ISN'T IT ROMANTIC - AT 9:26 A.M. ET:  Gag me with a spoon:

WASHINGTON – The first couple took full advantage of the cool spring night.

After a date night out on Saturday evening, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama decided to take a stroll when their motorcade arrived back at the White House.

So they began walking on the driveway of the White House South Lawn while holding hands. First they passed the West Wing, then their children's swing set. They kept walking, swinging their hands together.

There were no Secret Service agents right behind them — the agents stood off, in one of the rare moments that the Obamas had private space outside the White House walls.

COMMENT:  If it was private, how come there was an AP photograph with the AP story?

All right, look, it's perfectly fine for the First Duo to take a walk in the park.  But I'd like them to contemplate, the next time they do this, that they wouldn't have this serenity, this chance, this freedom, if it were not for some very brave people who've defended this country through the ages, and some very brave agents who, after 9/11, did everything in their power to keep the nation safe.  Those are things worth discussing.

May 3, 2009