By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--December 15, 2014
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In September 2014, the Government Accountability Institute updated an analysis of how much time President Barack Obama has spent attending his Presidential Daily Briefs (PDBs), as recorded on the White House official calendar and Politico's comprehensive calendar. The updated study covered the president's first 2,079 days in office, running from January 20, 2009 through September 29, 2014. Of those, President Obama attended a total of 875 Presidential Daily Briefs for an overall 42.09% attendance rate.Allegedly, President Obama thinks they're a waste of time since he can just scan the written version. This allows him to avoid enduring the presence of some annoying peon who might talk back to him. So, what does he find "interesting and useful?" According to Obama himself, it's watching ESPN.
"Listen. I spend most of my time watching ESPN in the morning. I get so much politics I don't, you know, want to be inundated with a bunch of chatter about politics during the day."For Obama, it seems there are only two things in life: Politics and leisure. Never mind that there's a third option called "doing your job." He can't be bothered with that. Beyonce and Jay-Z will be over soon. Actually, Obama's fascination with ESPN might make sense - if Keith Olbermann was still on the network. If he was still there, Obama could get his daily briefing and sports news in one dose. Keith could scream about some conservative, and the administration would know who the IRS should target. With Olbermann gone, I'm not sure how an ESPN broadcast is more important that the Presidential Daily Briefing. But, since he's the smartest man ever to hold the office, I'm sure he has a good explanation.
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