What Crisis? Obama’s ‘Gonna Stick to the Schedule – a Cheeseburger, Fries and Two Fundraisers’ (Video)

Jonathan Karl of ABC News asked the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest if he still thought it was appropriate for the president to go out for a burger and fries while in the midst of two major world events, last week – the downing of the Malaysian passenger plane over the Ukraine, and the escalating hostilities between Israel and Gaza.

“What the president is focused on is the ability to do his job,” Earnest said in response. The president has all the tools at his disposal to fulfill his responsibilities as Commander in Chief.”

He went on to say that he “would anticipate” that Obama would continue to fulfill his responsibilities as Commander in Chief on the road over the course of this week – since he’s heading to California tomorrow to do more Democrat fundraisers with the few remaining Dems still willing to be seen with him.

Mr. Obama is scheduled to leave Washington Tuesday and headline a party event in Seattle later that night. He will then attend Democratic fundraisers in California before returning to Washington on Thursday.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Monday that Mr. Obama effectively can do his job while on the road, and that he will be capable of monitoring the conflict between the Israeli military and Hamas, the investigation into the downed plane and any other foreign crises that may arise.

I really wish Karl had asked the obvious follow-up question – “If the president is focused on his job, why is he constantly on the road, fundraising and doing all these ridiculous photo-ops at burger joints? Is the president’s main job to increase his approval numbers by pretending he’s a regular guy hanging out with “ordinary Americans?”

Cahn’t wait for the next round of “bear is loose” photo-ops at California’s hottest eateries.

El Rushbo’s take on all this, today, in case you missed it:

“‘It is rarely a good idea to return to the White House just for show, when the situation can be handled responsibly from the road,’ said Jennifer Palmieri, the White House communications director. ‘Abrupt changes to his schedule can have the unintended consequence of unduly alarming the American people or creating a false sense of crisis.’”

Yeah, who would want to do that? So we’re gonna stick to the schedule — a cheeseburger, fries and two fundraisers after the Israelis invade the Gaza Strip and the smoke still billows from the downed wreckage of the Malaysian jet — because to go back to the White House would scare the American people. (Gasp!) To go back to the White House and deal with it would frighten the American people.

It might create “a false sense of crisis,” and there’s clearly no crisis.

Do you see a crisis? Obama is having a cheeseburger and fries! Crisis? What crisis? He doesn’t see a crisis. Two fundraisers? Crisis, what crisis? So why do we want to create the idea that there’s a crisis here? There’s nothing out of the norm. Now, if it were Bush who had the nerve to go to his ranch after Katrina, which probably remains the biggest crime of the Twenty-First Century so far, then of course the New York Times’ coverage would be different.

Palmieri sort of let the cat out of the bag when she said the White House doesn’t want to create a “false sense of crisis.” What she really means is they don’t want the public to have a completely understandable, and appropriate sense of crisis. They don’t want the public to notice that the world is falling into chaos due to the lack of American leadership. They don’t want the public to notice the fundamental transformation that is now being completed under their noses as scores of illegals are allowed to cross the border and avail themselves of our ever expanding welfare state. The White House relies on the American people’s natural “normalcy bias ” to allow him to continue his destruction of their way of life with minimal pushback.

Anyone who has been to the border, lately, knows the situation there is truly alarming. The unraveling of the Middle East and the ascendance of America’s emboldened enemies is also truly alarming. People want their president to be engaged in DC meeting with his National Security team, and working with Congress to secure the border – not out on the permanent campaign trail, eating cheeseburgers and yukking it up with “he folks”- and sending his communications director out there to play the part of Kevin Bacon in Animal House.

“Remain calm – All is well.”