Sure, Rachel.  Vacationing in Martha’s Vineyard and at your ranch in Crawford, TX (The Western WH) provide the exact same optics to the public.  She really is a genius.  

So Maddow’s big number is that Obama has taken one-third of the vacation days (not counting his golf outings) in roughly one-quarter of the time?

I also remember Bush having foreign dignitaries at his ranch during his vacations (CBS News says there were 20 visits by foreign leaders to his ranch and 6 to Camp David).

I think it is silly to take any Pres. to task regarding “vacations” in terms of “time off”.  They are pretty much always working.   Optics are a different thing.  I think Bush and Obama both misjudged how the political opposition would use the media to attack time away from the White House. 

The thing is, the press (this isn’t Maddow’s story, but has been going around all day) is really not being honest here.  Going home (Bush on his Crawford ranch) is different than going on vacation.   I think most people that work from home would agree that being home isn’t the same as being on vacation (even if you have the day off).

Honest question, did Bush ever take a vacation that wasn’t in Crawford/Camp David?  I know he went to Maine to visit is folks, but I cant think of him doing anything like going to the Vinyard or going to Disney. 

Well, for openers Reagan was in office for eight years — Obama’s catching him fast.  And as for Bush I wonder if she used Michael Moore’s math of counting any time he was away from the White House, as well as counting every weekend and deeming those “vacation days”..

Obama’s biggest gaffe here is that he always seems to take these excursions immediately after announcing how stridently he will be working on a particular issue.  He recently said he’d be working tirelessly on the budget crisis just before announcing his vacation plans, and he slammed Congress for leaving on their recess before completing the latest budget bill – the day before he left on vacation.  This is in line with him blowing off Sarkozy in France because his schedule was so tight, and then he stepped off Air Force One to hit the golf course.

well… she was talking about stupid so perhaps she was just a bit confused.  The Country is in the tank and the Pres jets off to a very expensive place to vacation.  Bush cleaned brush and got shit for it.

I agree – it is stupid to even attempt to compare the two.  One is basically saying “let them eat cake” and the other said “hell, might as well do something productive while I’m getting all the bad press”.  lol

Areosmith’s comment “That damm Bush smoked all are weed”.

BSNBC – The Place for Lunatics

With Rachel it’s always in what she DOESN”T report. 

I don’t begrudge the President for going on vacation, and a lot of conservatives publicly stated that they didn’t either.

It’s the idea of him rolling out his economic plan AFTER his return from vacation.  Seriously, how nice of him to finally have something after all this time. 

What’s more important than jobs?  Well, obviously his bus tour and his R&R.  He started his vacay on the day the unemployment number went up(again), manufacturing is down, housing is dropping and the market is down more than 400+.  That’s not to mention a record number of people on food stamps, and some of the worst poverty levels and unemployment for African Americans since the depression.

Martha’s Vineyard, really?

Yah, the optics of the Vinyard are really bad- especially considering what Obama was doing the last week or so.  Krauthammer nails Obama here:
http://www.therightscoop.com/krauthammer-obamas-hypocritical-for-vacationing-at-marthas-vineyard/

Obamo deserves the bludgeoning he’s getting. Big-ears is enjoying a ‘millionaire’s’ vacation while the market crashes and hope for the future evaporates. The ‘optics,’ as media elites like to call it, look disastrous for Obamo. I’m very pleased it makes him look bad; whatever it takes to prevent his re-election.

“It’s the idea of him rolling out his economic plan AFTER his return from vacation.  Seriously, how nice of him to finally have something after all this time. ”

When does Congress come back? Nothing can be done without Congress. But you knew that, right? That’s why you were careful to post such a thoughtful comment AFTER using common sense and logic about the schedule, right?

RIGHT?

Good to see our president get some much needed time with the family before September. Even the most vital man in the world must understand that time with kin strengthens.

The baseline of comparison is the same 33 months in office for all three. in the first 33 months Reagan took 112 days off, Bush took 180 days off, and President Obama has only taken 61 days off. I guess you made up the roughly one-quarter of the time part and it also doesn’t count Bush’s gold outings.

this vacation stuff is just a bunch of shit, you are president 24 hrs and 365 a year no matter where you are. that is the job, i dont find obama at fault here.     rachel on the other hand is funny, trying to give the impression that she is a objective journalist

My mistake. I didn’t watch the video and only read the article.

Where’s Code Pink , Cindy Sheehan, the ACLU and the whole gang of vacation protesters ?
Hypocrite galore

I wasn’t speaking of this week or even last week.  I’m speaking of the fact that there has been ZERO efforts to tackle our economic problems since he’s been in office.

And after the whole debt ceiling debacle in which the House Republicans passed two plans, and not a single plan was offered by a Democrat.

You seem smart enough to know that the President FINALLY laying out a plan after he returns from his vacation is too little – too late for most people.  

his “gold” outings?  He didn’t go golfing at all after 9/11

Nothing like filling air time with hand waving and loose interpretations of facts.

But then, that IS the infotainment biz for ya. A whole lot of bluster, but not much substance.

btw…leaders dipping out on luxury vacations while tens of millions of their constituents face growing hardships and ever bleak days, is severely ef’d up.

ffs, I so wish Obama would resign already.

Here’s Rachel Maddow attacking George Bush for playing golf and mountain biking during a “time of war.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=809_vOga7xk

But Obama can take long vacations and golf as much as he wants, and Maddow will defend him to her last breath.

This is why no intelligent person can take Maddow seriously.  She doesn’t have any core values and will flipflop and contradict herself to score the tiniest of political points.

They’re busy ignoring the war in Libya, the additional measures added to the PATRIOT ACT, the unmanned drone bombings in Pakistan, and being whiter than the front row at a Barbara Streisand concert.

How exactly mathmatically is Obama catching him fast? The numbers compared the three mens’ time off in the first 33 months in office for all three.  The 112 number for Reagan wasn’t for 8 years in office it was for 33 months in office just like Bush had taken 180 days off in his first 33 months in office, while President Obama has only taken 61 days off in his first 33 months in office.  The point is the hypocricy of attacking President Obama for taking time off when he has in fact taken off half of the time that Ronnie Raygun did and one third of the time that “Dubuyah” Bush had.

But you have no problem with Bush being on vacation during Katrina while people died and going to John McCains birthday celebration?

Note: George W. Bush bought the “ranch” in Crawford, Tx. to make people think he was from Texas when he was actually born in New Haven Conn.  He now lives in a wealthy, gated Dallas suburb and goes nowhere near Crawford anymore.  Optics are funny things, you can fool some of the people some of the time the rest are republicans and are just fools.

Correction: He didn’t go golfing after the bodies of soldiers he’d sent needlessly into Iraq came home in boxes.  Due to an overwhelming feeling of guilt I suppose.

I forgot about Bush staying at the Super 8 with Tom Boudette leaving the light on for him while people died during Katrina.  Every vacation Bush took was a ‘millionaire’s’ vacation because guess what, the Texas oilman was a fn’ millionaire long before he stole his way into the whitehouse.  

Seeing your avatar makes your comment so much more understandable.  Hey, it’s 4:20 somewhere, burn one.

You are twisted.

Sorry, I’m not a liberal so I don’t have to collectively agree with one monolithic way of thinking.  I didn’t approve of Bush as a president.

Try using your critical thinking skills, instead of being an apologist for government.

Good thing Obama tripled Bush’s debt, kept Guantanamo open, expanded the Patriot Act, got involved in another war, ignored the failing economy for a health care plan nobody wanted, Took more campaign contributions from corporations than any other President ever, and filled his cabinet with Goldman Sach’s employees(his 2nd highest donor.)

Change.

Let’s me see President Regan took 112 over 8 years, Bush’s 180 over 8 years. Both spent most of those at home on their ranch and sometimes it was work vacation with foreign leaders. Obama has been in less then 3 years and he’s spent 61 days on vacation, not to mention plenty of weekends on the golf course.  I remember Rachel “bag of hot air” Maddow attacking President Bush for Golfing but Obama has went golfing 8 times more then President Bush.  Hmm oh who am I kidding? It’s MSNBC, facts aren’t relevant, only attacks, demonized, destroy, and making craptastic claims are allowed.

irrelevant instead of “relevant”

so there are no more bodies of soldiers?  I know, suddenly the media isn’t covering the carnage like they did with Bush.  Don’t you sometimes wonder about that?

Note:  Sheik Yerbouti is a great album from one of my favorite outspoken conservatives – Frank Zappa.  I miss that guy.

Bush was on vacation so long he lived at the Ranch.  

sock alert

I’m pretty sure Obama invaded another country w/out Congress, tool.

Thank you Rachel, I totally agree with your assessment of the hypocrisy. Loved how you gave other newscasts S–t   about how they “didn’t” call out the hypocrisy.  You do have a way with being right on the point w/o being mean.  love it!!!!

Gold was a typo.  Actually he did go golfing after 9/11.  He made a pledge he wouldn’t golf anymore after a certain point but he didn’t hold to it.  I remember a report that showed him golfing about 10 or so months after he said he wouldn’t.

The list of Bush’s failures that put the US in the predicament we are in is too long to fit on the page but the most glaring mistake on your list is the debt.  President Obama didn’t triple Bush’s debt he just counted the cost of the two wars and the prescription drug ripoff to medicare that Bush left off of his tab.  It’s like Bush totaled up his monthly bills but left off the first and second mortgage plus the car note; only counting the utilities,food and gas bill.

Like when Jay Carney wrote an article attacking Bush for his vacation, but defended Obama,saying the POTUS is never really on vacation…(and Bush was at his ranch, working, not galavanting around Martha’s vineyard after spending two years attacking the rich.)

Like when the Left attacked Bush when he went on his Canadian purchased bus tour…(and they did)

Like when the Left attacked Bush for his vacation days, and his golf outings….

Like Bush paid for his campaign bus tour out of his campaign funds, but Obama fibbed and called it a jobs tour….

Yea..there’s hypocrisy alright.

Like when Jay Carney wrote an article attacking Bush for his vacation, but defended Obama,saying the POTUS is never really on vacation…(and Bush was at his ranch, working, not galavanting around Martha’s vineyard after spending two years attacking the rich.)

Like when the Left attacked Bush when he went on his Canadian purchased bus tour…(and they did)

Like when the Left attacked Bush for his vacation days, and his golf outings….

Like Bush paid for his campaign bus tour out of his campaign funds, but Obama fibbed and called it a jobs tour….

Yea..there’s hypocrisy alright.

Sooo, the Secret Service bought a super duper expensive bus for a yet to be named Republican nominee without knowing, of course, if said nominee would even be interested in using it? Really? Really? I call bs. Complete and total bs. 

If this was 2008, I would concede your point.  But it’s not, it’s 2011.  I agree with you on the medicaid sham, that should be a lesson to backers of a massive government spending package.

The cost of two wars over a 10 year period is 1 trillion dollars.  If you could erase that from our debt, we would still have to deal with 13.5 trillion dollars.  The debt is expected to continue to skyrocket to another 10 trillion additional dollars.

Not enough billionaire jet owners in the world could be taxed enough to even pay off a fraction of one percent of the interest alone.

WTF are you talking about? The baseline of comparison is the same 33 months in office for all three men. The 112 number for Reagan wasn’t for 8 years in office, it was for his first 33 months in office. The 180 number for Bush wasn’t for 8 years in office, it was for his first 33 months in office. Bush spent plenty of weekends on the golf course himself and Rachel criticized him for golfing while soilders were dying in Iraq. I don’t know where you got the President Obama has golfed 8 times more than Bush number, but considering your other “facts”, I’m gonna go with you pulled it out of your ass unless you can provide a source.  President Obama has only taken 61 days off in his first 33 months in office.  Since you have a problem with numbers I’ll tell you that is half of the time that Ronnie Raygun took off and one third of the time that “Dubuyah” Bush took off.  Hmm oh who am I kidding? It’s you to whom facts are irrelevant in your failed attempt to attack, demonize, destroy, and make craptastic claims against YOUR President; President Obama.

The stimulus plan was a necessary evil everybody begrudgingly agreed to and helped more than some will admit. I’m just saying President Obama didn’t triple Bush’s debt.

Obama has taken nearly a third of the vacation days of Bush in the same amount of time.

Yes really! It’s the Secret Service’s job to protect both the President and the nominee. Every President and every nominee has used buses in their campaigns at some point. If the Secret Service says take this bus so we can do our job to adequately protect you then you take that bus.  There is nothing partisan about it. The same people that protected Bush, protect President Obama and will protect the President in 2012 and so on.  The Secret Service like the military have a job to do regardless of who is in the oval office and do it well; they could give a rats’ ass who it is, their job doesn’t change.

