Barack Obama may not be Nero, who supposedly fiddled “while Rome burned.” But to the extent golfing is an appropriate metaphor for fiddling, that’s what America’s Commander-In-Chief has opted to do, leaving other world leaders to address a significant uptick in terror incidents.
Despite violence in Europe and the Middle East, President Obama stuck with his plans to spend a long weekend playing golf. As USA Today reported:
President Obama is getting in a last round of President’s Day weekend golf in California before returning to Washington on Monday.
Obama and his playing partners arrived at the Porcupine Creek Golf Course in the Palm Springs area shortly before 8 a.m., local time.
The course is owned by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.
As on Sunday, Obama’s foursome featured three old friends from his Hawaii days: Bobby Titcomb, Mike Ramos, and Greg Orme.
The president is scheduled to return to the White House at around 9 p.m. on Monday.
Obama arrived in Palm Springs early Saturday after two days on travel and events in northern California.
Not on the course this weekend: Reporters. Obama golfed last Sunday and three times this weekend, but no pool photographers were allowed to cover the tee off. The administration last allowed cameras on the golf course on Dec. 29, as seen in the photo above.
Fortunately, one president has stepped up – who would have thought France would appear to out muscle America when it comes to fighting the global war on terror? While Obama is at least committed to not letting terrorists win … by distracting him from his golf game, NRO reports that:
French President Francois Hollande spoke by phone with his Egyptian counterpart, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, to discuss the situation in Libya on Monday, according to Hollande’s office. It said the two spoke of the growth of ISIS in Libya and “underscored the importance of the security council meeting and for the international community to take new measures” against the threat.
President Obama enjoys being seen as a citizen of the world. “The investments we make overseas are in our self-interest — this is not charity; we do this because the world is interconnected — in the same way that the investments we make in NIH are not a nice-to-do, they are a must-do.” he said at an Ebola event just last week.
There’s a disease far worse than Ebola out there: Terrorism. Yet when that comes up, Obama would rather disconnect and tee off than lead the counterattack.
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