Eric and Cheryl Whitaker's Son and Obama

When General Stanley McChrystal told Obama there was an urgent need to send more troops to Afghanistan, it took him months to act.

When a Christmas Day terrorist attack orchestrated by al Qaeda luckily fizzled out, it took Obama days before he made a public statement about the incident.

But when Eric and Cheryl Whitaker's son suffers a minor injury while playing on the beach, Obama springs into action, speeding from the golf course back to his vacation compound, causing a panic.

Some accounts of the drama:

From the Associated Press:

President Obama abruptly ended his golf outing and sped in his motorcade to his compound yesterday after he learned a child of friends was injured while playing on the beach.

Members of the first family were fine, a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a reluctance to discuss personal matters involving the president.

An ambulance left the Obamas' with lights flashing. The injury to a child of Eric and Cheryl Whitaker, friends of the Obamas, was described as relatively minor, and the child did not require stitches.

Obama was playing golf with friends from Chicago who joined him on his holiday vacation. The White House did not identify whose child was injured

From the New York Times:

President Obama was unexpectedly taken away from a golf course in Hawaii on Monday and returned to the beachfront compound where he has been staying because the son of one of his friends had been hurt.

A White House spokesman, Bill Burton, said that the president and his family were unhurt.

An official said the person whose son was injured was Dr. Eric Whitaker, who along with other friends of Mr. Obama has been staying in a three-house compound rented in the Kailua area outside Honolulu.

Mr. Obama, Dr. Whitaker and others had been golfing at the Luana Hills Country Club for about an hour when they suddenly jumped into the presidential motorcade and made a dramatic, high-speed departure. The unexpected move triggered concerns about whether the president was injured, particularly after an ambulance with flashing lights sped to the compound. The White House at first did not explain the incident out of concern for the privacy of the Whitakers, but later sent Mr. Burton to tell reporters the first family was uninjured.

The ambulance left after about 15 minutes at the compound, followed by a black sedan. Mr. Obama returned via motorcade to the golf course. An administration official said no stitches were needed.

From the Washington Post:

President Obama's vacation keeps getting bumpier.

On Monday, Obama left an Oahu golf course abruptly, racing back to his family's vacation home after a member of his traveling entourage was hurt.

The son of Eric Whitaker, a close friend of the president's, suffered a minor injury resulting from "run-of-the-mill beach injury," a person familiar with the incident said. The boy was checked out at a local hospital, where doctors determined he would not need stitches, White House spokesman Bill Burton said late Monday.

"Eric and Cheryl Whitaker's son was examined and released from the hospital. He is home playing with his friends and just fine," Burton said.

Several families, including the Whitakers and fellow Chicagoans Marty Nesbitt and his wife and children, are traveling with the Obamas and staying at the vacation house in Kailua.

The president had spent just an hour on Luana Hills Country Club's golf course after making remarks on the attempted Christmas Day airline attack, which consumed much of his weekend. Whitaker was one of those in Obama's golf foursome.

After the entourage departed unexpectedly, the motorcade raced back to the house in a dramatic fashion, and an ambulance was seen speeding in that direction. The incident was initially described only as a "personal matter." A short time later, Obama returned to the golf course.

Why all the secrecy?

Naturally, after Obama's dramatic, high-speed departure from the golf course and the ambulance with flashing lights rushing to the compound, there would be tremendous concern.

It was absolutely crazy of Obama's staff to think no explanation was in order.

"Personal matter"?

Come on.

Maybe there was some embarrassment over Obama's dramatic reaction to a very minor mishap.

If only Obama would move that quickly and respond with such urgency when it comes to matters like Afghanistan and attempted terrorist attacks on our country.