Reporters and editors at the Washington Post are defensive about new health-care ads mocking President Obama's vacation. In Monday's Washington Post, after disposing with the official line that no news will be made during the time off, reporter Michael D. Shear insisted Obama's vacation was brief, next to those lazy Bushes:
Past presidents have been queasy about time away from the White House, fearing the image of a checked-out president. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs expressed none of that concern last week, saying, "I don't think the American people begrudge a president taking some time with his family that's well earned and well deserved, for a few days to see and spend time with them."
Obama is taking a week off from his day job, far less than some of his predecessors. Former president George H.W. Bush spent weeks at Kennebunkport, Maine. Son George W. Bush did the same at his ranch in Crawford, Tex.
It's amazing Shear left Ronald Reagan off the list, who was always hammered for taking too much vacation. It doesn't matter to The Washington Post that the last president used Crawford as a base of operations and often still worked, meeting with foreign heads of state at his Texas ranch, or jetting to public events around the country and returning to Crawford.
Elsewhere on the Post web site, AP reporter Philip Elliott's dispatch very quickly disposed of the tender politics surrounding the pricey rental digs that book royalties can buy:
Instead, aides said there might be trips for ice cream and salt-water taffy, possibly a bike ride and plenty of quiet time at the compound that rents for $35,000 a week. The Obamas are paying for their share of the vacation home; taxpayers are picking up the tab for security and White House staff, which is customary for all presidents.
Elliott avoided any suggestion that such ritzy property might not look good during a deep recession -- one this president described just days ago as one of the worst crises in American economic history.
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
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Oh for crying out loud!
August 24, 2009 - 13:20 ET by motherbeltYeah, right...except for this week, he hasn't had a minute off!!
It's also amazing that he left out Bill Clinton, who did no less than three weeks at the Vineyard!
And who ever said that this was the only time Obama was going to take away from the White House this year? Do weekends for dinner and b-ball in Chicago count? How about weekends in NYC for dinner and a show etc?
And Europe and the UK was
August 24, 2009 - 13:23 ET by SickofLibsAnd Europe and the UK was all work and no play, as we know.
I originally mentioned that
August 24, 2009 - 13:27 ET by motherbeltI originally mentioned that he'd been all over the world, but apparently deleted it in editing.
Reagan and both Bushes were going to their homes!!
Whose fault is it that the Obamas don't have a "home" in Chicago, or anywhere else, to go to for relaxation?
where to go for relaxation
August 24, 2009 - 13:49 ET by SickofLibsI heard he made an offer on a nice little getaway temple on Mt. Olympus... used to be Apollo's place.
I predict that before the
August 24, 2009 - 13:51 ET by kgI predict that before the end of the year Obama will spend one whole week in the White House without taking a trip somewhere.
"DumbAssity of Dope"
The math has already been
August 24, 2009 - 13:20 ET by mattmThe math has already been done on this. The Bush-Bashers include any time spent away from D.C. as "vacation" when the vast majority of it was spent working.
Obama has taken more time off since January 20 than most Americans, except for the millions who have lost their jobs since his porkulus bill was passed.
Frankly, I'd like it if he took the next 38 1/2 months off - and then retired or was put on unemployment like so many of his followers have been.
Poor little Obama. No ranch and no compound to call his own.
August 24, 2009 - 13:21 ET by SickofLibsI'd love to know what Obama's "share" of the $35K will amount to.
Whatever, just be careful on that bridge over to Chappaquiddick... it's not in the best shape.
Clinton didn't either. The
August 24, 2009 - 13:53 ET by kgClinton didn't either. The house in NY was the first house they ever owned. However the Clintons did furnish it with items they stole from the White House.
"DumbAssity of Dope"
Wow, Imagine that
August 24, 2009 - 13:21 ET by jdlybrandMore Bush bashing from the Wasington COMPost. What a waste of trees.
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
Perhaps someone should
August 24, 2009 - 13:21 ET by MidAmericaPerhaps someone should see how much time the different presidents have spent at the Oval Office doing work. Seems to me that obama should be signing the Whitehouse guest log for the few days he's actually there.
PRICELESS !!
August 24, 2009 - 13:28 ET by b4m4wyGovernment's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.
Ronald Reagan
MidAm
August 24, 2009 - 21:50 ET by NorthCoasterDon't forget, he has been PRESENT! Oh, what a joy!
The hypocrisy regarding
August 24, 2009 - 13:26 ET by bigtimerThe hypocrisy regarding Bush vs O while in office is not surprising at all, I expect nothing else from the msm, even though it's maddening at times...I just have one wish, which will never happen...O would stay off of the TV screens and out of DC...until saner minds can take back some control in '10....period.
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh
Projection
August 24, 2009 - 13:29 ET by FeynmanFanPeople in other posts on this site have talked about projection and I think that's what's going on here. The administration and other democrats assume that other people are going to react the way they do and they take steps to try to prevent anyone gaining ground on them.
Well... maybe it's just paranoia.
Maybe there's a little voice in the back of their heads that's starting to say "Pssst. This is wrong" and they're reacting to that.
