August 24th, 2009
09:15 AM ET
5 years ago
Monday Memo: Presidential vacations rarely very peaceful
President Obama and his family arrive at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Sunday en route to a vacation on Martha's Vineyard..
(CNN) "No Public Events," is the headline of the White House in the week ahead, as President Obama and the first family look to enjoy a summer break on Martha's Vineyard.
Presidential vacations, however, rarely are as peaceful and "news-free" as the commander in chief would like, so one thing to look for in the week ahead is how often we see Obama in a setting other than, say, the ice cream shop or enjoying the spectacular sunset off Menemsha.
And with the president and Congress on break, Washington should - emphasis "should" - have a week of relative calm.
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He had his family deserve a vacation. I hope it is pleasant and trouble free. Heaven knows they have earned it.
so when obama goes on vaction, it is 'all work and no play' but when Bush went on vacation it was "OMG he goes on vacation ALL THE TIME!?"
nice double standard, CNN. You have effectively become the equivalent of The Weekend Update
This may be the best time to enjoy vacation for the Obamas. Sometimes it's best to let things "set" a while to firm up. I, for 1, am impressed with the being in action-ness of Pres Obama. And before all the resistence starts slamming here with the "opposition," I'm reminded that a country divided will undergo a lot of opposition, mistrust, and stone throwing instead of doing what it takes to move forward in the best interest of ALL Americans. If nothing changes, nothing changes.
Let the griping begin.
St. Louis
I can only imagine the motivation of Repugs when they criticize Obama for taking a vacation, Congress takes the whole month of August and Bush took off a third of his Presidency for vacation. Hope he enjoys his time with his family.
Let's ask for no more month-long timeouts for Congress and an annual 10% reduction in all pay and allowances until these crises are solved. Congress should work for their money and be paid according to performance. They should also be required to use the new insurance voted by them rather than the cushy plan thet have now. We should reforn CONGRESS!
Anti-health care for all advertisements that talk about the Presidents young girls or attempts to knock him for taking a vacation at all are hitting bellow the belt and simply show that those behind the opposition to the pending health care reform bill have NO legitimate arguments.
Gee do you think the reason bush did not have calm is because he was mostly always on "vacation" break. Taking more vacation time then 1/3 of the presidents combined. WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS ...SINCE HE WAS GONE SO MUCH WAS CHENEY MINDING THE STORE.
Hopefully he goes site seeing and looks at the waves......
It should be very peaceful for the president.... at least he is vacationing in the mecca of liberal elitism, among his own.
he doesn't deserve a vacation; typical liberal mentality...rewarding bad behaviors...just like the mortgage meltdown and cash for clunkers; two items that the honest taxpayer is picking up the tab on. Tell you what, it would be cheaper and less stressful for the nation just to have Obama stay on permanent vacation, and we elect a fiscally responsible conservative to come in and clean up the mess he's created.
I bet dealing with all of that paparazzi gets very difficult at times.
I guess he won't be "a choppin' some wood or whitlin' on the front porch" while the still boils up some moonshine like when Duh-bya was in office.
There will be no calm as long as we have idiots running around screaming about health care reform.
These people are an embarrassment to our great country.
They are not real Americans, but big business shills. They need to move to a fascist country that better suits their needs.
This story and one other I saw reads like this is something new. ALL presidents on vacation get national security briefings, regular phone calls and other interruptions because of who they are. But the media acts like it is something special that the Obamas are going through. Give me a break-and get over yourself !
Will the libs question why he is going on vacation at such a critical time in our country's history? Will they quesion the public dollars that are being spent on this whim? Will there be any criticism from the state run media like there was with Bush. I think not, because the liberal bias of the state run media is so strong and it is not on their agenda to tear this president down.
Wasn't this the place where some old rich Dem "environmentalists" didn't want a wind farm because it was to unsightley? Hmmm, typical lib monkey's "do as I say, not as I do" attitude....
He can sit back and relax while his foot soldiers do all of the heavy lifting on health care "reform." His plans are going down in flames so why not buy a pricey retreat? Anything is better than being in the Oval Office right now.
So CNN , do I take by this article that you think Bush rarely had time off during his vacations?
Nice....work 7 months and get a vacation, won't happen in the real world.
Every time he takes a bisness trip,the whole family goes. He in
effect has a break more than any other potus in history. I hope
we don't get charged for the family expense as well.
He really deserves a break,these repub bigots are a torn in d flesh.
How wonderful, hopefully they will have a great vacations. I am so proud of the Obama's, just wish negative people would let him do his job as he is lead by God, also people need to realize that this is God's country and he has put President Obama at this time to take care of the United States. It's a time an place for everything.
Funny how this wasn't written when Bush was taking his vacation.