COMMENTARY | For those who think that politicians' choices are all about politics, I give you Exhibit A: President Barack Obama, who according to the Daily Caller, included with his golfing buddies in Hawaii today Robert "Bobby" Titcomb. In May, Titcomb pleaded no contest to charges of soliciting a prostitute during an undercover sting operation in which he tried to pick up an undercover officer. Titcomb paid a $500 fine and the conviction was expunged.
While Obama critics will likely use the president's choice in golfing partners to denigrate the president, I think that given his position, it's a good thing the president made a personal instead of a political decision. He and Titcomb have been friends since attending school together in the 1970s. The president often visits Titcomb when visiting Hawaii. The pair golf and basketball and dine together at Titcomb's home on the north shore of Oahu.
Politics seems to dictate the president put some distance between himself and his friend, but friendship is bigger than politics. Indeed, friendship speaks far more to the character of a man than his politics ever will. We are quick as a society to judge people for their actions or for the actions of those around them. But the truth is we all, without exceptions, make choices in life that we might find shameful or at the very least embarrassing. It's during those times that we find out who our friends are vs. who our acquaintances are.
Titcomb has paid his debt to society. And his friend shouldn't be made to pay, no matter who that friend might be, for the decisions he made. Titcomb's friend, who also happens to be our president, made a choice to stand behind him in support and to continue in a lifelong friendship, regardless of any affect that friendship might hold for him politically. That's not only excusable, but insomuch as I'm concerned, it's also admirable. Bravo, Mr. President.
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