My Pet Goat, anyone?

Is this a joke?

http://apnews.myway.com/image/20090203/Obama.sff_DCPM114_20090203153925.html?date=20090203&docid=D964BKD01

Somebody actually thought it was a good idea to send the president off -- not even a month into office -- to read at storyhour to second-graders? You're kidding me.

This isn't a group of kids touring the White House, that you briefly go out and greet. During your last months in office. Maybe pull out a book and read them a story -- a memory they won't forget.

That photo calls back all the September 11 uh-oh moments, and if there's something I would think President Obama would be working on right now, it's boosting the confidence Americans have of him in office. Shedding the lightweight impression he naturally give off.

Can the publicity appearances right now, folks. Send the First Lady out there alone -- she'll do fine. It's too soon to start courting second-graders as potential voters, the aw-shucks parents votes probably come easier in economic good times, so pulling out an old playbook from the Clinton years probably won't help.

If there's anything you'd hope our Democratic Party would have learned by now, it's that throwing money at problems doesn't always work. And style points only get you so far. This is real, so let's put the childish things away for awhile?