Maybe they're just self-centered jerks who think they're above everyone else and want the rest of the world to back off.
I guess I'll settle on the self-centered jerks theory.
Reading
August 24, 2009 - 21:55 ET by NorthCoasterSo how many out there truly believe that Obama is going to read and fully comprehend books containing over 2000 words during the next week. ...............Chirp, chirp, chirp. I thought so.
Obama will be so busy with everything, it won't really be like a vacation, because in his spare moments, instead of relaxing, he'll be reading.
August 24, 2009 - 13:29 ET by jessieHThe only thing that obama needs is a vote of "No confidence". The American people deserve a govt. that listens to the people and learns from history. With obama, & the congress we have, we have no say in our lives. I don't think either has read the Constitution. Both obama & the congress have over stepped their authority.
I have no problem...
August 24, 2009 - 13:41 ET by cjbreischI have no problem with Presidents (D's or R's) getting away from Washington from time-to-time. It's a 24/7 job and stressful, and they deserve whatever down time they can manage to find.
I also don't think it's reasonable to call the President's time away from the White House vacation. As I said, it's a 24/7 job. It's actually a 24/7/365 job. The President is never on vacation.
He still has "the red phone" with him all the time. He still gets the National Security briefing every morning. He's still "the guy" for whatever crisis of the moment pops up.
So, I don't fault Bush for his time in Crawfordsville, and I'm not gonna fault Obama for his time in Martha's Vineyard, or NYC. I do have a problem with the celebrity lifestyle the Obama's have claimed for their time away from D.C., particularly during a recession. I'd be fuming if it was on the taxpayer dime. I'm slightly less irritated since they're paying for it themselves.
Reagan, Bush I, Bush II went home and relaxed. They didn't go on NYC spending sprees. They didn't go to one of the most expensive tourist destinations in the United States.
every 12 year old needs some
August 24, 2009 - 13:41 ET by 10ksnookerevery 12 year old needs some time off for bashing.
The President needs some time off.
August 24, 2009 - 13:43 ET by Airforce_5_OI meaning adding onto the deficit, flying to other counties to apologize, and ramming bills through Congress before anyone, including himself, can read them is hard work
Liberalism: The huanting feeling that someone, somewhere, can help themselves.
No Pictures!!
August 24, 2009 - 13:46 ET by slickwillie2001With the warning to the media about cameras and the Bamster's desire for privacy, you have to think the Cooper/Matthews crowd is going to be terribly disappointed that there won't be any seminude carefully choreographed spontaneous shots of the Bamster on the beach.
Slick you forgot
August 24, 2009 - 13:55 ET by Airforce_5_OThe first ladies legs too!!!! (cat call)
Liberalism: The huanting feeling that someone, somewhere, can help themselves.
Airforce
August 24, 2009 - 21:58 ET by NorthCoasterDon't forget the fashionably bounteous backside. Ooops, what was I thinking?
I'd just as soon Obama took the rest of his term off
August 24, 2009 - 13:49 ET by R D HelmIf this POTUS doesn't sign another bill into law, we would all be better off for it in 2012.
-Dave
Typical American Vacation
August 24, 2009 - 14:06 ET by BarkerCome on now, who doesn't take their family on vacation to Martha's Vineyard, during Ramadan, right before school starts?
Vineyard chefs have reported you cannot find a live chicken
August 24, 2009 - 14:20 ET by SickofLibsIn other rumors, Vineyard chefs have reported you cannot find a live chicken on the whole island for love or money. Seems they were all bought up by some Obama aides for some type of ceremony or something.
The Obama aides claimed they were for "chicken racing", but this seems unlikely.
Santeria?
August 24, 2009 - 15:40 ET by slickwillie2001Yeah, they quite effectively seem to have killed the Bamster's mother-in-law witchcraft story haven't they? Probably Rahm's work. Nothing like a nine-fingered ballet dancer to strike fear into the heart of the old media.
"This mumbo-jumbo talk must stop."
August 24, 2009 - 15:55 ET by SickofLibsAnd so it came to pass that mumbo-jumbo talk was never again heard or spoken of in the Kingdom.
Sick
August 24, 2009 - 22:01 ET by NorthCoasterWhat were the lyrics?
I'm not a chicken plucker,
I'm a chicken plucker's son.
...............etc.
Did not Obama just take a little vacation - in the West?
August 24, 2009 - 15:44 ET by Gary HallIt seems to me that I remember the national MSM all excited about the 1st family's little Western vacation, just last week. The AP referred to it as a ""family vacation." There was the Grand Canyon in AZ, Yellowstone in WY. There was fly fishing, hiking trips and sightseeing -- and like Bush before, he mixed in a little work - information the MSM was quick to use in his defense.
Perhaps this is a two week vacation after all - just carefully crafted to appear shorter.
(;~> gary
Gary... Right you
August 24, 2009 - 15:52 ET by bigtimerGary...
Right you are...tax-payer funded too...while he did some arm-twisting and fund raising along the way.
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh