Obama WH diligently works to manage 'very disturbing,' 'pressing matter

No, no; not the ongoing Arab crisis.

Think bigger with more potential to impact his reelection hopes.

Yep, the Obama White House is working hard to manage the controversy surrounding the blown call that cost the Green Bay Packers a win against the Seattle Seahawks this week.

From aboard Air Force One Tuesday:

JAY CARNEY:  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  Thanks for joining us aboard Air Force One as we make our way back from New York to Washington.  I have with me Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor to the President for Strategic Communications, who can, I’m sure, answer some of your questions about the President’s speeches today and the vision he laid out broadly at the United Nations and then on a specific subject at the CGI.

I have no announcements, but I do have to say that there is a pressing matter that kind of transcends all else for most Americans, and that is the --

Q    -- the question?  Come on.  You’re not even waiting for the question, Carney.  (Laughter.)

MR. CARNEY:  But I am -- just having watched it -- last night I watched it.  This morning I watched it, and it was really astounding.  And by “it,” I mean the end of the Packers-Seahawks game.  It’s very distressing for every American football fan to see all the focus at the beginning of the season on the officiating rather than on players in the games.

Q    I’m sorry, was that “American, football fan” or “American football fan?”  Was the American modifying the football, or is it American football fans?

MR. CARNEY:  I’m not even sure what you’re asking, Hans, but I appreciate the question.

Q    Does the President have a position on this?

MR. CARNEY:  As an avid sports fan and an avid football fan, he does.  As a matter of fact, last week in an interview with a Cleveland radio station, he brought it up on his own, saying that as a sports fan he thought it was time that we got back to the regular refs.  This morning, I talked to him about the end of the Packers-Seahawks game and he said that what happened in that game is a perfect example of why both sides need to come together to resolve their differences so that the regular refs can get back on the field and we can start focusing on a game that so many of us love, rather than debating whether or not a game was won or lost because of a bad call.

Q    So the President clearly thinks it was an interception?

MR. CARNEY:  Yes, he thinks that there was a real problem with the call.