President Obama (not pictured) and chief domestic policy advisor Melody Barnes (not pictured) went golfing today. Barnes is the first female to join Obama on the golf course since he became president.
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Obama and woman go golfing (just like Adam Sandler and Bob Barker)
By Jimmy Orr | 10.25.09
This should take some sting out of the earlier criticism.
President Obama went golfing this afternoon. No, he wasn’t being criticized for not golfing enough. He was getting some flak for not including women in his White House basketball games.
So what’d he do? Asked a female staffer to join him for 18 holes. A big deal? Maybe, but only because since becoming president his golfing partners have all been men.
That all changed today as the president’s chief domestic policy adviser – Melody Barnes – joined him.
As for the game itself, there’s no play-by-play. The pool reporters aren’t like that tall Frankenstein-like guy in the movie “Happy Gilmore.” They can’t follow the president on every hole.
Further, let’s hope their outing was more harmonious than the pairing of Adam Sandler and Bob Barker in that same movie. Fans of the cult classic will remember that everything started off fine between the two in the Pro-Am tournament. But relations quickly soured when Gilmore (Sandler) couldn’t find his swing due to heckling by an obnoxious fan.
By the time the duo hit the back nine, tempers flared and fisticuffs commenced. It all crescendoed when Gilmore headbutted Barker before creatively referencing his popular TV game show by telling him that the “price is wrong!” Barker not only recovered from the beating but promptly laid Gilmore out with two well-placed body shots and a kick to the head.
It’s safe to say that this probably didn’t happen on Obama’s golf outing yesterday.
That’s not to say there wasn’t a bit of controversy about the game – although it’s really, really minor. The pool reporter, Lynn Sweet from the Chicago Sun Times, asked the White House if Barnes was the first woman to play golf with Obama since he became president.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said that was “not true.”
But when asked who the other women were, Mr. Burton did a 180.”I was wrong about this – all apologies,” he told Sweet. “He golfed with women on the campaign trail but not until Melody this year. Sorry to all the people who were unwittingly misled by what I gave the pooler.”
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2. Iggy | 10.25.09
Amazing! Front page news! Obama is golfing with a woman… What a champ! This accomplishment beats all his previous ones. Let’s give him another Nobel Prize.
Obama/Biden 2009
3. mahye | 10.25.09
he needs to be taking care of our troops overseas instead of enjoying himself . how many are going to die while he plays instead of doing his job he was voted in for?
6. jaguarpete@aol.com | 10.25.09
Boy, the next thing you know, he’ll be clearing brush at a Texas ranch…
7. SpankyM | 10.25.09
@ 3, I totally agree. He really should be taking care of our kids by sending every one of them home where they belong. That is the main thing he was elected to do.
8. Gloria | 10.25.09
Sure let’s ban Obama from playing golf. And while we’re at it, why don’t we insist that the President not sleep more than six hours, not take unnecessary bathroom breaks, not read to his kids or not engage in any other activity that might interfere with what what individuals think his priorities should be at any given moment of the day?
9. me | 10.25.09
It’s stupid that this is called politically correct. Women don’t have to and can’t do everything same as men. If they would have to than we wouldn’t need separate olympic teams for men and women. It’s not just the breast implants that make us different.
11. Ted | 10.25.09
I’m disgusted that our president has the gall to relax on a Sunday when people like the checker at the bookstore where I bought a dozen Rush Limbaugh brand donuts and a box of Glenn Beck brand tissues had to actually work!
Geez, next thing you know, this clown Obama will be wasting more time trying to figure out just how many vacation days the almighty Bush took, when Obama should be doing work!
12. WayneL | 10.25.09
Shades of Bill Clinton!! The country is coming apart and he’s taking vacations, going overseas and apologizing for America’s greatness and now he and a female staffer are out playing with his putter!!
Life is good for this guy. Too bad he won’t share it with the rest of us.
13. Scott | 10.25.09
WHO CARES?! I am tired of hearing about Obama’s personal life. I don’t care about his Nobel Peace Prize because he hasn’t done anything. I don’t care about the “Official” Obama Family Portrait. And I don’t want to hear about how he went golfing this afternoon. Let’s hear about the things he does for this country, not himself.
15. Tech | 10.25.09
#14, and the rest of you haters- Where were these questions for the melanin challenged guy that was in the whitehouse between January 2001 and January 2009?
19. Sandi F. | 10.25.09
I believe most employees would rather spend their weekends home with family than spending more time with the boss. I have “Obama fatigue”.
21. Robert | 10.25.09
Haha i love #2’s (Iggy’s) sarcastic remark… its so so so true….
HE HAS DONE ALMOST ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
Notice how I included almost… he’s done the stimulus but that did nothing but put us deeper in debt for no reason.
He’s done nothing, yet we praise him like he’s a god or something…seriously… what wrong with people??
22. Robertak | 10.25.09
Anyone complain about the President playing golf when George Bush was in office?
“Now watch this drive…”
24. Tommyjohns | 10.25.09
“Anyone complain about the President playing golf when George Bush was in office?”
Lol, yes, they did. Next time Obama takes a vacation are you going to pretend people didn’t complain about Bush’s vacations? Get your head out and demand he do what he was elected to.
25. Gino | 10.25.09
Go back to watching your fox news. The previous President is the one who done nothing but vacation and when he did do something no one would ever challenge him his decision. There is not a day goes by that I do not here about something he is doing doing in the news. He may not be right but I don’t see you running for President or the mouth pieces that think they could run the country better (they would have to take a 10,000,000 a year cut in pay and put their money where their mouth is). There is no fix for what is broke it will have run it’s course. All we can do is pray that everything gets better.
27. TNT | 10.25.09
Why don’t all you Obama bashers send your comments to the person who ruined this country for the last 8 years! Thank him for our brothers and sisters who are dying every day, for the collapse of the economy, for the torturing of prisoners, i could go on but i’m limited to 10,000 words. Thank God Bush didn’t play golf! 
28. JPW | 10.25.09
Which of you bloggers is smarter than the Prez? Which of you care for others as much as he does? Here’s a guy who inherited a total mess and is trying to do his best. Would you trash your own mother when she’s helping you get better when you’re sick.
29. DeAndre | 10.25.09
Jeez o’ Pete, cut the guy some slack.
Supposedly, this country prefers its presidents married, for fear of the Pres chasing skirts. That marriage takes time and effort to support. Supposedly, this country prefers its presidents to be family men. That too takes time and effort, lest we be saddled with drunken, stupid, ill-mannered, un-presidential first kids. The job is a flippin’ battle on a good day. You want the Pres ready to meet a challenge? Give him some time away from the job. Generally, I get weekends and after 7p away from my job. The Pres wears his “game face” 24/7. Can we not give the guy time to hug the kids, chat up the wife, and enjoy a hobby all while running one of the, if not THE, biggest businesses in the world?
And, of those who would say he isn’t handling his job well I ask if they could do better? Out of all the things we need in this world, another backseat driver is probably low on the list.
30. observer | 10.25.09
IF ONE LOOKS CLOSELY AT ALL THE NEWS YOU WILL FIND THAT IN LESS THAN ONE YEAR THE PRESIDENT HAS ACCOMPLISHED A LOT. I RECOGNIZE THE POPULAR MEDIA HAS LARGELY IGNORED THESE ACHIEVEMENTS, BUT THEY ARE THERE. REMEMBER, IF YOU DON’T CAREFULLY FOLLOW ALL THE NEWS YOU ARE UNINFORMED. IF YOU WATCH FOX NEWS YOU ARE MISINFORMED.
31. Blue | 10.25.09
Just for the record Bush took 1 day vacation for every 2 days he worked.
That means he took almost 3 years vacation in his 8 in the white house.
Thats the biggest slacker I have ever heard of.
32. Marine Dad | 10.25.09
My son is fighting for this country and you are out playing golf when you should be taking care of our troops. Not taking money from our troops and spending it where you shouldn’t But you wouldn’t know anything about fighting for this country because you never did.
33. TBizzy | 10.25.09
Bush took 499 days of vacation, which equals ~2 years of work days, or 1 day off for every 3 worked. Sounds similar to the European work model Republicans despise. Did you complain then?
