White House Press Secretary Jay Carney did his best to sweep away criticism of Obama and his family going on vacation. He did this in response to a question by Jake Tapper asking why Obama was going on vacation when he vowed not to rest until the jobs issue is resolved:

[...]It is also, as I think anyone who has covered in the past, either in this administration or others, there is no such thing as a presidential vacation. The Presidency travels with you. He will be in constant communication and get regular briefings from his national security team as well as his economic team[...] Real Clear Politics

No one would begrudge our leader time off. It is a hard job and everyone recognizes that no president, in this administration or any other, is really off. These guys are really working and it is just wrong to say otherwise. What reporter or other American would question a president’s vacation time or say that there is a problem with president’s going on vacation?

Why, Jay Carney would.

Back in July, when they were planning what the President should do during his month-long vacation (as part of their effort to persuade the public that he wasn’t actually on vacation in the generally accepted sense of what vacation means — i.e., having fun and not working), the image-makers hit upon a clever idea. Every week, they decided, they would send the President somewhere outside Texas for a day or a day and a half to hold an event of some kind in which he would mix with “real Americans.” Time

So we should not begrudge Obama time off and to suggest he is vacationing (in the generally accepted sense of what vacation means) people should not criticize Obama because, as everyone knows, a president is never on vacation.

Except when the president is Bush and Carney is the reporter. Then it is a sin for a president to go on vacation and the photo-ops are just PR moves to make people think that he is not on vacation in the generally accepted meaning of the term.

Obama at Martha’s Vineyard is a working vacation and he is not really off. Bush at Crawford going out on photo-ops is a vacation and not real work.

See what a difference there is when it is a Democrat instead of a Republican?

All presidents work hard (though one might question what they are actually working at) and if they take time off, so be it. I think they and all members of Congress should stay in DC and solve our problems. They can take time off when they have actually earned it. However, all leaders take time off whether we like it or not or whether we think the time is appropriate or not.

The problem is, when Bush did it he was a lazy sloth who was really on vacation. When Obama does it he is not really on vacation because he still goes through presidential responsibilities while on his vacation. As if he is the only one and Bush never did the same.

One other thing; Carney goes on to say Obama is not out of reach and is not far from home. You know, he can respond on a moment’s notice.

So why did it take so long when the underwear bomber struck while Obama was on vacation?

How about we have the same standard?

Ole’ Jay was put in a tough spot by Tapper. Jay had to defend Obama for doing what he criticized Bush.

I love it when this comes back on them. They should call Carney the Press Sucks-retary and Tapper should be renamed Trapper…

Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Certainly one can make the argument that the president of the United States is never off. Even while on vacation he gets briefings and is kept abreast of what is going on even if it takes a few days with “unimportant” things like underwear bombers in airplanes. Yes, the president is supposed to be on duty 24 hours a day so it would be technically correct to say he never takes a day off.

That is, of course, unless the president is George Bush. Then liberals have a field day and discuss all his vacation time. When Bush was away on vacation he was not seen by the left as still being on duty.

Michelle Obama was at a fundraiser and was discussing how wonderful her hubby is and what a great job he does. She said he works so hard that he never takes a day off.

“He reads every word, every memo, so he is better prepared than the people briefing him,” she said. “This man doesn’t take a day off.” Politico

I guess the guy does work hard and never takes a day off, except when he spends a few weeks in Hawaii around Christmas each year and except when he plays golf which he has done more than 70 times since he has been in office.

Yep, he never takes a day off but he never seems to be engaged in anything. He has time to go to fundraiser after fundraiser and to make his NCAA Basketball picks while going out for ice cream or fattening hot dogs but he is very busy working so tirelessly that he never takes a day off.

Well, there is the occasional round of basketball with his buddies and the weekends away in Chicago but those do not count.

Maybe Michelle Obama should start keeping tabs on her hubby. Seems that she does not know much about what he does or where he goes, except when she is with him on those “working” vacations.

Is there anything these people will not say to keep power and dupe the people?

Who will you believe, Michelle or your lying eyes?

Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Michelle My Belle Obama is on a four day vacation with her youngest daughter while hubby Barry spends time away from family but with his friends, in Chicago. Barack Hussein Obama (mmm, mmm, mmm) spent his birthday in Chicago while the rest of his family did something else. While Barry told the country to visit the Gulf for vacation his wife, Michelle, evidently did not get the memo. She is spending time in Spain at a posh $2500 a night hotel.

