In keeping with tradition for the start of the NCAA basketball tournaments, President Obama filled out  his bracket and the White House released it.

Something new was added to the mix this year, however. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich criticized Obama for spending too much attention to basketball and not enough to other things going on in the world. 

(video courtesy of Talking Points Memo. It's a longish clip from the Sean Hannity show, but the discussion of basketball begins about 2:50 in.)

So what do you think...should Obama have skipped bracketology this year to attend to Japan, Libya, the Middle East, Afghanistan, the economy, Iraq, Iran, Republicans in the House, jobs, health care or anything else you think he's not doing correctly?

Are you willing to let it slide this time because he picked Gonzaga men and women to win their first round games?

Or is the real problem not the filling out of the brackets but the amount of time one spends watching games and rooting/hoping/praying that the final shot in a close game will go the way of the team you picked for this round? Click here or on comment and add your two cents.