New GOBP mantra: "Obama plays too much golf" - The answer is ...

[Bozita]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/03/04/BL2008030401392.html

The Vacation President

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, March 4, 2008; 1:02 PM

President Bush famously, if unjustifiably, casts himself as Ronald Reagan's disciple. But in at least one way, he has surpassed his master.

According to the meticulous records kept by CBS Radio White House correspondent Mark Knoller, Bush on Monday lodged his 879th day spent in whole or in part at Camp David or his sprawling estate in Crawford, Tex.

By comparison, the 40th president only -- only! -- spent all or part of 866 days at Camp David or his ranch in California during his eight years in office, according to the Reagan Library. (By my count, Bush actually beat Reagan's mark on Dec. 30, during his Christmas vacation in Crawford.)

This, of course, is not the noblest of records to break. Reagan was frequently derided for his laid-back, hands-off approach to his job. He even poked fun of himself at the 1987 Gridiron Dinner: "It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?"

And, of course, Bush still has almost a year to go. His will almost certainly be a record for the ages.

Bush's current tally represents a little more than a third of his presidency. And that's not counting the 39 days that Knoller says he spent in whole or in part at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Me. All in all, Knoller says, Bush has made 134 separate visits to Camp David, 70 to Crawford and 10 to Kennebunkport in a little over seven years.

-snip-

But at some key points in his administration, Bush has been on vacation. For instance, he spent a month in Crawford shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when critics say he should have been more attentive to warning signs.

Mike Allen wrote in The Washington Post in August of 2001, as Bush's first long Crawford vacation wrapped up: "The length of the trip revived old questions about Bush's work ethic." Of course, no one knew at the time that Bush had, during the first week of that vacation, waved off the now-famous memo specifically for the president titled " Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US." According to author Ron Suskind, Bush heard his CIA briefer out -- then told him, "All right. You've covered your ass, now."

-snip-

more...

[Bozita]

1. Fox News Claims that Obama is on Vacation More than George W. Bush

http://www.politicususa.com/en/obama-bush-vacation

Fox News Claims that Obama is on Vacation More than George W. Bush
Posted By Jason Easley On 22 Jun 2010. Under Barack Obama, Featured News, Fox News, George W. Bush, Jason Easley Tags: Barack Obama, Fox News, George W. Bush, news, Obama on vacation more than Bush, politics, The O'Reilly Factor, vacation


The tall tales about Barack Obama keep getting taller everyday on Fox News. Tonight on The O’Reilly Factor guest Monica Crowley who claimed that, “Obama is taking a vacation every five minutes…Bush took two vacations a year in August and at Christmastime that was it.”

Here is the video courtesy of Media Matters:





Monica Crowley claimed that, “He actually shoehorning the job of the presidency into his busy schedule of going on vacation, listening to the comic stylings of George Lopez, swaying to Paul McCartney, playing golf, shooting hoops, taking smokes. What else is this guy doing? Is he ever working?” O’Reilly pointed out that people said the same the thing about Bush, and asked what the difference is between Bush and Obama, and Crowley told a boldfaced lie, “Obama is taking a vacation every five minutes. He’s blowing off steam almost every day….he is got partying going on. He’s at the Nationals game. Bush took two vacations a year in August and at Christmastime that was it.”

Crowley is lying. Bush spent 1,020 days of his presidency on vacation. To put this into context, John F. Kennedy spent fewer days in office, 1000, than George W. Bush spent on vacation. Bush spent 487 days at Camp David, 490 days at his Crawford ranch, and 43 days in Kennebunkport. George W. Bush spent 69 days in Crawford during his first year in office. In contrast, according to FactCheck.org, Obama spent all, or part of, 26 days of his first year in office on vacation. This was less than all three previous Republican presidents, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, but more than the two previous Democratic presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

In Fox News revisionist GOP history, George W. Bush was a hard worker who was always at his desk doing the work of the American people, while Obama is just another party animal Democrat, who doesn’t take his job seriously. Crowley’s applied a strange definition of vacation to Obama. Since when is shooting hoops, playing golf, or even having a smoke, a vacation? I do believe that Lopez and McCartney came to the White House. Obama did not go see them. No president has ever been as lazy as the man who spent 1/3 of his time in the White House on vacation, George W. Bush, and it is laughable that Crowley would even try to float such a ridiculous lie.

[peace frog]

2. "Now watch this drive"

[damntexdem]

3. Well, I guess the GOP is teed off and has a hole in one of its arguments.

Actually, all of its arguments leak like sieves.

[Sinistrous]

4. K&R