President Obama had been getting hit hard with his recent trips to the golf course. Hitting the links is becoming synonymous with his Presidency. In fact its become national news when talking about it.
Recently CNN has shown Obama golfing shortly after giving his speech on the beheading of James Foley. The next day, there were again reports of the President on the links going golfing. Its gotten so bad that even his supporters are growing weary of defending his actions.
MSNBC Joe Scarborough even weighed in on his show saying the fact Obama went golfing is a show disrespect towards ISIS.
Now, the White House Press Secretary Eric Schultz said the following about the many golfing rounds the President has played. “I will say that generally I think that sports and leisure activities are a good way for release and clearing of the mind for a lot of us.”
Schultz was further asked about how engaged the President is when he goes golfing after such events. It would be like Bush heading off to the golf course after giving his 9/11 speech from the ruins of the twin towers, or FDR heading off to a vacation after giving his declaration of war speech on December 8, 1941, or even Kennedy heading off to the golf course after seeing the pictures of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.
The problem for Obama is one of image. The timing of his golf outings do not give an impression that the President is engaged, and that is what citizens are looking for in these trying times.