Seek the truth, not an agenda
34. T | 10.25.09
(News outlet names have been changed to protect the guilty)
From Fix News: So Barak Hussein was out golfing today with a female staffer. Meanwhile, our troops are being shot at in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our small businesses are going bankrupt trying to prepare for the health care holocaust. Unconfirmed sources say that he used racial slurs about his white caddy when he was given the wrong pitching wedge. We also have reports that Obama Hussein was behind the baloon-boy hoax, and that he has invited Fidel Castro and Kim Jong Il to play golf next Sunday. We want to know why he wasn’t in the oval office, making official statements about nationally relevant issues, so that we could blast him on those?
From NSMBC: In a bold new move for women’s equality, President Obama made a strong statement today. He played a full 18 holes of golf with his female chief domestic policy advisor. Sources say that the President and Mrs. Barnes discussed healthcare, an end to homelessness, and a plan for free universal healthcare that will simultaneously eliminate the national debt to 0 in 6 months and cure cancer (possibly using a serum made from his own blood).
What really happened: The president enjoyed one of the few remaining nice days of the year to get outside and play a little golf, which many other presidents have done in the past. He invited a senior female policy adviser, perhaps because he dislikes criticism of sexism, or perhaps because he wanted to work a little on domestic policy in a relaxed, private setting. Either way, opinionated media and the too-vocal minorities who dwell in the shadows of both the far left and far right have turned yet another benign act into cause for U.S. citizens to argue and hurl hate-filled rhetoric back and forth.
The silent majority of Americans have a balance of healthy skepticism in our government officials, balanced with at least a little faith that our leaders are intelligent and qualified men and women who will do what they feel is in the best interest of the country.
36. lol | 10.25.09
To quote #13:
WHO CARES?! I am tired of hearing about Obama’s personal life. I don’t care about his Nobel Peace Prize because he hasn’t done anything. I don’t care about the “Official” Obama Family Portrait. And I don’t want to hear about how he went golfing this afternoon. Let’s hear about the things he does for this country, not himself.
You haven’t heard about things he has done for the country? Why do you think they don’t want you to watch Fox? It’s because they keep including those things, which are pretty much universally detrimental to the US.
Not that their phony war on Fox has anything to do with the network, but still. This is the nature of our current administration. Find something to distract you while we strip away the core founding beliefs that the nation stands for.
He’s such a nancy he can’t even keep Russia and N. Korea in line anymore, that says a whole lot for how far the mighty have fallen.
37. Roadkillbob | 10.25.09
Why do we NEED a Chief Domestic Advisor with no doubt a million dollar staff and a $10+Million Dollar budget ??? And, what is a Chief Domestic Advisor ? With the NSA, CIA, DHS, etc., etc., etc.
38. KJ | 10.25.09
10 months people! Lets see what you can change in that amount of time. He has 4 years to prove himself worthy. Lets not jump the gun. We could compare the things he has done that were wrong (I understand that doing nothing can be bad, but maybe there are plans) and compare those to George W’s first 10 months and as time continues on more will be revealed about our current president and his agenda and again we can compare those to GW’s. Shall we? Seems logical enough.
39. Tired of The Blame Game | 10.25.09
Oh Really what has he done? All I’ve seen is him and his supporters blaming other administrations! Point me too the list
40. Concerns with the news in this country! | 10.25.09
How about reporting news, not thing nobody cares about? Who gives a damn about who golfs with who? How about talking about the real problems like the fact that there are more commercials for ED medication in this country than there are concerns about people not able to afford medical coverage, this is ridiculous!
41. Robert | 10.25.09
Did you know the average job the stimulus created (you know the one your beloved Obama made, or maybe I should just call him “the exalted one”) lasted a week? Then they were out of work again…
42. Phillip | 10.25.09
I could care less who he golfing with, it just amazes me that in this mess with in this president is finding time to golf. Does look like he doesn’t give a … whats going on with this country. Flying to lobby for Olympics and all those unnecessary trips he takes. This man having time of his life at the taxpayer’s expense. Most useless and clueless president we have in modern history.
43. cg | 10.25.09
Apparently Obama has never followed through with finding a church in Washington as he’d rather be out golfing than praying for God’s help to run our country. Just goes to show ya where his priorities are!
