Barack Obama has been under a lot of criticism for his NCAA picks and his appearance on Leno. People have criticized him for spending too much time on his his NCAA picks and his Leno appearance while not focusing enough on the economy.
Anybody who's been following Obama's presidency has seen how active he has been. He posts his daily schedule every day and seems to have put enough work for himself on his plate. All presidents have had hobbies, whether it be golf, sailing or stamp collecting. There has never been a president who devoted all of their time to being President and rightfully so. I filled out my bracket in 5 minutes and I doubt Obama canceled any budget meeting to fill out his bracket.
Millions of hardworking people fill out March Madness brackets every year. Its nice to think of Obama as regular American guy with regular habits despite his extraordinary responsibilities.
Where was the outrage when President Bush took 166 vacation days in his first three years despite 9/11 and the Iraq war? What about when his dad took 543 vacation days in his 4 year term? What about when Bush's football watching habit became so bad he choked on a pretzel?
Barack Obama has already shown a very disciplined work ethic that he has applied to both his presidential campaign and his 2 months tenure as president. The fact is that he took 5 minutes out of his schedule to take part in what has become an American workplace tradition.
I'm also disturbed to see the amount of criticism Obama has received for going on Leno. I thought it as a great move for Obama to speak to the nation about the economy in an informal way to the country. Many presidents before have appeared on Meet the Press before which gives the opportunity for political nerds like me to see what is going on with our commander in chief but by appearing on Leno, Obama had the chance to address the whole nation and discuss very important issues to Americans who might not watch Sunday morning talk shows. Obama was not wasting time on Leno but for the most part discussing serious political issues that concern the nation.
Where was the outrage when George Bush appeared on the Rush Limbaugh show? Rush is a sexist, racist bigot who has managed to offend 3/4 of the country and Bush appeared on his show several times while president. If Bush can appear on the show of a partisan racist hack like Limbaugh, surely Obama can talk about the economy on Leno.
George Bush famously did not give many interviews to the press and was able to avoid media scrutiny about his actions. It's good to see Obama opening himself up to questions on his intentions for the country. One of the great things about Barack Obama is how he was able to make people who didn't pay close attention to politics pay more attention. By appearing on Leno and disclosing his NCAA picks Obama is continuing to do that.