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Mystery Reconsidered

By John Batchelor on November 24, 2009 at 2:00 PM in Current Affairs

 
POTUS Links.    

The report by the excellent and wry Elizabeth Williamson, WSJ, is a puzzle, because it is difficult to say if the newsroom in Washington knows what the answer is to the question posed:

Why does POTUS choose to go golfing almost compulsively (every Sunday instead of church, every free weekend, sometimes more)?

Several weeks back, I spoke to Christopher Andersen re his Barack and Michelle: Portrait of a Marriage, and toward the close of our conversation he asked me if I knew why POTUS was spending so much time on the golf course? “Smoking,” he said. I said on-air that it was not smart for POTUS, and he should quit it. My impression from Andersen is that the smoking is not a secret.

However from the presentation above, my guess is that the White House image team has decided to shield POTUS from photos of his smoking. That would explain using heavy security and a four-man team in front and behind him on the course.

My thought also is that this is an elaborate, clumsy and shallow ruse that will eventually be exposed by an accident or a papparazzi.

Also, does POTUS not smoke at the White House? Is the WH still a smoke-free zone as arranged by HRC when she was First Lady? Unknown.

…………………….

Every weekend, catch my syndicated radio show. This Sunday night, Larry Johnson will join my experts panel from Egypt.

  • jwrjr

    Perhaps without his weekly dose of “God Damn AmeriKKKa” there is no point in going to Church at all?

  • DeeLee

    Definition of golf (a game invented by men in skirts, which Obama can relate to):
    1. An excuse to avoid doing work one is paid to do.
    2. A way to escape a nagging wife.
    3. An excuse for white men to dress like black men (a la John Dailey et al).
    4. A place for people to go to smoke themselves to death.
    If Obama advocates for reasons No. 1, 2, and 4 so be it. I’m all in favor of it, especially 4.

  • Obama: Dubya 2 Electric Boogaloo

    Hey Sparky-put down the Kools and get back to work!

    • TeakWoodKite

      He smoked camel filters when I met him.

  • John

    We have young men and women being fired at in 2 war zones. Americans blood being spilt on foreign soil. If I remember correctly, Bush was bashed for one to many vacations and gave golf up in support of the men and women fighting U.S. wars.

    Wake up America this man does not care about our men and women fighting battles for American causes. He is a disgrace. He has disgraced our country numerous times and he has disgraced the highest office in our land.

    What will it take America? Will you sit Idle? Or will you make a stand and send a message to the incompetent commander?

    If you sit and watch our country while its being destroyed you are no better than the dirtballs who currently reside at 1600 pennsylvania. Get ready to explain to your children what America used to be like. A macro economic disaster is looming. You will see it show its ugly head soon enough. The administration is hoping to pass OBAMACARE before the wave hits. It is not going to be shorepound. The tidal wave is brewing… WAKE UP…

    Don’t say you weren’t warned…

    • SuperGalt

      What will it take America? Will you sit Idle? Or will you make a stand and send a message to the incompetent commander?

      America is waking up and this blog epitomizes this noble effort. If you are new, please come back often. I think you will like it here. But do be prepared for disagreement, even amongst those whom oppose the present administration.

      • John

        Thank you SuperGalt. Im here everyday. I understand people have different points of view, and I applaud differing opinions .
        Heres a suggestion we should be discussing solutions instead of discussing what Hillary would have done. That chapter is closed for now.
        We have war front on on our own soil. ARE YOU READY?

        • SuperGalt

          The immediate issues we are facing began when America did not stand up for Hillary during the primaries. Our loss of freedoms began there.

          Sadly, it was mostly just Hillary supporting Democrats that stood up against the Obama juggernaut. Now, I bet many Republicans and indies wish they would have stood up for her as well — everyone is in the same damn sinking boat from this inaction and/or apathy.

          That being said, NQ goes all over the map. Its not all Hillary-centric, although as I just alluded to, her maltreatment is part of the reason were are in fix we are in.

          • arky

            I beg to differ. Our loss of freedoms began in 2000 when dubya stole the WH.

            • TeakWoodKite

              I beg to differ. “Our” loss of freedoms began when ‘we’, in the majority, choose not to defend them.

              To this point, ask any Tweenager what the 4th and 6th Amendments are to the U.S.Constitution. Then ask any adult you meet. All is well and good to give lip service to the phrase “protect and defend”, but if one is not informed of what that is and requires, then this where is one ends up.
              There is no we. Just many of US.
              .

            • SuperGalt

              Comment by arky | 2009-11-24 18:46:22

              I beg to differ. Our loss of freedoms began in 2000 when dubya stole the WH.

              Actually, there’s no disagreement, per se. I started with “The immediate issues we are facing…”

              One could argue it began prior. I did not want to cloud my point by going back further in time.

