Proving that it's impossible for the president of the United States to do anything without causing an enormous, asinine political firestorm, Barack Obama's bracket was released yesterday on ESPN, opening up room for amateur firebrands everywhere to voice their opinions. Missouri fans will be disappointed primarily in Obama's reluctance to offer any NCAA Tournament welfare; the president chose just one low seed on our side of the bracket, picking No. 11 seed Marquette over Xavier.
The ensuing reaction was hysterical in the traditional sense of the word. My personal favorite: Sean Hannity decrying Obama's ability to fill out a bracket in the midst of global turmoil. I've never been invited to the Fox News NCAA bracket pool, so I don't know if he usually fills one out himself, but to Mr. Hannity I offer the following expert analysis: This is the kind of bracket you fill out in five minutes before lunch, when people are hounding you to do it. A few local upsets, a lot of high seeds beating low seeds, a promise to send in your $10 eventually, geez, get off my back about it.
Libya and Japan are probably taking up a lot of the president's time these days, but this is not the bracket of a die-hard Bracketology follower or even a guy who thought about each pick. If you're able to get indignant about it, you'd have found some way to get indignant about his failing to fill out a bracket, too. How, after all, can the president of the United States understand real America if he won't even participate in our favorite March pastime? I'm beginning to think he wasn't even born into a stereotypical office environment...