Obama's Golfing Necessary to 'Clear His Mind'

necessary also to have two vacations, two gala events, and light daily schedule. And golf every week, if not twice a week. To clear his mind. On taxpayers' expense.

(But no way Tony Hayward should relax and clear his mind on a yacht that he bought with his own money, not even once in 60 days or so.)

Someone in the article's comment section asked, "Clear his mind? From what?"

White House dismisses critics, defends Obama's golf outings (6/21/2010 The Hill)

The White House is dismissing criticism that President Barack Obama shouldn’t play golf during the Gulf oil spill.

White House spokesman Bill Burton on Monday said the president deserves some time to relax, and he doesn't “think that there's a person in this country that doesn't think that their president ought to have a little time to clear his mind.”

During the weekend, Obama played the 39th round of golf of his presidency, according to reports.

White House reporters joke among themselves about who might get stuck with weekend pool duty, which seems more likely than not to include a few hours sitting at the food court near either Andrews Air Force Base or Fort Belvoir while Obama hits the links." [The article continues.]

The article also reminds us at the end that Obama's predecessor was also fond of golf, but gave up while in office:

"Former President George W. Bush publicly gave up the game of golf while in office, saying he didn’t think it was appropriate that he keep playing while troops were fighting in Iraq."

He plays the super-fast golf though, not the 4 plus-hour affair while the White House press pool languish in the food court...

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Sen. Shelby: BP CEO's "Height of Arrogance" for Yachting

or seeing his yacht take part in a race for few hours.

Oh please.

The Hill reports:

Top GOP senator slams BP CEO for 'height of arrogance' for yachting
(6/29/2010 The Hill)

"...Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), a senior GOP senator who serves as ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, sharply criticized Hayward for reportedly participating in a yacht race off the southern coast of England.

"“That’s the height of arrogance," Shelby said during an appearance on Fox News. "He is the CEO OF B.P. and he testified in Washington before the Congressional Committee the other day.”

"The Associated Press reported that Hayward, who stepped aside from his role on Friday of supervising of day-to-day cleanup efforts of the Gulf oil spill, took a break from his official duties to compete in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.

"“Now he’s gone over to be on his yacht over in England," Shelby said. "I can tell you that yacht ought to be here skimming and cleaning up a lot of the oil.”

"Hayward's move drew quick rebuke on social networking sites and Twitter, where ABC White House correspondent Jake Tapper also relayed criticism from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, as well.

""I think we can all conclude that Tony Hayward is not going to have a second career in PR consulting," Emanuel said in an interview to air Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

""This has just been part of a long line of PR gaffes and mistakes," Emanuel added.

"Shelby slammed Hayward for living in a "cocoon."

"“He ought to be down here seeing what is really going on, no in a cocoon somewhere," the Alabama Republican said."

I am just appalled by the hypocrisy of these politicians. What have they done in the past two months, other than declining the offers for help from foreign firms and countries and making speeches and photo-op visits, banning the means of earning decent living for the residents on the Gulf (oil drilling, fishing)?

The comment section of the article shows we the "small people" are not fooled:

"If Obama can go off and play golf so often during this, why can't Hayward go sailing once?"

"Who gives a flip what Hayward does? He is no longer overseeing the spill. Focus on our fearless leader's choice to attend galas, golf and play basketball at our expense. Meanwhile…tar balls are washing up in Florida. No thanks foreign nations, I will handle this as soon as I sink this putt."

"Where was Shelby blasting Obama's 'height of arrogance' while hitting the links 8 times during this crisis. Or his two vacations! Shelby is a former Dem. Don't forget it."

"I will say the same thing to the GOP as I say to the president…pot meet kettle. Why can't he have a day away when our own president has taken numerous days away? At least Hayward was working on from day one…you can't say that about Obama - in fact, he went hobnobbing with famous people in California during the 1st or 2nd week of the crisis to fund raise! Not much difference in my opinion."

"Note to Mr Shelby… most likely Tony Hayward's boat is unable to help with the oil cleanup for the same reason a lot of more suitable help has been refused. The Jones Act should have been waived within the first 24 hours after the rig blew up. Where is the Congress, and where is our President? Too busy posturing to do anything that might actually clean up some oil!"

The best comment so far:

"Our President is doing the best he can…If that doesn't scare you, I don't know what would"

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