

I certainly don’t begrudge any President taking vacations, or attending fundraisers, and doing other things of a similar nature. As I’ve noted before, the President doesn’t stop being President just because he’s not physically in the Oval Office. But symbolism is everything in politics, and this President sends out exactly the wrong message he needs to in times of turmoil, something Bush was slammed for in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina but on which Obama mostly gets a free pass. He’s acting in the same careless manner that he did during the oil spill. I wrote about it at the time:

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 β€œcovering 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 β€œdays” before he visited the affected areas (and let’s not forget that there was a β€œraaacist” 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, β€œOh, 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.

Epic.failure.in.leadership. Rinse, wash, repeat.

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