Well, if Chuck Todd thinks it's just "politics as usual" ...
Could the chattering class please cut it out with the "
Vacationing While
Something Important Is
Happening" meme? Seriously, it is getting ridiculous. Democrats and Republicans are opining in addition to members of the media. At least
David Horsey at the LA Times gets it!
Let's start by looking at some numbers and then jump below the fold for a more detailed look at the issue.
Also, could we stop using the "teed off" meme when talking about this professional political thinkers? Please.
According to
politifact:
CBS White House reporter Mark Knoller is the unofficial but widely trusted chronicler of data on presidential travels and other day-to-day White House goings-on, so we turned to his calculations.
Okay, W stopped golfing in 2003 because it "sent the wrong message" so Obama has played more golf. I'll give you that one. But still ...
"Every day, we find new evidence that he'd rather be on the golf course than he would be dealing with the crisis that's developing rapidly in the Middle East," former Vice President Dick Cheney to Sean Hannity.
125 compared to 427. I can stop writing (and you can stop reading) right here.
The Latest Vacation By The Numbers
This information from ABC News about the nine days of the trip that preceded the president's brief return to DC mid vacation. The Obamas returned for another five.
- 6 rounds of golf on 2 different courses (roughly 30 hours)
- 2 family outings (about 6 hours at the beach)
- 3 dinners with his wife and friends (10 hours?)
- 1 birthday party (3 hours max?)
- 1 jazz concert with the First Lady(2 hours?)
- 1 fundraiser
- 11 different phone calls with international leaders
- 2 statements on 2 different subjects
Some Myths About Presidential Vacations
Read "5 Myths About Presidential Vacations" a WaPo OpEd by Scott Farris on August 17. It is an interesting piece and well worth the read.
Presidents get vacations
“Presidents don’t get vacations — they just get a change of scenery,” Nancy Reagan referring to Ronald's many trips to their Santa Barbara ranch.
The president travels with around 200 people when he goes on vacation. These include aides, Secret Service and military advisors.
The president still receives his customary intelligence and security briefings and also holds press conferences, meetings and even attends fundraisers.
Presidential vacations harm the national agenda
Again, see the number of people who travel with the president.
Also remember that you probably can't get away for a weekend without taking your phone or checking your email.
In 1940, FDR took a fishing trip to the Caribbean, where he devised the Lend-Lease program that send US aid to Britain during WWII in the time before the US officially entered the war.
Taxpayers foot the bill for presidential vacations
Presidents pay for the family's food, lodging and entertainment while on vacation. Farris points out that this is why many presidents vacation at either their own properties or those of friends.
The only significant added expense for presidential vacations is time on Air Force One, budgeted out to about $180,000 per hour.
Not chump change for sure but not what some claim the vacations to be either.
A Good Walk Spoiled
I won't defend golf as a sport here. There are all kinds of resources issues, access issues and socioeconomic issues tied up in the game.
But I will defend the president's right to play. I would venture to say that an open course is probably the most normal the man gets to feel.
I'm in favor of my president feeling normal every once in a while.
Is Golf Any Worse Than Clearing Brush?
Again, I'm in favor of my president feeling normal. So I won't attack another president's preoccupation with clearing brush on his ranch in Crawford, TX.
Nor will I attack his post-presidential pastime as an amateur painter.
But Bush critics still get hounded for criticizing "43's" vacation habits. It has been mentioned in a lot of the reading I have done lately.
WWRD? -- What Would Reagan Do?
August 29, 1983 -- Reagan remained on vacation after
2 Marines were killed and 14 others injured in Beirut.
October 22, 1983 -- Reagan remained on vacation at the Augusta National Golf Club while preparing plans to invade Grenada.
September 6, 1986 -- Pakistan took the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 on the September 5. (22 killed including 2 Americans and 150 injured)
This picture was taken.
Well, Ben Stein Has Weighed In, So ...
The author, actor, spokesperson and (I guess still) economist weighed in last week over at
The American Spectator cleverly titled "Decline and Fall of Obama's America" in a nod to Edward Gibbon.
Stein levels the usual attacks against the president's vacationing habits but then spends twice as much space talking about his own. I guess he needed to fill column inches?