Yes, while millions of people are unemployed, while her husband destroys the economy, while the near future is bleak, Michelle Obama is spending time at a hotel in which her room will cost $10,000 for the four days. That is more money than some people make a year. You’ve gotta love royalty…

And it gets worse because MO took up 60 rooms for 40 of her friends. I assume the other 20 rooms were for Secret Service Agents. Don’t be fooled by anything you read in the MSM. Michelle Obama is on a political trip paying off political friends and looking for more support. Hubby is sinking in the polls and most Democrats are avoiding him like the plague so MO is the one to garner support.

The big question is, who is paying for this? We know that part of the bill is being paid for by taxpayers. The plane ride over was on the taxpayer and the 20 or so Secret Service Agents are being paid for by the taxpayer. I don’t know who paid for the rest but if it is her vacation she shouild be paying for the entire trip out of her pocket (with the exception of reasonable items afforded her position as First Lady).

Somehow I feel like the bill will go to the taxpayer.

I do not begrudge anyone a vacation. I don’t really care how people spend their money (if she is indeed spending her money on this) but I can’t stand hypocrites and elitist pigs who tell us one thing and do another. The Clintons bash rich people all the time and discuss how terrible they are and how they should be giving more and why do they need so much and then they spend $5 million dollars on their daughter’s wedding. Think of how many of the poor folks and children that kind of money would have helped.

MO is the same way. She and her husband are liberal elitists who think that the government can decide how much a person can make. They believe that government should provide cradle to grave care for people. They think the evil rich make too much and spend it on lavish things. Then MO spends tens of thousands of dollars on a vacation. What do you expect from a woman whose husband eats $100 a pound steak?

To top all this off, MO did not spend the tens of thousands of dollars here in the United States. She could have gone to California where they could certainly use the money. She could show that she believes what her husband says and vacationed in the Gulf. Think of how welcomed that kind of spending would have been in an area devestated by the oil spill and the ensuing ineptitude of the Obama regime. The people down there are hurting and could have used an influx of money. The presence of MO could have sparked the rest of the country to vacation in the Gulf and help out our fellow Americans.

No, MO went to Spain where the State Department had determined that racist cops were arresting people for being black. Fortunately for Michelle, the State Department lifted the look out black folks memo in time for her to walk around Spain without worry (as if a platoon of Secret Service would ever let anything happen).

With more people claiming unemployment benefits (unexpectedly, of course), and more people using food stamps it would have been nice to see the First Lady spend money at home.

Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

When Katrina hit the liberals went into high gear to blame George Bush and to slam the federal response. I have often written that the federal response did lack in some areas but it was not as bad as the liberals portrayed it. The bulk of the blame for the problems at the state and federal level went to Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco. Their missteps caused undue delay and made the federal response much more difficult.

Barack Obama promised not to forget the Gulf Coast when he was running for office. He told us that he remembered the storm and he would not forget the Gulf Coast implying that Bush had forgotten about it.

Why would he not give that impression? Bush was blasted for not going there right away, blasted for being on vacation, blasted for fundraisers, blasted for a slow response and accused of hating black people. The left painted this unfair picture and it stuck. It was deliberate and it played politics with the lives of those affected.

But Obama fairs no better. He has made one trip to the Gulf (I think Bush had visited the Gulf nearly 10 times by this time frame during Katrina), the federal response was slow, he went on a mini vacation after the disaster and he is going on another this weekend, and he is squeezing a fundraiser in as well.

Obama had no plans to go to the Gulf but has capitulated and will visit the area this Friday after he returns form a fundraiser today and then he will go to his home in Chicago for some time off. He is so worn out from his quest to destroy our nation that he will miss the Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.

He will reportedly go to a cemetery in Illinois on Memorial Day. I hope his vacation is not interrupted too much.

Obama is getting hammered from the right (and now some of the left is chiming in) for the way he has responded to the Gulf oil spill. He is being held to the same standard that the left held Bush to during Katrina and to the standard he promised would be better than the one Bush had set.

Perhaps this is why Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called the media into the West Wing and scolded them for asking too many questions about the oil spill. I don’t recall the media letting up on the questions asked of Bush about Katrina and I am sure that the liberals kept asking questions. It is funny how things change when the ones who criticize are on the receiving end.

And Obama, who is very thin skinned, is not happy. He knows his messianic reputation is taking a hit. He knows he is teetering on being a failure in the eyes of the public because he knows what unfair accusations did to Bush. Obama participated in those accusations. He is getting tense by the day and is reported to have snapped, “Plug the damn hole.”

