Zach Vargo

For five straight weekends, Obama has been out on the golf course.  The media’s reaction? They love it.  When Bush was golfing in 2003, the media slammed him for golfing while the troops were fighting and dying for their country.  Obama is golfing when troops are dying in GWOT, Iran is murdering protestors, and North Korea is trying to wipe the United States off the face of the Earth.  Does anyone see the problem here?

I do not criticize Obama for golfing, there is only so much he can do with current events and golf is a relaxing sport.  However, when the media becomes hypocritical, then I have a serious problem.  The media pretty much forced Bush to lay down the clubs, but now seem to be encouraging Obama to play more often.

In August 2003, Bush gave up golfing after receiving word of the United Nations headquarters was bombed in Iraq.  The media had a field day criticizing Bush for making the “huge” sacrifice in support of the troops.  Bush said, “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.”  Veterans got angry over that statement, one even went as far as saying “Thousands of Americans have given up a lot more than golf for this war. For President Bush to imply that he somehow stands in solidarity with families of American soldiers by giving up golf is disgraceful. It’s an insult to all Americans and a slap in the face to our troops’ families.”  Honestly, what more could Bush do?  Did people expect Bush to pick up a weapon and fight on the front lines?  It was just another easy attack by the media, especially since Bush did not actually give up golfing until October 13, 2003.  It has been recorded that Bush only played 24 rounds of golf during his 8 year tenure.

As for Obama playing golf, he has gotten more than plenty of praises for it.  The Washington Post posted an article on June 9, 2009 with the headline that read “Just the Sport for A Leader Most Driven.”  Obama has played 11 rounds of golf since taking office 6 months ago.  Obama has more on his plate right now than Bush did 6 years ago.  With all the threats from Iran and North Korea along with the wars we are already fighting, he still finds time to grab his clubs and hit the course.  

Our media should be fair and balanced, but of course they give all of their efforts to praise Obama.  The hypocrisy is becoming even more sickening.  I honestly do not think that a President playing golf should even be considered as a media topic.  I am sure that being our nation’s leader is a pretty stressful and hectic job, and they should be allowed to take a vacation or time out of their busy schedules to relax and clear their heads.  Constantly being under stress starts clouding your judgement and we do not need a leader who breaks downs during a critical time.  It is good that the media stands behind our president, but shouldn’t it stand behind ALL of our presidents? I am also curious as to why Obama gets a lot of credit?  

http://thenationalscene.com/media-critical-obamas-golf-trips-par/comment-page-1/#comment-76

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/nation/media-cheers-obamas-golf-outings-but-used-to-criticized-bushs-trips-to-the-course

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/15/georgebush.usa

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/13/bush-i-gave-up-golf-for-t_n_101595.html

http://forthardknox.com/2009/06/25/golf-obama-vs-bush/

Hearing on the news about North Korea launching these missiles is really bothering me. I honestly think we should be doing a little bit more than saying that the United States is ready to fight North Korea if necessary.  I sure hope so, we are the greatest military in the world and we should be ready to take on any country that threatens us.  There are much better alternatives than stating the obvious.

I’m sure President Obama is a very busy person, especially with Iran making its own claims and the economic situation.  However, he has people who know how to deal with it.  As a concerned citizen of this proud nation, I am offering my personal opinion, although they that they probably thought of this idea already, but shot it down for a better alternative that I have yet to learn of.

This is what we should do.  Our intelligence obviously knows that there is more activity that is suggestion more launches, so that is a start.  Since we know that they are launching it, we put Patriot missiles along the DMZ and place a couple of warships off the coast (I think they have done this already once before).  When North Korea launches their missile, we launch one of our own to shoot it down.  The advantages of this plan are: North Korea has one less nuclear ballistic missile; we are reinforcing that we think Kim Jong Il’s  actions are unacceptable; and we provide some live fire training for our military.

Am I just rambling senselessly or does anyone else feel the same way?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/29/says-north-korea-plan-long-range-missle-test/