Maddow: loyalist.

Bush’s “vacations” to his middle of nowhere ranch in Texas allowed the Secret Service to stand down to a skeleton crew.

Contrasted to 0bama’s trips to highly frenetic India, Chicago, Marthas Vineyard, Hawaii etc means ALL HANDS ON DECK and costs SIGNIFICANTLY more money, requires that local police departments spend their resources and displaces millions of local residents.

Chicago LOVES when they shut down the highway for AN HOUR OR SO so 0bama can get to his house on the Southside.

0bama is very selfish with his vacationing compared to Bush.

Of course.

m_mayhem,

In 2008 the national debt was 5.8 trillion, we are now at 14.5 trillion.  Almost tripled.  Fact.

And no, the stimulus was not a necessary evil.  It did not work, just like most economists said it would not.

It isn’t just Republicans. Maxine Waters and the CBC are pissed about the vacation too. Did Rachel mention Water’s scathing remarks? No? Oh, that’s right, she’s a fellow liberal.

Talk about hypocrisy.

I think there may have been a time when the media’s job was to be critical of those in power.  In fact a constant barrage of excuses and defense for government used to be considered propaganda.  Today we call it MSNBC. 

Kick back , Barry . you earned it !!

” If the President is right on schedule with his plan to uproot America from its founding principles, why not pile the wife and kids into Air Force One and enjoy a little down time?  In two and a half short years he has proven his allegiance not to our flag and the prayerful “God Bless America” but to his pastor Reverend Wright’s admonition, “G.d..n America.”  Obama’s been a regular workaholic advancing Wright’s anti-American creed.
He encourages class warfare, lectures the public on everything from civility to racism to bullying, blames Bush, Congress, the Tea Party, Republicans and Sarah Palin, spends billions on Michelle’s nanny state projects, promotes one failed policy after another, gives  more speeches and interviews that his 2 predecessors combined, and trashes the best economic system in the world. Whew! talk about a workload .”

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/progressive_potus_desperate_for_another_vacation.html

Yawn, yawn, yawn.

There is one hypocrite here, and it is Rachel.  She and her liberal coleagues in the media attacked Bush’s every move…and now give Obama a pass for those same moves.

I don’t know why mediaite just repeats what MSNBC says as fact without ever challenging them, or rarely challenging them.  Rachel woldn’t report the truth if it was written down for her, she reports what she is told to report by the Obama communications team.

“I’m speaking of the fact that there has been ZERO efforts to tackle our economic problems since he’s been in office.”

Yuck. You must be a FOX news addict. Here’s a long list of the things Obama did for the economy: http://obamaachievements.org/list#toc-5 (Lists are easy to read and comprehend).

“After the whole debt ceiling debacle in which the House Republicans passed two plans, and not a single plan was offered by a Democrat.”

How can you type that with a serious face? Over a million websites disagree with you: http://bit.ly/o35pKV (Harry Reid is a democrat.)

“the President FINALLY laying out a plan after he returns from his vacation is too little – too late for most people.”

Sigh…

Headline: “Nonstop Bush Haters Scream, “Stop Hating Obamo!!”"

George W. Bush, whose family could afford to purchase Martha’s Vinyard ( back in the day ) went home to his beloved ranch in Crawford Texas for his retreats.

Obama, on the otherhand can not stomach the thought of returning to his hometown neighborhood in Chicago.

Pretty ‘Brazenly Stupid’ Hypocrisy In Choices For The First Black President,  Obama Vacations….no?

Obama spends his every waking moment vilifying RICH ( successful ), WHITE ( he’s too much of a coward to come right out with admitting it, ” real ” AMERICANS ( not libs & especially not him ), yet he goes to a place for his yearly Summer vacation that is more synonomous with those rich white folks he feigns hatred for than any other location in America. 

Apparently Barack Obama is afflicted with ‘ Michael Jackson Syndrome ‘. 

He wants to be white and powerful & just like MJ half of his dream came true……and he ” Just Beat It ” like a dead horse right up until the bitter end.

It’s over B, so enjoy while it last……

The fallacy of comparing vacations is how you define vacation .

King Obama and Moochy have taken their family all over the world sightseeing .

If Barry has a meeting , then it’s an official trip . The MSM covers for Dem presidents .

What else is new ?