Gee, if only BP had thought of that…

And yes, I said unfair accusations. No occupant of the White House can slip into a phone booth and change into Superman and fix things. Bush could not swoop into New Orleans and fix things any more than Obama can swoop into the Gulf and fix things. Leaders have to rely on the people under them who have responsibility for things. Bush had to rely on a state and city that was led by incompetent boobs and who worsened the situation. Obama has to rely on the experts in the oil industry to fix the problem that the government is not equipped to take on. He had to rely on a decades old plan that ended up falling flat because required equipment was not in place. That plan was in place long before Obama (or Bush for that matter) was in office.

It sucks being the leader when the things that are supposed to be taken care of are not. It sucks when you get the blame for things out of your control.

But Obama was happy to criticize Bush and the response to Katrina. He was happy to pile on the unfair accusations and he was happy to say he would do better.

That is important to remember. He said he would do better and he has not. Whether the problems are his fault or not means nothing because he made promises he is now unable to keep.

And he is being held to the same standard that he held Bush to.

Liberals do not like it and Obama does not like it but you reap what you sow.

So while Obama is out at fundraisers and on vacation the Gulf remains in peril and the people there feel forgotten.

Even though they were promised that would change.

How is that Hope and Change working out for you now?

Never surrender, never submit.

Aww, poor little fella, Barack Obama is tired. He has been at his job for 11 months and he is tired. My Way News reports:

After a sleepless, overnight flight to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, President Barack Obama made a not altogether surprising admission. He was tired.

I am having a tough time figuring out how this guy is tired. He has time to play golf just about every weekend and he has pick-up basketball games at the White House. On a whim he hops in the motorcade and takes his daughters out for ice cream. It would seem to me that if the guy has all the energy for these activities then he can’t be all that tired no matter how many trips he has taken (some of them quite unnecessary).

But if he is tired then perhaps some extra sleep on the weekend instead of the golf games or a nap instead of basketball would take care of the fatigue.

Our troops are in combat working much longer hours than Obama and in a more hostile environment than this pampered limo liberal has ever seen and they carry over a hundred pounds of gear with them. Obama has people who carry his things.

Now I don’t begrudge the guy his vacation time and I am just delighted that it is interrupted by the ineptitude of those he left watching the nation but why is he fatigued? He has it easy compared to the troops. Hell, this is his second vacation in a home costing millions of dollars at a luxury spot and he has had date night with his wife and whisked her off to Chicago for Valentine’s Day. All this, plus the golf and basketball and he has only been in office for 11 months. When did he find any time to actually work?

He should try crawling around in the sand toting a weapon and humping his gear while getting shot at. He should try doing this while enjoying the international cuisine known as the Meal, Ready to Eat (MRE). You won’t find any of that $100 a pound steak Obama likes in those packages.

And Obama works in his home. He has breakfast with his girls each morning and walks from the office to his living quarters in the evening to spend time with his family. This is something our troops cannot do.

So quite frankly, I do not want to hear all this mess about Obama being tired. He is not half the person of those fighting for this country and they are working harder than he ever has or ever will.

Eleven months and he is tired.

What a load of crap.

I guess this too is Bush’s fault.

Will she still be darling of the left?

Barack Obama is off on his vacation this week (destroying the country is tough work) and he ran into a bunch of people who are still thrilled with him. That is, all but a few. Anti war protester Cindy Sheehan, the darling of the left when she harassed George W. Bush, turns out to be an equal opportunity moonbat. Sheehan is now near Obama’s vacation spot and will harass him for the troop build up in Afghanistan.

Poor Barack can’t catch a break. He ran for office pledging to end the wars and bring the troops home (frequencies changed from immediately to 16 months) but he decided that it might not be wise to leave the Middle East too soon. This drove his base nuts and his increase of troops in Afghanistan has sent them over the edge. Obama kept saying Afghanistan was where the focus should be but as soon as he focused there, it was not important any longer.

I am not opposed to any of the actions of the administration with regard to deploying troops to Afghanistan (except there should be a lot more of them) and I hope he decides that victory is the best exit strategy. I expect him to exert as much effort on winning in the Middle East as he did winning his current job. I am happy that he has adopted many of the tactics that George Bush employed. I know Obama has “repackaged” them so they are “not the same” but he is basically keeping what worked no matter how much he bashed it during the campaign.

Will Cindy Sheehan be the darling of the left after harassing Obama? Will they allow her to have her way as they did at Crawford or will they arrest her or otherwise force her to leave? The left is caught in between Barack and a hard place because it applauded Sheehan when she attacked Bush. How can they attack this poor woman who lost her son in a war? It will be interesting to see how she is portrayed now that the messiah is in office and the media are his cheerleading team.

