It all began with Michelle "let 'em eat cake" Obama taking a lavish, $80,000 per day (taxpayer funded, of course) vacation in Spain. She even managed to piss off the Spaniards.
"In Spain too the anger was palpable as the US President's wife had a Spanish beach at the Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella closed so that she, her daughter and their entourage could go for a swim."
Then obama and his family jetted off to Florida for a quick dip in the almost-Gulf.
"Obama and his daughter Sasha took the plunge off Alligator Point in St Andrews Bay, next door to Panama City. It is primarily a freshwater bay, fed mostly by adjoining creeks and springs. It is more of a small lagoon, protected by sea beds and salt marshes, so it really isn't part of the Gulf..."
Shortly afterward, during a dinner celebrating the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, obama proclaimed his support for the abominable mosque at Ground Zero. His timing was perfect.
"The president's statement puts him once again at the center of a cultural clash just as his party enters the final stretch of a difficult congressional campaign."
Following that masterful political move, obama and his clan skedaddled off to Martha's Vineyard for a well-earned ten day vacation.
"In the first full day of a Martha's Vineyard vacation, President Barack Obama set aside some of the cares of office Friday...
Despite regular briefings on intelligence and other matters, the president was hoping for a stay dominated by downtime — from drowsing at the beach to stops at trademark ice cream shops.
And plenty of golf. Three hours after his bookstore visit, Obama was at Vineyard Golf Club, teeing off..."
As I mentioned before, I don't begrudge the prez a little R&R. It is, after all, a tough job. But this guy carries it to an extreme. And who's in charge of image management? All this is being played out against a backdrop of a stagnant (at best) economy and rising job losses. Other presidents at least pretended to share our pain.
During the first oil embargo Jimmy Carter donned a sweater and turned down the thermostat.
George Bush gave up golf while the troops were in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Granted, Carter's and Bush's 'sacrifices' were mostly symbolic, but they at least showed some awareness of the value of symbolism. obama and his handlers seem totally oblivious to the chasm between the first family's carefree jaunts into various laps of luxury and the distressing economic reality in which many Americans are mired. Just a little sensitivity would go a long way. For example, obama could announce that he will forgo vacations until the unemployment rate drops below 8 %. (Not to worry, obama fans, he could still take extended weekends off. That wouldn't be a 'real' vacation. And it would only be for the next 2+ years, until the 2012 presidential election.)
I just don't get it. Has obama given up on a second term already? Is he throwing in the towel and just enjoying the perks while it lasts? Is he so egotistical as to believe he can get re-elected in spite of all these shenanigans? Or is it, as Ed Lasky suggests, simply hypocrisy?
"The hypocrisy is glaring and plays into the perception of the "Do As I Say, Not as I Do" problems that many liberals have (the Gore/Edwards addiction to big, energy absorbing and carbon spewing lifestyles; Nancy Pelosi's penchant for private planes, paid for by us, etc.)."
A President has his priorities, after all.
2 comments:
I think he is egotistical enough to think he can get away with whatever he wants and I think that he has the attitude that he is going to ride the wave as long as it lasts, public perception be damned. In small part, he has no one advising him otherwise. The ones smart enough to see the writing on the wall want to live large now, since their political careers will be over when he leaves office.
You're probably right. I just find it surprising that obama and his cadre could run such an effective campaign, but now seem so absolutely clueless. Rahm sure has been keeping a low profile lately.
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