        • http://uppitywoman08.wordpress.com Uppity Woman

          Nice of you to close our chapters for us and rearrange what you would like us to talk about. Maybe you closed her as a chapter but we haven’t. That’s our choice.

  • http://firefox AnnieCarmel

    I’m surprised he hasn’t secretly had Tiger Woods giving him lessons. Oh, right. It’s only about the opportunity to smoke. No discipline, no ethics, no nothin. If he’s smoking in the WH, they will have to re-paint, clean all the rugs and furnishings before anyone else can move in when he’s out in January 2013.

    • lorac

      They probably do all that major cleaning and new carpeting every time, anyway. New dishes, new drapes, new everything. Money is no object when it comes to the WH. We have LOTS of money, we have so much money we can spend money that doesn’t even exist. What recession?

      In terms of the current administration, I read an article once that said the Obamas have ALWAYS lived way beyond their means. I see them acting very much the nouveau riche. Budgeting and frugality and common sense mean nothing to them, IMO. I wouldn’t be surprised if they want a WH renovation again halfway through their term. Can’t have the same decor for very long – how utterly – ugh – COMMON. They’re too special for that.

      • http://firefox AnnieCarmel

        Yes, in the family quarters, it’ always all new but I’m thinking of the stink from his clothes in the public rooms. The Oval office also gets a new decor every administration…but the antiques in the East Room, Dining areas, etc., over 4 years. Ick. Maybe they deep clean every week/month.

        • http://N/A breeze

          AnnieCarmel,

          Maybe they keep spraying him with Fabreeze
          constantly, so his clothes will not reek….

          • http://N/A breeze

            ……although his makeup might run on
            occasion, as in some pictures I have seen
            recently, right AnnieCarmel?

            LOL, LOL, LOL!

      • DeeLee

        If they redecorate again I guess they’ll have to put a clunker up on blocks on the front lawn just to make Michelle feel like she’s really home.

  • SJ

    What mystery, the economy is in the tank, unemployment raising, the house market suck, states hitting the danger zone of bankruptcy, in some states they can even bury their dead.

    All this going on while Obama plays golf, and is now hosting the biggest state dinner the WH has ever seen under a tent, so what is the mystery again???

  • Onofre’s arm

    1. He’s obviously out on the links looking for “green” shoots.
    2. It’s just one asshole hiding amongst 18 other holes.
    3. Who could deny our POTUS his butts and puts.
    4. Who needs God when you’re surrounded by sod.
    5. Smacking little white balls is a healthy venting of his racism.
    6. Practice makes perfect. By the end of his only term, he may actually be good at something other than reading a teleprompter.
    7. And he may actually improve his leadership skills by observing his caddy.

    • TeakWoodKite

      #5, I’ve seen them come in all colors, BO needs dayglow pink to help him find it in sand trap.

      The article had one gemtleman commenting that he destroyed the sand trap before BO got it on the green. All that thrashing about. My My.

      • Onofre’s arm

        He destroyed a sand trap? Could he be related to the character on “Red Dwarf” known as Cat? Naah, probably not, cat is really cool.

        • TeakWoodKite

          A Star on the Court, He’s Called a Hacker On the Course; Fans Miss the ‘Original Guy’
          (as if there was an “original” bone in his body)

          “Open the clubface more!” the golf pro yelled to President Barack Obama. A rank of bodyguards stiffened when they heard the shouting, but the commander-in-chief continued to hack away sand flying,, recalls Mr. Mulak, a resident professional at the Vineyard Golf Club in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

          Mr. Obama waved off the guards and welcomed Mr. Mulak into the pit. The pro says he gave the president tips on his golf stance and his swing, both of which were conspiring against him. “He would have had trouble getting out of any bunker in the country,” concludes Mr. Mulak.

          .

        • TeakWoodKite

          It is from the link above…

          The pro says he gave the president tips on his golf stance and his swing, both of which were conspiring against him. “He would have had trouble getting out of any bunker in the country,” concludes Mr. Mulak.

          .

          That puts in league with Cheney, I suppose.

  • AF catfish

    For people with ADD, cigarrettes are like meds and helps them focus. This guy totally has ADD and is why he makes so many gaffes.

  • lark

    Prime Minister Singh: Our strategic partnership should facilitate transfer of high technologies to India. The lifting of U.S. export controls on high technology exports to India will open vast opportunities for giant research and development efforts. It will enable U.S. industry to benefit from the rapid economic and technological transformation that is now underway in our country.

    So Education for Innovation awards Sesame Street grants to teach our children math and science and the Singh-Obama 21st Century Knowledge Initiative will bring us Indian made robots.

    Great.

    Like Obama said to Singh at the end of his remarks: “The floor is yours.”

