One might think that a President running a war (two wars, if one believes Barack Obama’s rhetoric) would take security rather seriously. Instead, when rapper Jay-Z and singer Beyonce Knowles toured the White House, the staff photographers made sure to capture this moment for posterity — and publicity for Obama. CNN, which has an afternoon show called The Situation Room, wonders what the White House was thinking:

Allahpundit says that any publicity shots involving celebrities in the Situation Room during the Bush administration will now almost certainly surface if they exist at all. (One shot of Bush putting his feet up on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office did surface after people criticized Obama for doing that during a staff meeting.) If they do, that doesn’t make Obama right, but both Presidents wrong. Somehow, I’d like to think that Obama’s predecessor took access to secure areas of the White House a little more seriously.

If Obama needs some celebrity shots to bolster his popularity, maybe he should just stick to White House dinners and Las Vegas fundraisers, and let the national-security team use the Situation Room for its intended purpose.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

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