An article in today’s New York Times begins:

“Under pressure to do more to confront the Ebola outbreak sweeping across West Africa, President Obama on Tuesday is to announce…”

Does it seem to you, as it does to me, that President Obama has been under pressure in all sorts of ways lately?  I decided to ask Google.

March 3, 2014: “Obama under pressure to take strong stand against Russia” (AM Australia)

April 18, 2014: “Obama is under pressure to make a decision on the future of the [Keystone] pipeline during his second term” (KPCC News)

May 21, 2014: “Under pressure to respond, Obama addresses VA hospital scandal” (CBS News)

June 17, 2014: “Obama Under Pressure to Act Fast in Iraq” (ABC News)

July 3, 2014: “Obama under pressure to visit U.S. – Mexico border” (AP)

August 18, 2014: “President Barack Obama is under increasing pressure to speak out more forcefully on the growing unrest in Ferguson…” (ABC News – Denver)

August 22, 2014: “Obama under pressure to expand strikes on ISIS into Syria” (Fox News Carolina)

August 31, 2014: “Obama under pressure to delay immigration action until after midterms” (Fox News)

September 13, 2014: “Obama Under Pressure To Include Boko Haram In War Against ISIS” (The Guardian)

Do we really have a reluctant leader — as David Brooks recently wrote — who must be pressured into action?  Or is all this so-called pressure simply ginned up by the news media to create a sense of drama?  Barack Obama could tell us, but we will probably have to wait for his memoir to find out.  I’m sure he will be pressured to write one.