There has been a lot of hubbub about President Barack Obama not including a woman in his games of shirts and skins on the White House basketball court. But on Sunday, the president showed he's not opposed to including a little female persuasion to his play time.
Melody Barnes will go down in history as the first woman to play golf with PRESIDENT Barack Obama. Sure, he's played golf with other women in the past, but he hadn't while holding the title of commander in chief until Sunday afternoon.
Barnes, the president's chief domestic policy advisor, joined Obama along with prez pal Eric Whitaker and White House trip director Marvin Nicholson four a round at the Fort Belvoir golf course.
There was no immediate word on who shot the best round on Sunday, but the Obama administration hopes the foursome will end talk that the president won't play nice with women.
Lynn Sweet, who filed the White House pool report Sunday, said in the Chicago Sun-Times that there's a "boys club" atmosphere in the Oval Office.
"Is there a frat boy or "boys club" atmosphere in the White House? Yes, there is, I've been told by a few high-level female staffers who are aware that at the highest levels in the White House, Obama huddles most intensely with men. Senior adviser Valerie Jarrett is the exception.
But Jarrett does not play golf -- or basketball; neither does another high ranking female, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius played basketball on her college team."
Perhaps Barnes' inclusion in a golf game will quiet the pundits, who should really be asking another question: When is the president going to attend a Washington Capitals game at the Verizon Center? And how about those Washington Nationals?
