The President checks out a Chevrolet Volt at the Washington Auto Show. He missed the Prius plug-in.

Everybody knows about the decline of the American economy. At the same time, aided and abetted by the talking heads on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, Amercans are well on their to becoming a nation of chronic whiners.

The latest example comes from Washington D.C. where a handful of automotive executives who were asked to be on hand while President Barack Obama visited the Washington D. C. Auto Show this week.

Obama, however, didn’t visit their exhibits and instead spent his time at the GM , Ford and Chrysler stands, leaving the foreign executives supping coffee or whatever. But instead of going on to their next meeting or complaining to the wives or companions, the brass from the Asian and European manufacturers, most of whom are Americans, went whining to the media, sparking all kinds of learned analysis about why Obama hates foreign carmakers.

Please. If you have ever covered a Presidential or Vice Presidential visit anywhere you know the POSTUS and the VP usually arrive late and leave early. I remember waiting for George W. Bush to visit during a Teamster Labor Day picnic in the heart of Detroit of all things. The President was at least three hours late and lost part of the crowd and a lot the media. But I was quite impressed when he did show up. He was funny, charming and down to earth in a way that didn’t often come across on television.

So, while reading about all the whining after Obama’s visit to the Washington D.C. auto show – a lot of which was hyped by reporters asked to make a story out of nothing – I simply assumed the President was running late and had to shorten his visit to the show or maybe he spent too much time at Chrysler, GM and Ford.

I’ll concede maybe Obama’s political people thought better of having a high profile photo of him in a Toyota. But it seems far from some dark conspiracy to promote what the Fox News crowd likes to deride as “Government Motors.” It really wasn’t, since the most widely distributed images from the show floor features Pres. Obama at the Ford exhibit which, last time I checked, wasn’t owned the U.S. government.

The decision to end the President’s auto show visit could have been made by the US Secret Service, which is tasked with the protecting the President. It’s pretty well known that Obama is regularly threatened by all kinds of whack jobs.

An auto show isn’t exactly the most secure environment. Access at a big convention center is pretty wide open and while there usually is a good police presence at most shows, there are plenty of places to hide.

And it’s not like Obama has stiffed the foreign carmakers at every opportunity. Executives from several of the same companies were invited to the White House last fall because they were creating jobs, making this one of those rare stories that has both more and less than meets the eye.

But, like I side, whining has now become America’s favorite indoor sport, especially in an era when the 24-hour demands of cable news constantly requires something to talk – and often complain — about.