Monday, April 19, 2010

Lech Kaczynski Funeral, Obama Golfs

Given the volcanic ash making air travel hazardous, I understand why Obama chose not to join other world leaders and attend the funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski. I don't understand why he chose to spend the free time on the golf course.

From the Washington Times:

A massive volcanic plume covering most of Europe forced President Obama to cancel a Sunday trip to Poland to attend the funeral of the nation's president. But the last-minute change left an opening in his schedule, so the president headed to the links for a round of golf instead.

On a cool but sun-drenched day, the president and three golfing companions headed to Andrews Air Force Base to play 18 holes. It is the 32nd time Mr. Obama has played golf since taking office Jan. 20, 2009, according to CBS Radio's Mark Knoller.

After canceling the Poland trip on Saturday, the White House announced that Mr. Obama had no public schedule for Sunday. He was to have arrived in Krakow in the morning, attend the 2 p.m. local time funeral, and leave for home by 5 p.m., arriving back at the White House after midnight.

...Mr. Obama was not the only world leader to miss the funeral because of the expanding volcanic ash cloud. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also canceled.

But Russian President Dmitry Medvedev flew by plane from Moscow for the funeral. Other foreign leaders used different modes of transportation to get there. Slovenian President Danilo Turk decided to drive the 500 miles to Krakow. Romanian President Traian Basescu traveled to northwestern Romania by helicopter and then continued by car through Hungary and Slovakia.

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip made the 18-hour drive to the funeral, while Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus made the trip by car and train. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko left Kiev with his wife at 7 a.m. Saturday for the long road trip.

Mr. Obama has played golf far more often than George W. Bush did as president. In his eight years in office, Mr. Bush played just 24 times. His last time as president was Oct. 13, 2003.

...Since Mr. Obama took office, 397 soldiers have died in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Another 151 have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Churches across the United States on Sunday offered prayers for the late Polish leader. Parishioners at St. Stanislaus Basilica in Chicopee, Mass., held a remembrance ceremony for Mr. Kaczynski.

About 100 Polish-Americans gathered at the Polish and Slavic Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. They sat in silence as they watched the live coverage of the state funeral in Krakow. Upstate, in Buffalo, dozens gathered at the same time in solidarity for a memorial Mass at Corpus Christi Church.

Mr. Obama has not traveled to the Polish Embassy in Washington since the accident, but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. both have visited the Polish Embassy in Washington since the accident and signed a condolence book.

It's inexcusable for Obama to have used the free time in his schedule to go golfing before making a stop at the Polish Embassy in Washington to sign a condolence book.

Volcanic ash hasn't kept him away from the embassy.

It's particularly offensive that Obama was trotting around a golf course during President Kaczynski's funeral rather than making some sort of gesture of mourning.

The photo of him on the golf course looks bad, and not just because he's wearing shorts.

It was another insensitive decision by Obama, par for the course.

4 comments:

Harvey Finkelstein said...

Obama - The first 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday President in the history of the USA.

Mary said...

When will Michael Moore grab a camera crew and follow Obama around on his golf outings?

Jolanta S. said...

And yet, Georgia President Micheil Saakaszwili traveled from the United States through Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania to pay his final respect to President Kaczynski in Krakow. Thank you Mr. President.

Mary said...

Where there's a will there's a way.