Minutes after delivering a statement about the gruesome on-camera beheading of journalist James Foley by ISIS militants, President Obama did the only sensible thing that he could do:
He hit the links.
You have to give the President some credit though: he did wait several minutes before picking up a golf club.
Obama teed off a five-hour round at Farm Neck Golf Course on Martha’s Vineyard, where he is currently staying for his summer vacation. While walking up one of the fairways, an AP photographer snapped this photo:
In case you are wondering, that is President Obama fist bumping Cyrus Walker (right), the cousin of White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, with private equity investor Glenn Hutchins looking on in amusement.
After seeing the President golfing and fist bumping mere minutes after addressing such a somber situation as the beheading of an American citizen at the hands of terrorists, the public’s contempt has reached a fever pitch. Here are some of the more fiery responses seen on Twitter:
Fist bump: Furious reactions hit Obama for golfing after Foley speech http://t.co/SSGDVcGnwZ via @MailOnline
— Greta Van Susteren (@gretawire) August 21, 2014
@juanbassett @AnneBayefsky The #FistBump picture of Obama on the course after being #appalled is enough to turn your stomach.
— WhineNot (@WhineNot) August 21, 2014
DEPLORABLE optics! COLD, UNCARING, DETACHED! Fist bump! FURIOUS reactions hit Obama for golfing after Foley speech! http://t.co/j2V5LZmCjX
— GretchenInOK (@GretchenInOK) August 21, 2014
Perhaps Obama would be more interested if ISIS kidnapped his golf clubs
— Jane Johnson (@JaneJ0hns0n) August 21, 2014
Regardless of heinous terrorist murders, #Obama vows to stay on course. The golf course.
— MikeBates (@MikeBates) August 21, 2014
People certainly are irate about this issue, and understandably so. But no amount of public outcry will change anything in the President’s mind. He’ll go golfing whenever he wants, no matter how bad the timing. He’ll fist bump whoever he wants, no matter how poorly it might reflect on him.
Hell, President Obama could fist bump the world’s worst dictators and despots, and there isn’t anything that anyone could do about it.
Hmm, I wonder what that would look like…
President Obama fist bumping Kim Jong-Il
President Obama fist bumping Hugo Chavez
President Obama fist bumping Muammar Gaddafi
President Obama fist bumping Joseph Stalin
President Obama fist bumping Adolf Hitler
President Obama fist bumping Che Guevara
President Obama fist bumping Darth Vader
I wonder if we could exchange Obama for one of these less radical leaders…