Israel Matzav

Anti-Bush determined not to let Middle East ruin his summer vacation

Allison Kaplan Sommer points out that President Obama would have been wise to learn from President Bush.

Ah golf, that sport that seems as exciting as watching grass grow, but seems to have an obsessive grip on powerful men. Golfing is a notoriously problematic pursuit for U.S. leaders – the amount of grief that former President Bush got for his hitting the links at key junctures was so substantial that Bush confessed he decided to give up the game during his Iraq-plagued second term because "it's just not worth it anymore" and "I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

You’d think Obama would be smart enough to learn from Bush’s mistakes, and not risk having split screen images of him having fun on the golf course paired with images of Islamic State tanks rolling across Iraq, stranded Yazidi children dying of thirst on a mountaintop, and U.S. planes dropping bombs below.

But no. Five and a half years after taking office, Obama is still determined to be the anti-Bush more than anything else. It's a matter of tastelessness. 

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, George W. Bush

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:03 PM