I think the always-haughty, always-livid Leftist media hack Paul Krugman is overdue for another of his identical diatribes. Where is he? With his betrothed Obamo on ‘Mah-tha’s Vineyard?’ Probably. Either that, or scouting Manhattan rooftops to jump from.

Rachel Maddow pontificating about other people’s snark. Delightful.

She’s good at math. Obama has taken fewer vacation days than Bush or Reagan. And in less than half the time!

As far as I’m concerned, Obama can take as much vacation time as he wants. It’s only bad when a Republican does it.

Maddow and Company during Bush era: BUSH GOLFS WHILE THE WORLD BURNS AND WAR GOES ON? WTF?!

Maddow and Company in 2011: OBAMA GOLFS WHILE THE WORLD BURNS AND WAR GOES ON! YAY!

Shhhh! You’re not allowed to point out that MSNBC has no moral high ground from which they can make criticisms of anybody else.

Just shut up.

Jay Carney said that the President is never actually on vacation.

Is he right?

You criticized Bush for taking vacations at all. Also, there wasn’t 9% unemployment during Bush’s tenure.

Now you defend Obama for taking lavish vacations when nearly 1 in 10 Americans can’t find work.

Hypocrite.

But the president is never really on vacation. That’s what we’re being told about Obama. It’s different for Bush, though, because you don’t like him.

That’s a good little apparatchik.

Obama was on vacation in Rio when he launched an illegal and frankly pointless war in Libya.

Why aren’t you marching in the street, hypocrite?

“ObamaAcheivements.org?”

LOL!

And the stock market is tanking, Europe is going into recession, he’s been in office for 2.5 years and he still hasn’t come forward with one idea beyond the job killing obamacare, he killed the corporate meeting market in the beginning of his presidency by claiming “fatcat corporations shouldn’t be entertaining at high end hotels and country clubs when the economy is in trouble”(everyone forget that one), and Bush’s ranch was set up as a Western White House, with all the security in place. Obama’s trips cost the u.s. millions in security and logistics so he can hobnob with the elite he so much hates. Hmmmmmmm?

Yes, only white people should be able to vacation in Martha’s Vinyard.

Good grief, he went to grade school in Texas, married his Texas born wife in Texas and his twins were also born in Texas.  Btw, how was he elected GOVERNOR of Texas without being a resident of…..Texas.

Yeah, he pulled it off, people sure think he’s from Texas.  BTW, they are STILL using the “ranch” so they must be getting “near” it.

I was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin but hubby and I have been purchasing homes in Illinois for the past 40+ years, must be to make people think I’m from Illinois.  Sheesh!

You go find us that report.

I don’t think she was celebrating Obama going on vacation, rather, she was defending him from those criticizing him for such a thing. As if the President is ever not working, or out of touch whereever he is. Its fine to criticize Obama, but at least be fair.

No, she referenced vacations at this point in their presidency.

I definitely agree that liberals attacked Bush (Though much much less than Obama).

When the current minister of propaganda was with TIME, he did a hit piece on Bush taking vacations.  Any thoughts, Frannie!?

Yes, when you have the “best economic system in the world” like we do, no need to seek to improve it.

Yes, you really have the moral high ground on that one Lt.

It was stupid when liberals ripped Bush for his vacations, and it is stupid to rip Obama for the same reason. Presidents are never really on vacation, and they are never out of touch.

Sure MSNBC is progressive. Is FOX not conservative? Its not propaganda, its just two sides to the argument, which is good.

Look in the mirror, dude.

Richard Maddow should take a permanent vacation.

Sounds like the moral of the story is that it is lame to blame the POTUS for taking a vacation. Would you agree?

But RM, when Bush went on vacation, unemployment wasn’t 9.1%, there were not record # of people on welfare, living below the poverty level, in foreclosure, record deficits, and record debt.

But I do agree with ya one one thing, RM- it wouldn’t make any difference if Barry were not on vacation-because he is just as  useless on the job as he is off the job.

Two can play that game, Obama’s failures:

http://www.obamafailblog.net/

almost 6 million results:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=obama%27s+failures&aq=0&aqi=g4g-v6&aql=&oq=obama%27s+failu

Actually, I don’t necessarily disagree with you.   But I do see a difference in Bush and Obama.  Bush went to HIS home, which had everything he needed to do his job.  And as Dana Perino pointed out yesterday on The Five, he routinely hosted heads of state there at THEIR request.  Obama is going to the Vineyard at a time when the economy is tanking.  It’s a question of perception and this admin has shown themselves to be utterly blind to that on many issues.

