President Obama's refusal to tour the southern border -- despite the ongoing humanitarian and law enforcement crisis there -- while engaged in campaign fundraising has been met with criticism even among fellow Democrats.
As tens of thousands of impoverished illegal aliens, including both accompanied and unaccompanied minors, have flooded over the border, the president spent part of his trip drinking beer and shooting pool in Denver prior to his visit to the Lone Star State. Since he did have a brief meeting with Texas Gov. Rick Perry about the crisis, the taxpayer will be picking up some of the travel expenses involved.
A few days ago, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.), who has been all over the cable news channels lately, referred to the situation as bizarre in an MSNBC appearance:
... When I saw, and I hate to use the word bizarre, but under the circumstances, when he is shown playing pool in Colorado, drinking a beer, and he can't even go 242 miles to the Texas border...?"
Previously, Congressman Cuellar suggested that this could be Obama's "Katrina" moment, in reference to how George W. Bush's presidency was severely harmed by the hurricane response or lack thereof.
Imagine just for a second the media outcry if Bush refused to go to the Rio Grande Valley under the same circumstances. According to former NBC reporter Lisa Myers, "Overall, the mainstream media has been less eager to hold this administration accountable than it was to hold the Bush administration accountable."
Cuellar represents the 28th Congressional district in Texas, which extends from the Rio Grande to the San Antonio area.