The Golf Address

[Quick Karl]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-the-golf-address.html?_r=0

[PB the Deplorable]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-the-golf-address.html?_r=0

Crikey, has he lost the NY Times too?

[Quick Karl]

Crikey, has he lost the NY Times too?

I think he's lost his mind...

[jazmunda]

Far be it for me to spoil a good ole Barry Bash as he fiddles while Rome burns but he's not the only President that enjoys a bit of golf whilst responding to world events.

http://youtu.be/TCm9788Tb5g

[Quick Karl]

Jaz,

Published: Monday, September 23, 2013, 5:24 PM

“Obama, who has played 146 rounds of golf according to CBS News, has been chastised several times by fellow lawmakers for how often he plays.

In March, Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, a frequent critic, went as far as submitting an amendment to proposed legislation that would have banned Obama from using federal funds to travel to or from golf courses.

By comparison, Bush played 24 rounds of golf through the first 34 months of his presidency, according to CBS News, but stopped in 2003 because he didn't want to be seen by the country as a leader who took the nation being at war lightly.

“I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said in a 2008 interview.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/president-george-w-bush-president-obama-shouldn-criticized-playing-golf-article-1.1465236#ixzz3BHgqfNbU

While Bush supports some tee-time for the President, he himself understood the optics of doing so while the world burns...

[jazmunda]

Jaz,

Published: Monday, September 23, 2013, 5:24 PM

“Obama, who has played 146 rounds of golf according to CBS News, has been chastised several times by fellow lawmakers for how often he plays.

In March, Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, a frequent critic, went as far as submitting an amendment to proposed legislation that would have banned Obama from using federal funds to travel to or from golf courses.

By comparison, Bush played 24 rounds of golf through the first 34 months of his presidency, according to CBS News, but stopped in 2003 because he didn't want to be seen by the country as a leader who took the nation being at war lightly.

“I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said in a 2008 interview.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/president-george-w-bush-president-obama-shouldn-criticized-playing-golf-article-1.1465236#ixzz3BHfZiJAY

I also saw an article comparing the number of vacation days and it seems that Bush spent his entire presidency at the ranch.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2014/aug/23/who-took-more-vacation-george-w-bush-or-barack-oba/

[Quick Karl]

I also saw an article comparing the number of vacation days and it seems that Bush spent his entire presidency at the ranch.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2014/aug/23/who-took-more-vacation-george-w-bush-or-barack-oba/

If the country were cruising along fine, and people weren't getting beheaded on the Internet, and we weren't about to again ask our 20-year old kids to go die to stop a problem the President was naive and misleading about, I wouldn't care if he golfed every day of the year!

He should be more considerate of Foley's parents and family than to give a canned speech about Foley then head straight to the links - and he should be more realistic about the threat to the world by Islam.

[jazmunda]

If the country were cruising along fine, and people weren't getting beheaded on the Internet, and we weren't about to again ask our 20-year old kids to go die to stop a problem the President was naive and misleading about, I wouldn't care if he golfed every day of the year!

He should be more considerate of Foley's parents and family than to give a canned speech about Foley then head straight to the links.

No arguments from me. I'd be livid if my PM was doing the same.

[PB the Deplorable]

I also saw an article comparing the number of vacation days and it seems that Bush spent his entire presidency at the ranch...

When Reagan went home to the ranch in Santa Barbara for vacation, or Clinton up to Camp David, or Bush II to his crummy scrubweed ranch in Texas, their staffs also went and they spent much of the day in meetings and at their desk.  They weren't real vacations as much as a change of scenery and fresh air.

I don't know if Obama spends most of his day at work while he is at these places too, but it doesn't seem like it.

I don't begrudge Obama or any President vacation time or family time (unlike Big Media who were all over Reagan and Bush for taking so-called 'vacation' time, but silent on Clinton and up until now, Obama).  It's fine with me if they delegate as much as they can, as long as what needs to be done is getting done, and they are available and prepared to make tough decisions. 

But they should be aware of their image.  That they are a symbol of the country.  It's their job to buck up the country after disaster (in this case the horrific murder of an American).  They need to be seen on the case doing their job during crisis.  Image matters.

It's not so much that mistakes were made in Benghazi, but where was the President, what was he doing, why did he seem absent, why did he not cancel his fundraiser in Vegas the next day?

The job calls for the person to appear to be something other than an immature frat boy.  One with at best a dangerously naïve worldview.