    • http://firefox AnnieCarmel

      And the furniture, drapes and dishes.

  • blah

    yes

  • Mark Ft. Laud

    Current definition of 18th century French Court Fop; METROSEXUAL = EMPTYSUIT

  • TeakWoodKite

    Is the WH still a smoke-free zone as arranged by HRC?

    Ha! He can’t escape her. He goes golfing because he is constantly reminded that Hillary Rohdam Clinton put a lid on his vice and he can’t curse Sir Walter Ralieh. He is such a get.

  • TeakWoodKite

    “Barack generally hits his ball to the left,” he says.

    Matt Lombard, a staffer in the pro shop at Mink Meadows Golf Club in Martha’s Vineyard, hoped to catch the president’s game during the Obama family vacation on the island in August. He says he was bringing golf balls down to the driving range when the Secret Service stopped him, dumped the bucket and tapped each ball with a small hammer.

    .

    LOL. Speaks for itself.

    • TeakWoodKite

      Like I said, Hillary has the other one.

  • candymarl

    CNBC has now bumped up the unemployment rate to over 17%. I wonder what this administration will do about that? Forget the smoking. What about the hungry and unemployed? I thought the Stimulus would solve these things. Guess I was wrong.

    • tudor turtle

      A WPA-scale jobs program. Then the number of new jobs created can be accurately counted and directly related to program expenditures, to everyone’s complete satisfaction.

      • SuperGalt

        Obama supporters can be hired to kiss Obama’s ass. Oops, they are already doing that gratis.

  • SJ

    Honestly I feel all this media news on troops going to Afghanistan today is a cover so he does not get slammed to hard for throwing this massive bash at the WH.

    Obama with the help of his media friends is once again tossing us a bone to chew on so we will not notice is parade to Hollywood or ask geez I wonder how much this cost, who knows after tonight is over and done with I will not be surprised if he defers his sending of troops to Afghan for another month.

    • listing starboard

      But he does care, and he IS a great dad .

      • James

        One week from today he’s announcing what will be done in Afghanistan.

        Anyone want to suggest what he should do, at the possible risk of not being able to complain about it after next week?

        • SuperGalt

          One week from today he’s announcing what will be done in Afghanistan.

          I think you mean he’ll allegedly be announcing. We’ll see.

          Anyone want to suggest what he should do, at the possible risk of not being able to complain about it after next week?

          No matter what he does, some folks will complain. If he tries to split the decision politically down the middle, most everyone will complain. If he has the stones for the office, he will do what is best for national security and foreign policy interests of our nation, and damn the political fallout.

          Many people feel this decision is long overdue. This will cloud whatever decision is made to them: he comes across as indecisive, and a weak and ineffective CiC for delaying this decision. If what he claimed previously is a necessary war is no longer necessary now, arguably there will be hell to pay.

          That’s my 2 cents. :D

        • http://uppitywoman08.wordpress.com Uppity Woman

          What’s the difference what he announces? He has given the Taliban months to gain an even stronger foothold. He’s telling soldiers to die because they can’t shoot first. It’s what you do for your pals.

      • TeakWoodKite

        Are the kids golfing with him?

      • trixta

        Now, if only BO could remember his daughters’ names….

      • http://uppitywoman08.wordpress.com Uppity Woman

        Well he does play a great dad on TV.

  • Hank

    The only hole in one he has ever made was playing with Larry Sinclair. lol

  • http://uppitywoman08.wordpress.com Uppity Woman

    He’s the President. He can smoke whenever the heck he wants. Of COURSE he smokes in the White House. Anybody who has ever lived with a smoker knows they will smoke. Do we really think the secret service makes him stand outside out back to smoke just because there is a “law”? Since when did the law get in the way of a politician from Chicago? Considering what a Narcissist he is, does anybody really think people are going to tell him he can’t smoke? I’ll bet the walls in the oval office are already yellow.

    I think he hits the links for a different reason. He hits the links because he is a heathen. He can’t attend the mosque and if he can’t attend the mosque or the complicity God Damn Amerika church, he has decided to thumb his nose at religion altogether and Play instead of Pray.

  • MrX

    He likes it because he gets to bend over so that people can kiss his ass and he gets to grab white balls.

  • Banned in Beantown

    Obama golfs because unlike bowling he can hack out a 150.

    He is a pathetic golfer. That’s why the SS does not want photos.

  • Rif

    I am waiting for the media to wake up and ask: Why hasn’t Obama been going to church? Who is Rev. Wright’s replacement? Which black liberation theologist is he listening to now? When will it be revealed that Black Muslims were also congregants at Rev. Wright’s mosque/church? How many of you have seen this?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=tCAffMSWSzY#t=28
    Maybe Obama is praying to Allah on the golf course.