In olden times, monarchs employed court jesters to keep them amused while the weight of power and authority hung heavily on their shoulders. Oft times, they also criticized their courts; Queen Elizabeth I was said to have chastised her fool for insufficient criticism. For the most part, though, the jesters did the entertaining while the rulers waged war and ruled their kingdoms.

These days, not so much. While America sent its men and women into battle over the skies and off the coast of Libya, its Commander in Chief spent his day doing this while in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

The AP does its best to spin as adeptly as Obama plays with his soccer ball:

Meanwhile, U.S. warplanes pounded faraway Libya.

It was all summed up by one image: Obama, adeptly juggling a soccer ball, as his aides helped him juggle his agenda.

Well, I agree the image sums things up nicely.  I had planned to use today’s OOTD to point out that Obama may be the first President to send troops into a new conflict without sticking around the White House to run things.  Playing soccer in a Rio alley while our men and women launch hostilities against Moammar Gaddafi instead of leading the nation from its capital really does sum it up well, but not in the way that the AP hoped.

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.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!