The fact is, times have changed. The majority of people do not look for a dog to be a "working" dog. They look for a dog to be a member of the family. In which case a "mutt" is "just as good" as a purebred dog.
I have a purebred. She has suffered from seizures since she was a year old. Bad breeder? Probably. Unfortunately I didn't know about BYB's when I got her almost 15 years ago. I love her to death.
I also have a mutt. As kr has told you she is the goofiest, friendliest dog you could ever hope to meet. She is our greeting committee. At almost 14 years old she gets so excited when she sees company coming. Her back end is a non stop motion machine. I love her to death too. She is from a shelter.
My point - Shelters have far too many dogs, both mutts and purebreeds, who are on their final chance. We need to find a way to put a stop to the BYB's and irresponsible owners who let their dogs mate willy nilly before anything will change. How are we going to do that? The only way I can see is education.
Which brings me back to the original point in this thread. As far as I can see Ohbama did his research before deciding, and being gifted with, this dog. He didn't rush out and get the first dog available. Could he have done better? Sure could. So could we all.