Even before all of this some of Obama’s people were saying he has had it so tough that he needs a vacation from his vacation. Obama will go to Camp David after he returns from Massachusetts and will not be back in DC until after Labor Day. His vacation wore him out. According to White House spokesman Bill Burton:

On Monday, Burton pointed to former President George W. Bush’s vacation habits to defend scattered criticism of Obama’s August schedule.

“As I recall, the previous president [took] quite a bit of vacation himself, and I don’t think anyone bemoaned that,” Burton said. Politico

He does not think anyone bemonaed that? What planet was this guy living on? The left always carped that Bush was on vacation. Any discussion about 9/11 leads to people saying Bush was on vacation instead of reading intelligence briefings. The left constantly discussed the supposed 5 week vacation Bush took. It was addressed quite a bit by the left.

From the Washington Post:

President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of — nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.

The president departed Tuesday for his longest stretch yet away from the White House, arriving at his Crawford ranch in the evening to clear brush, visit with family and friends, and tend to some outside-the-Beltway politics. By historical standards, it is the longest presidential retreat in at least 36 years.

Here is a site with jokes about Bush on vacation (some are quite funny).

Here is a CBS report that discusses how much time Bush spent at Camp David.

And here is one from the blowhards at the Huffington Post who cry about Bush going on vacation as the Middle East heats up. Anyone read where they made the same complaint about Obama going on vacation while his troop surge in Afghanistan is heating up?

Now personally I don’t care where Bush, Obama or any others go spend their time because they are not really on vacation. The job is an around the clock gig so even during “down time” they are getting briefed and making decisions. I bring it up to point out the stupidity of Burton’s remark. Of course the difference here is that Bush was seen as never working and his vacation was the reason for 9/11. Obama is seen as needing even more time off. Think anyone will blame Kennedy’s death on him? I mean, it did happen while he was on vacation (and in the same state to boot).

Back to Sheehan. She was a moonbat long before this and she will be one long after. I don’t think what she is doing serves any purpose just like I felt when she was doing it to Bush. The left though, celebrated her acts back then so now they have to live with the monster they created.

One of the last things Obama needs is someone like Sheehan reminding his base that he did not keep his word or that he is emulating George Bush with regard to the war.

They told me if I voted for McCain there would be an escalation in the war tempo.

They were right.

The Democrats are not concerned with high energy prices and they do not care about people who are suffering because of it. They have made it clear that they will not allow drilling for our own oil and they have made it clear that they would rather go on a five week vacation rather than solve problems. It is evident that they are playing politics when one reads an article at Politico.

According to the article, Nancy Pelosi has been secretly telling vulnerable Democrats to support drilling and push the idea. She will continue to oppose it and allow the focus of the wrath to be on her. This is designed to fool voters into voting for the Democrats who are vulnerable by making people believe they actually disagree with the Speaker.

But what looks like intraparty tension on the surface is part of an intentional strategy in which Pelosi takes the heat on energy policy, while behind the scenes she’s encouraging vulnerable Democrats to express their independence if it helps them politically, according to Democratic aides on and off Capitol Hill.

Pelosi’s gambit rests on one big assumption: that Democrats will own Washington after the election and will be able to craft a sweeping energy policy that is heavy on conservation and fuel alternatives while allowing for some new oil drilling. Democrats see no need to make major concessions on energy policy with a party poised to lose seats in both chambers in just three months — even if recess-averse Republicans continue to pound away on the issue.

No need to make concessions since Republicans will lose seats. in other words, no need to do our jobs and do the work America expects of us. No, screw the people, we want to win.

Democrats are extremely confident that they will pick up enough seats to be push any legislation that they want and they are absolutely certain that they will have a Democrat in the White House to rubber stamp what they push through. The idea is to play voters as fools until they can win enough seats to make the Republican party inconsequential.

In other words, they are playing games now, while people are suffering, so that they can win. I have always said Democrats will do anything to win because they believe they know better than you how to run your life. They want to have no opposition from the other party so they can run roughshod over the country.

They are so confident that they are going to win big they do not feel the energy issue will hurt them. They believe that by allowing vulnerable Democrats to feign support for drilling they will have taken care of the only obstacles to their victory in November. They are so arrogant they do not mind if people are hurting and if their budgets are suffering. Why should they, we pay for everything they need in addition to paying for our own needs.

Remember this in November. Democrats went on a five week vacation without addressing the major issue on people’s minds. They went on a five week vacation at a time when many families are canceling vacation plans or staying at home because they cannot afford the fuel involved in traveling.

They really care about you. Vote them out in November and show them that we will not be used as their pawns.