44. Phillip | 10.25.09
Lets assume its true that Bush was ruining this country for 8 years, don’t you libs think that people elected this one to fix it? Bush this , Bush that…. Well Obama said change is coming. hope is here. Let’s see, 8 months in office, can you obama worshipers name one thing he did to improve what “Bush did wrong”? Besides putting as more in debt, weakening our military and intelligence, releasing our secrets to the entire world, nationalizing banks and auto industries and allowing bogus investigations into our intelligence services. Golfing is all fun and play, when this guy will start working for good of this nation?
45. Kjeanne | 10.25.09
Hear! Hear! NO.29 “And, of those who would say he isn’t handling his job well I ask if they could do better?”…..And, I would ask if they think W. did a better job???? Our economy went down the tubes while W. was down on
the ranch!!!
46. Dennis Calderone | 10.25.09
More people die everyday than in Afghanistan and Iraq because Republicans are saying no to health care. Everyone’s health insurance premiums are going up this year (again) with a drop in coverage even though the health insurance industry has made record profits. Why? To pay for the hundreds of million of dollars to defeat health insurance reform.
Just think of how much could be getting done for “We the People” (not the insurance companies) if the Republicans were actually doing some work rather than opposing EVERYTHING Obama was elected by a majority of the people of the United States to do!!!
-Dennis
48. Dan | 10.25.09
I agree this isn’t news - it’s just a nice gesture. Blame the media for bothering to cover it. I guess they are tired of Jon & Kate.
BTW - Where was the Republican outrage when Cheney went quail hunting.
As far as I am concerned; unless you have served or have a son or daughter serving - you have no credibility when you feign outrage over war management. Quit your blogging & cheetos munching - GO ENLIST - I hear the armed services is taking applications.
49. William | 10.25.09
The deficit reaching it’s zenith under the current administration is in no way a byproduct of inheritance from the Bush administration. That ship has sailed. That is like blaming David Bowie because you cannot write a good pop song that a record company will want. It is abhorrent to history to think that you simply inherit a dire situation when that administration has a majority in Congress and the House. This is not bashing, it is reflecting on a nation 11.9 trillion dollars while a 9.5% unemployment rate presents to us the failure of the stimulus to forge jobs. Golfing, prizes and fancy dinners will not create jobs anymore than excuses.
50. Yeppers | 10.25.09
#34, remember that there is a difference between Fox News (truly the best at asking questions of both sides and reporting news), and the Fox News Talk Shows. One is news, the other is opinion. Please don’t confuse the two. Think of it as your favorite newspaper. You have news, and then you have an opinion page. It’s pretty much the same thing.
51. Susan | 10.26.09
As I recall, many did complain when Bush took vacation. The problem now is that this president schedules so many photo-ops, interviews with anybody, magazine covers, books, t-shirts, hats etc., that it seems like he is busy a lot campaigning or at the very least working on his image. The crazy part about all this is that unlike Bill who loved kibitzing with everybody, Obama makes it all look so artificial and staged.
I keep thinking about that recently published book about the prior presidents in which Jimmy Carter always pretended to carry his luggage until the cameras went away. Or how about arriving very early to work only to nap on the couch all morning. See what I mean by staged?
52. Lee | 10.26.09
3. mahye | 10.25.09
he needs to be taking care of our troops overseas instead of enjoying himself . how many are going to die while he plays instead of doing his job he was voted in for?
””””””””””””””””””””””””””
I think G.W.B. has the record for most days of vacation.
53. EyeofNewt | 10.26.09
Wow! With the term Christian in the magazine title I expected you guys to more civil…..oh once again religion has failed me as it obviously has all of you.
Bush spent 48 days on vacation in his first year in office…..think maybe if he had spent a little more time on the job all those Americas would not have died on 9/11?
I think maybe you guys embrace the falisy of your good book the same way you do over your news choices. Both the bible and Fox are made up, no wonder your all seem to believe in both so much.
54. Charsaur | 10.26.09
At #53
Wow you are fixated on religion, and one religion in particular.
Obama+Golf+Women+News Coverage=rant about Christianity?
What a seething nutcase.
55. Tyler | 10.31.09
So he takes along a woman with him to put some balls in a hole 18 times? Gee, I wonder where the stain’s at this time?
Wonder if Michelle and the kids are gonna hang around like Hillary did…
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. Joe F. | 10.25.09
I think this is essentially the ideology of Democat elected officals: If someone complains about something, make sure to grovel on your hands and knees and hand do whatever they ask.