POTUS is 12

From "The Office":

Pam: "The warehouse got a ping pong table last week. Now Jim comes down and plays with Darryl. Sometimes I bring him juice. My boyfriend is 12."

And here's today's WashPost: "The jock in chief, getting his fill of sports?"

"You must always remember that the president is about 6."

This advice was offered more than 100 years ago by a British friend of Teddy Roosevelt's. The nation has matured since then, and so has the presidency. Now the president is about 12.

Obama's extended birthday celebration was a welcome change from his brutal work schedule:

According to unofficial presidential statistician Mark Knoller of CBS News, Obama has left the White House to play basketball 16 times so far, in addition to the countless times he has played on his home court. He's shot 44 rounds of golf, gone fishing and played tennis. Total sporting-related events hosted at the White House: 45. That's about six times the number of news conferences he has held.

He's been to see the Nationals twice this year, the last time in June with Malia and Sasha to see the Nats play Obama's White Sox. Last week, he took Sasha to see the Washington Mystics of the WNBA at Verizon Center.

Obama's foes have mocked him for playing golf more often than his sports-mad predecessor, who played only 24 rounds during his entire eight-year presidency. "Obama skips Polish funeral, heads to golf course," was one Washington Times headline. Liberals who once mocked George W. Bush's "watch this drive" moment on the golf course now speak of the need for Obama to clear his head.

How much more head-clearing can the country take? Is this all just a big game to Obama, now that he can summon Lebron James to the White House for a game of one-on-one? Instead of taking some time for self-reflection, Obama and his buddy Rahm Emanuel are dreaming about opening a T-shirt stand in Hawaii.

Sweet mercy: stop playing "Madden 2011" with Drew Brees already and get to work.