[RealCool Daddio]

This nonsense has been going on for decades, regardless of which party has held the Whitehouse.  Bush got mocked for clearing brush at his ranch, Obama gets mocked for a round of golf - whatever, at the end if the day these guys are human beings, with wives and children, and they are allowed a week or two off every few years.  Between daily briefings, press conferences, etc., it probably works out to 30 hours away from their job for every couple of years in office.  If anything, the poor bastards should be given more time off.

[WildCard]

If the country were cruising along fine, and people weren't getting beheaded on the Internet, and we weren't about to again ask our 20-year old kids to go die to stop a problem the President was naive and misleading about, I wouldn't care if he golfed every day of the year!

He should be more considerate of Foley's parents and family than to give a canned speech about Foley then head straight to the links - and he should be more realistic about the threat to the world by Islam.

As opposed to W. who took 879 vacation days, (as opposed to Obama's 150), during an actual war that cost over 7,000 American lives?

[PB the Deplorable]

As opposed to W. who took 879 vacation days...

I think someone counted wrong.  Did W really take 110 vacation days a year (879/8 years).

And like I said, when past Presidents did take vacation days, they weren't real vacations the way we think of them.  It's not like they were spending a coupe weeks lying on the beach somewhere.

[UnscreenedCaller]

I don't get the canned outrage over presidential holidays, not in an age when technology and staff go with the president wherever he goes. Obama, Bush, Clinton were as hooked in on the ranch or at Martha's Vineyard as they are in the White House and we do have modern conveniences like Air Force One and helicopters to take them back to the WH in an emergency. Bush took a lot of unfair flak for reading to those kids when the Twin Towers were being attacked - would it have made a difference if he were in the Oval Office when it happened? His staff was with him, fighter jets were scrambled in minutes. And while I'm really sorry for Foley's parents because of the public spectacle of his brutal death, our servicemen and women die every day in combat doing their jobs as was he, and as cruel and unfair as it sounds, life goes on. It smacks of hypocrisy to demand public mourning from a president if one's not out organizing or attending a public memorial oneself. 

[FightTheFuture]

As opposed to W. who took 879 vacation days, (as opposed to Obama's 150), during an actual war that cost over 7,000 American lives?

That`s a little misleading.


Bush was known to spend time in three places: Camp David (basically, the White House in the woods), His West Texas ranch, or the Bush family home in Maine. Time spent in any of those locales by the President could hardly be considered a traditional vacation.

Compare that to the lavish, and often extravagant, vacations that Obama takes (as well as his family!) and you`ll see a very clear difference.


Obama lost Maureeen Dowd, for crying out loud! AND the NY Times. That`s akin, if not far worse, than a sitting Republican President losing Sean Hannity and Fox News. Not exactly an insignificant thing.

[FightTheFuture]

I don't get the canned outrage over presidential holidays, not in an age when technology and staff go with the president wherever he goes. Obama, Bush, Clinton were as hooked in on the ranch or at Martha's Vineyard as they are in the White House and we do have modern conveniences like Air Force One and helicopters to take them back to the WH in an emergency. Bush took a lot of unfair flak for reading to those kids when the Twin Towers were being attacked - would it have made a difference if he were in the Oval Office when it happened? His staff was with him, fighter jets were scrambled in minutes. And while I'm really sorry for Foley's parents because of the public spectacle of his brutal death, our servicemen and women die every day in combat doing their jobs as was he, and as cruel and unfair as it sounds, life goes on. It smacks of hypocrisy to demand public mourning from a president if one's not out organizing or attending a public memorial oneself.

I don`t think anyone begrudges the President some down time here and there. However, Obama has taken it to a whole new level. But more importantly, it`s his timing.

You know, I can`t even imagine how the Foley family must have felt after seeing their beloved son get his head sawed off on video and then observe a casually dressed Obama barely make mention of it on his way to the links to yuck it up with some celebrities. Sorry, but that`s just completely F****D up!

Furthermore, when the damn FRENCH, of all people,  feel the need to lecture our President regarding his incomprehensible lack of crucial etiquette in this matter...well...that`s just really embarrassing.

[Bart Ell]

http://youtu.be/qnx4vFQWO-I

[NowhereInTime]

Crikey, has he lost the NY Times too?

Definitely lost Maureen Dowd.

Really was a dick maneuver.  Too much hobnobbing.