According to this website, Barack Obama has hit the links 91 times since taking the oath of office in 2009. That is a record and he has 13 more rounds scheduled during his current 17-day Hawaiian vacation. Talk show host Joe Pagliarulo spent several minutes discussing Obama’s golf habit the other day while filling in for Sean Hannity, and he is not alone in the almost universal condemnation of Obama’s apparent disregard for the responsibilities of the office of president. Those on the left, like Chris Matthews, think Obama is failing in his primary objective as legislator in chief. Those on the right cite this supposed dereliction of duty as evidence that Obama cannot handle the job, is overwhelmed and overmatched and should step down. They insist a real president, like George W. Bush, who famously stopped golfing to show “solidarity with soldiers serving in Iraq,” would respect the office and show the American people that he is at work for them.
I have a better suggestion: Please, for the sake of the United States, Mr. Obama, keep golfing! In fact, I would like it if you went golfing every day. Stay far away from the Oval Office and fulfill your constitutional duty by letting Congress legislate while you avoid doing anything that might be construed as legislative in nature. As I point out in my The Founding Fathers Guide to the Constitution, “The executive was not meant to be the dominant branch of the general government, Congress was … and the Constitution as ratified does not allow for unrestrained executive authority. Returning the executive branch to its proper role should be the primary focus of all Americans who want a return to constitutional government.”
