Presidential Vacation?

[Chris]

When GWB hit the road to Texas, the media treated him like an absentee landlord. Obama- not so much...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_..._to_washington

I keep seeing these stories about how tough it is being president and how you can't get away from the job- even for a moment. Somehow I missed those stories over the prior two presidential terms.

[phragle]

Bush caught hell for not running out of a classroom moments after a terrorist attack. The difference here is that the bomb malfunctioned so there was no loss of life. The fact remains that a bomb was brought on a plane and detonated in the sky over amaerican soil. tighter restrictions have been implemented, people are once again afraid to fly. fear has been instilled in the American populace. The instillation of fear is the terrorist goal, hence the name terrorism. We now have a president who's priority is not dealing with the issue firsthand, his priority is eating snow-cones and taking his kids to the movies.


On a side note..

[cigdaze]

I see they're still working hard for their media bailout.

[jayboat]

Chris, are you snowed in up there? Bored? Tryin to take up the slack while our two favorite wingnuts are in timeout?

Dubya is reknowned for being a rather incurious fellow, so it isn't difficult to see how he was able to put the job of pretzelnit out of his little mind while on vacay.

He also set a record for number of days spent on vacation for a sitting prez. There's a message in that, no?

As far as the media's treatment on the subject, I don't think it's much different- but I'm sure that my sources are different than yours.

[jayboat]

Bush caught hell for not running out of a classroom moments after a terrorist attack.

Well, it wasn't moments... it was several minutes... and that blank stare on his face was very telling.

He deserved every bit of the criticism he got for that one.

[Ted]

But Jay, your media guys are saying it's not really a vacation now, so I guess that record means nothing And why is it that the President doesn't ever go home like the last one did? I guess leaving a mansion in Washington to go to a mansion in Chicago isn't really much of a Change huh?

[jayboat]

And why is it that the President doesn't ever go home like the last one did? I guess leaving a mansion in Washington to go to a mansion in Chicago isn't really much of a Change huh?

Could be- but most of his family is in Hawaii.

Who in their right mind wants to go to Chicago in the winter?

[Ted]

Could be- but most of his family is in Hawaii.

Who in their right mind wants to go to Chicago in the winter?

On that we agree

[Bobcat]

I thought most of his family was in Kenya?

[fund razor]

I thought most of his family was in Kenya?

That's his dad's side.
On his mom's side everybody is around Berkeley.

[DollaBill]

that's his dad's side.
On his mom's side everybody is around berkeley.

lol

[Audiofn]

Chris, are you snowed in up there? Bored? Tryin to take up the slack while our two favorite wingnuts are in timeout?

Dubya is reknowned for being a rather incurious fellow, so it isn't difficult to see how he was able to put the job of pretzelnit out of his little mind while on vacay.

He also set a record for number of days spent on vacation for a sitting prez. There's a message in that, no?

As far as the media's treatment on the subject, I don't think it's much different- but I'm sure that my sources are different than yours.

Obama has so far taken 39 days of vacation .

Bush averaged about 55 or so days of vacation a year average over the 8 years.

Last I checked most people in the US don't get that much vacation time. Especially not their 1st year of work. Bush was also at his own ranch. This guy is renting posh places all over. The place in Hawaii was 4 grand a day for 11 days. The place in Nantucket was HUGE money a day.

I find it funny that Obama is berading CEO's of Wallstreet, Ford, GM.... for flying around in jets and spending money but then goes out does the things he does. Last I checked the US is basically bankrupt.

[Wobble]

Obama has so far taken 39 days of vacation .

Bush averaged about 55 or so days of vacation a year average over the 8 years.

Last I checked most people in the US don't get that much vacation time. Especially not their 1st year of work. Bush was also at his own ranch. This guy is renting posh places all over. The place in Hawaii was 4 grand a day for 11 days. The place in Nantucket was HUGE money a day.

I find it funny that Obama is berating CEO's of Wallstreet, Ford, GM.... for flying around in jets and spending money but then goes out does the things he does. Last I checked the US is basically bankrupt.

I took five days last year. Maybe I should get into politics instead

[Tommy Gun]

Denounce your citizenship and declare youself an illegal alien and you can be on vacation full time!

