Much of the media has been abuzz with talk of whether or not President Obama should be on vacation with the United States, seemingly, teetering on the brink of a double-dip recession. The Obama’s are vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard. Yes, that island off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts known for its affluence. The Martha’s Vineyard Commission studied this affluence back in 2007 citing that the cost of living there was 60 percent above the national average, we won’t even get into the cost of housing on the island that is accessible only by air or boat.
Let’s get back to the Obama vacation, which many feel is undeserved. After all his poll numbers are on a roller coaster ride along with the stock market and since he set foot on the vineyard the Libyan crisis has ramped up again with a defiant Gadhafi vowing to fight to the death(again). And just yesterday a 5.9 magnitude earthquake rattled the East Coast. It would seem like Obama picked the wrong week to go on vacation. Is there ever a right time for this President to do anything?
For the record and according to CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller, President Obama has spent all or part of 26 days “on vacation” during his first year as president. Compare this to the 42 and 69 days of vacation of Reagan and George W. Bush respectively. Very low in comparison but the fake outrage just highlights that Americans don’t take enough days off compared to countries around the world. Even the leader of the free world needs a break from the grind that we dare not compare to our work day. Many news stories have highlighted both the pros and the cons of the vacation with Bill O’Reilly snarking that it’s good because it gets him away from the economy. A plethora of man/woman on the street interviews (even some from the vineyard) have ranged from he should be ashamed to vacation with unemployment as high as it is to he should take a month off after all that he has been through in Washington. Even Mr. Hair(Donald Trump) had to chime in saying, “Obama takes more vacations than any human being I’ve ever seen.” Really Donald Trump, is this the best that you can come up with?
Realistically can the president ever really take a REAL vacation, he’s briefed daily on matters both large and small and have you ever had to leave your leisure reading to speak on the inevitable demise of a Middle Eastern leader. At best the President’s vacation is a working one as he’s still connected to Washington and the world via all of his advisers. I, for one, don’t want that kind of vacation, when I disconnect I want it to be complete. I do wish I could head to Cape Cod or have another mini-vacation as I did back in July. Bookstores and wine tastings and ice cream would be on the list so I will not begrudge the President of such indulgences before he dives back into the daily grind.
Posted by Libergirl
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