Obama Has Headlined 127 Fundraisers Compared To 88 By George W. Bush
And 76 Bill Clinton At This Point In Their Terms.  It appears he would rather be the campaigner in chief than the commander in chief. 

One minute the leftists are calling Bush a moron and the next minute they talk about how he fooled an entire country.  So, which is it??????

Most of it is spending money we don’t have or new regulations that have worked wonderfully tostymie business growth. as someone once said, it’s not what you look at, it’s what you see. I’m with you Good, LOL. No accomplishments wworth reporting here.

And I guess the other black Moron, who held that mantle until Obama got elected, Ray Nagin, has no blame to share on katrina. Please, what was Bush supposed to do, grab a bulldozer and build a dam. Fema can’t act until requested, had Louisiana  requested help?

Here we  go again, that nasty millionaire stole the election. That just goes to validate your statements as being from the Rosie O’donnell school of dumb. Crybaby.

Maddow nobody REALLY cares if this president takes one or a hundred days off.  Although most would agree that the more time Obama is away on vacation and not in Washington the better.

Oh, and Rachel…I did the math to save you some time.  If by some chance Barrak is reelected and serves all 8 yrs he’s on track for 325 days.  And just in case you’re wondering…325 days is damn near a year!

What’s the title of this article, oh yeah, brazenly hypocritical. Now i get it, thanks felix.

What’s the title of this article, oh yeah, brazenly hypocritical. Now i get it, thanks felix.

Oh, good news from the whitehouse. This is now a “working” vacation, which means we get to foot the bill for his staff of brilliant academics at a lovely retreat in Martha’s Vineyard as they wine and dine on the govmt. dole ( I’m thinkin that might be our money!) . That just makes me much more confident he’ll have a brilliant plan to restore order in the universe when he comes back. Yahoo.

So if it turns out that Bush took more vacation time than Obama that he is, therefore, according to your logic, the “vacationer in chief”? Face it, ripping Obama for he taking a vacation is just as lame as when some liberals did that with respect to Bush.

As for political fundraisers, that is part of the President’s job as leader of his party and every President has engaged in them. And since your man, Mitt, was ripping the President for vacationing in democrat rich Martha’s Vinyard, wasn’t it relevent for Maddow to point out that at the same time as Obama, Mitt is going to be in Martha’s Vinyard, at one of his many vaction homes, conducting a political fundraiser? Yes, that point begged to be made.

So if it turns out that Bush took more vacation time than Obama that he is, therefore, according to your logic, the “vacationer in chief”? Face it, ripping Obama for he taking a vacation is just as lame as when some liberals did that with respect to Bush.

As for political fundraisers, that is part of the President’s job as leader of his party and every President has engaged in them. And since your man, Mitt, was ripping the President for vacationing in democrat rich Martha’s Vinyard, wasn’t it relevent for Maddow to point out that at the same time as Obama, Mitt is going to be in Martha’s Vinyard, at one of his many vaction homes, conducting a political fundraiser? Yes, that point begged to be made.

Who cares, just stfu, numbers boy. The president still sucks, replacing jimma Catta in the record books for futility. I’m sure the headline will read “OBAMA NUMBER ONE”, but you’ll have to read the small print to find out number one for incompetence. Details, details.

Brilliant. Did you miss your mensa meeting again.

Please refer to the above post by Felix w regarding Rachels take on the bush vacations, then tell me she’s not a hypocrite susan. As are you.

But this isn’t a campaign tour. Or did somebody lie again?

Obama’s not out of touch. You need to start watching msnbc and listing to the mark halperin’s of the world who have defended this pres. in the past, how about maria bartiromo this a.m. on morning joe claiming markets are responding to no leadership from the whitehouse. Ouch. Maybe even Chris Matthews who’s questioning the pres. The tingle’s gone baby.

Good start Val, a little weak on the follow through.

He flew commercial, didn’t he. Those evil jet people on Martha’s V don’t need to see him on that big plane of his, he may look like a hypocrite.

especially if there’s a video of you blaming the last president for exactly the same thing.

You do have a point, but only a few liberals went after Bush in that way. However, since Maddow went after Bush for vacationing, she is fair game.