With FREE health care!!!

[Scarab KV]

What pizzes me off, is everyone is left to figure out how to make ends meet while our prez is globe trotting around the world for his personal little causes at $36,000 dollars an our just for the jet alone.
Calender fly bys, two out bound trips to the Olympics meeting cause he and the sweetie couldn't travel together, date night in NYC, all the way to Hawaii for vacation, wtf.
Rest of us have to make cut backs and sacrifices. Where does it end?
Once again I have to say "Lead by example"

[cigdaze]

I'd love to be able to understand the mindset.

The economy's in the shtter despite all his stimulatin', every one of his party-men are aiding in bankrupting us with their greedy little hands in the healthcare bill, unemployment has climbing through the roof despite all his jobs creations, there's a deadly war raging despite his promises to make it stop as his first order of business, planes are attempted to be destroyed.....and he wakes up and says, "Hey Honey, how about 2 weeks in Hawaii for Christmas?"



Then again:....

[Chris]

Just looking for a level playing field. Bush was excoriated for not being in Washington and Obama's media allies are bending over backwards to sell us on the concept that the job follows the man wherever he is.

My issue is this- the average voter is a moron that believes what they read and hear. and alot of what they want to believe. I think the media pressing any agenda for any candidate or political party is ethically bankrupt. Obama got elected because (a) he wasn't GWB and (b) because he promised the moon to the people that typically didn't have time to be bothered by voting. And his allies in the media did all they could to help deflect serious questions not only about his background, experience and abilities but also how he was going to be able to magically deliver on these huge promises.

In the end, it's not conservatives vs. liberals, Republicans, vs. Democrats or any other assemblage of principled individuals debating. What you have is a giant game of Three-Card Monty. While Obama's media pals shill for him, and he pontificates about bringing back a bygone time where the American worker didn't have to worry about their job-for-life, his true allies in the world of global finance work quietly to knock another trillion out of the US economy.

We're all dupes. We sit on here and talk to ourselves. We listen to commentators that "share" our ideas. They feed the masses these pre-packaged blurbs, phrases and sound bites for easy parrotting naround other people. I question if a person could possibly get a piece of true, unvarnished political news anymore.

I'm just growing weary of watching the American voter being manipulated. And I'm frustrated when I see the present declining level of voter knowledge and awareness out there. During the last campaign,I watched interviews being done where lists of issues were read off to prospective voters. As they answered, the interviewer told them that their positions were the exact opposite ofg what Barack Obama planned to do. But they didn't care- because Obama represented change. It astonished me how little intellectual investment they were willing to make in their own lives and future. Grasping that simple buzz phrase made them feel all warm and fuzzy and that was enough. It got them into the party and that's all they needed.

We're on the verge of reducing the selection of our leader to giving the job to the highest bidder.

[Seafordguy]

Let him stay on vacation - he can do less harm away from the White House than hanging out, appointing his comrades, and doling out money at an unsustainable pace.

[LaughingCat]

Obama has so far taken 39 days of vacation .

Bush averaged about 55 or so days of vacation a year average over the 8 years.

Last I checked most people in the US don't get that much vacation time.

My only thought on this is, there are not many other people who have so much responsibility and basically work 24/7 otherwise. I was critical of Bush for taking a month after being on the job 6 months. I am also critical of Obama for taking any time right now. But every one of our presidents have been and will be human. So, in retrospect, I could care less whetehr they monitor the red phone from DC or vacation. But Obama has to hold it together for four years. If he burns out and breaks down, we get Biden.

And shouldn't the image of Obama be:

BTW, I googled that emoticon. So the DEA should arrive any minute thanks to the PATRIOT Act.

[Chris]

I can't think of any job more taxing or stressful than that of the presidency. And even the best of them are mere mortals. And if you think about it, the job has to be so much more complex. Just jumping back to Eisenhower- how simple were world events then? Even back to Clinton- so much of the garbage we are dealing with today was in it's infancy just that brief time ago.

They deserve some R&R. They need it to be clear and focused. But for Christ's sake, can't the media be fair and even-tempered about it?