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Golf

By Joe Klein | @JoeKleinTIME | June 21, 2010 | +

I don’t care. This isn’t Bush going off to his ranch for a month–and I didn’t even care about that. Bush worked from his ranch. Presidents deserve a break. If they want to play golf (Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Bush Elder and Younger, Obama) or softball (Carter) or touch football (Kennedy) or racing a cigarette boat (Bush the Elder) or clearing brush (Bush the Younger), I say: go for it.

In my experience, most of these guys work too damned hard anyway. Exhaustion–physical and mental–is more of a threat to the successful execution of their duties than recreation is. Making a big deal, or any deal, of how a President recreates is usually the work of numbskull partisans or of journalists who find reporting or thinking about the issues of the day too much heavy lifting.

Enough. (And to compare the workaholic President with the posh, skeevy Tony Heyward–who wanted “his life back”…that is, his freedom to consume egregiously and not be bothered by small people–is ridiculous.)

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  • grape_crush

    Is there a link to what’s setting you off, or are you just noting the generally ridiculous quality of the “OMG, he’s golfing!” charge?

    When asked his golf handicap, Reagan was said to have answered, “Congress”…

  • deconstructiva

    Joe, it’s Tony Hayward, as in bailing hay from his yacht to help sop up the oil mess his own company helped create. I’d wish one of your teammates would talk about his freedom to engage in yacht races during a crisis and how it does NOT make a good impression with small people.

  • destor23

    Agreed. Though I think we should use this as an opportunity to point out that the U.S. is the only developed economy that doesn’t mandate paid vacation time for its laborers and that all Americans basically work too hard.

  • middlegirl

    Yet another faux media, Republican generated controversy that it’s almost beneath you,Joe, to have to comment. But thank you for being sensible. Soon, we will have the opposite meme of why does Obama look so tired? (which he does) Like the gulf oil spill, the stupid just never stops flowing in our national discourse.

  • darius3

    Agreed. This desperate line of attack reveals far more about the President’s critics than it does about the President himself.

  • husein11

    This desperate line of support for Obama reveals far more about his supporters that it does about the President himself. I agree that the President should play golf. For the good of the country he should play golf every day, at least 36 holes, for the next 2 1/2 years. He should be joined in his foursome with Biden, Nancy and Harry. The country would be MUCH better off. Then again the country being better off is the last thing those 4 (and most of the writers and readers of Time) would wish for.

  • Friar Tuck

    Teh Stupid! It Burns!

  • chupkar

    And someone should point out (after the groaning of the BB game and some other “vacations”) the former president did not have young children during his term.

    Oh lord. Here comes John King to drag this up too.

  • ricardo4max

    More hypocrisy from the neoCommie left.
    How can we ever recover from the damage that the Democrats have done to this country?

  • ricardo4max

    Yes we should be more like Europe and not work at all and collect money from the govt. Geeesh you neoCommies are stupid!

  • robbert5

    Ricky,

    you are a friggin’ moron! Just think before you open your mouth or use your finger to type. Economies in Europe have not been doing badly (to use an understatement) and ppl actually get to enjoy the money they made with their families on a regular basis. I can only say that the quality of life is a lot hgher in Europe than in the US of A…….

  • robbert5

    Just wondering,

    where have you been from 2000 -2008?

    You can still see on a daily basis what the repugs and teabaggers are doing to this country almost on a daily basis.

    Why don’t you apologize, on behalf of the american ppl, to BP that you caused them, for making them lose an enormous amount of oil, oooppppsss money in the Gulf. I bet you think that we should set up an escrow account for BP…..

  • 53_3

    So ricardo4max:
    .
    You’re just all agog to make sure that since BP won’t voluntarily help them, the government shouldn’t help them either? Or even force BP to do what Exxon wouldn’t?
    .
    That’ll sell in the South, fer sher.
    .
    Just ask the governor of Alabama…

  • nflfoghorn

    It’s from the site that rhymes with ‘sludge’. (!&%$ junior gumshoe, that one is.)
    .
    My gosh, you just can’t golf on the weekends while we’ve got two wars (three if you count “terror”) and a polluted Gulf. He doesn’t deserve to rest!

  • sevenoaks07

    Welcome to Washington: Talking Point meets Talking Head to push Manure harvested by Drudge. The President golfs on a Sunday afternoon – why aren’t the Christian Rightists offended? It’s the Sabbath.

    The next offence: Obama visits the Gulf too often and is a distraction; taking away people and security from their work. Obama has politicised the Gulf. Obama is not dressed “appropriately”.

    Now watch one of the White House reporters talking about this while saying that he/she does NOT want to talk about this.

    Meanwhile Rudy Guilani is in Houston talking to the right people who know what needs to be done. Offering their services to the White House? Nah. Better to solve the problem at the Mayor’s table.

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