She has it wrong. At this particular time in the presidency, George Bush took 120 vacation days, I’m not sure how many days Reagan took, Bill Clinton only took 28 days at this juncture. Regardless, ever since I can remember, regardless of party, presidents have always been criticized for taking vacations. I would have to say that the optics are not good for Obama to be vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard, while almost 20% of the people are unemployed or underemployed and the ecnonomy continues to tank. I’m just wondering if this just isn’t a strategy that he’s using because he doesn’t want to be re-elected. He’s extremely smart are extremely stupid.
Because if he actually wants to be re-elected, he’s got to be the dumbest and cluesless I’ve ever seen.  

Its silly to lump all progressives together, as if they all say and do the same thing, all believe exactly the same way, as it is to do that with Tea Party members. A few liberals ripped Bush for too much vacationing, etc., but that in no way speaks to the view of all progressives. Likewise, since it is such a lame and stupid argument to make, since the President is really never on vacation or remotely out of touch, no matter where he is, I would bet that most conservatives have more important things to worry about than whether Obama goes to Martha’s Vinyard or not.

Its impossible to lead when one entire party wants you to fail (as a matter of stated policy).

So, MSNBC folks spout their opinions, then ask like-minded guests to come on who inevitably agree with the opinion.   Must be some  very boring water-cooler conversations.  Group think is so boring….

You are right, the liberals have not attacked Obama as much as Bush, but, they are stepping up the attacks, like eating their own, heh.

I think this is because the only attacks you ‘hear’ are the ones aimed AT your side rather than BY your side.

You won’t get more than a few people to agree that Bush was attacked less that Obama has been. The media deck is stacked 10:1 in Liberals’ favor; the math doesn’t work.

Where are people getting the Bush stat?  Are they using the Michael Moore numbers?  If so, they need to look at other data, or at least apply the same citera to all Presidents and not just Bush.   If a weekend or a holiday is a vacation day for Bush (as Moore counted it) then they should be for all others. 
Same goes for golf days, parties at the WH, giving awards etc.

Or we could just say the Pres is always working and is never off duty and cut them all the same break. 

I like the latter choice much more. 

Global-warming-conscious Obamo family jaunts to Martha’s Vineyard in TWO separate jets.

Aahhhhhh derrrrrrr…… C’mon folks Rachel Maddow is the left’s Rush Limbaugh, just another hypocrite gas bag. If either of them actually supported a candidate that has a 30 year record of consistency of standing up for what they claim to believe in , it would be Ron Paul. 

Rachel Maddow?  I thought that was Ron Reagan, the ballerina!

Reagan was often at his california ranch which was called the western white house.

These dudes are always working but it was libs who made a HUGE deal about W’s activity.

It was idiotic then and childish now that they can’t accept the crap they dished out.

If Maddow weren’t such a pseudo-intellectual, she’d have the intellect  to know that Dems and Repubs, alike, are massively screwing the US and its citizens. Partisan hacks of all political persuasions, on all Cable News channels, whom actually view one party or the other as productive, and working in the best  interests of Americans, are the Biggest Dumbass Bloc in US history. JMO. Of course, I’m sure she has much influence with MSNBC’s little-educated viewing audience. Dumbasses leading the dumb-assed. JMO, also.

He did go golfing. And 9/11 was barely on his mind 

http://www.commonground.ca/iss/0407156/fww.shtml

This  really happened, I swear. One of my elderly  neighbors, who is an avid viewer of MSNBC, once thought that Chris Hayes, who sits in for Maddow now and then, was actually Rachel Maddow. She thought Maddow was attempting some type of experiment, to see how viewers would accept her  as a ‘Chris Hayes.’ I had to show my neighbor proof  that Chris Hayes was an actual person and not Rachel Maddow. I never laughed so hard in my life. LOL.

Absolutely correct.  Also, Bush’s trips home had a minimalist impact on the surrounding community.  The 7-10-mile no-fly zone that surrounds the president everywhere he goes had virtually ZERO impact in Crawford TX.  Obama, OTOH, is impacting thousands of private aviation pilots during the peak of their season.  It’s about as selfish as you can get for Obama.

Lastly, let’s talk about “vacation time’ relative to “vacation expense”.  George Bush went two places for vacation – his family estate in MN and his own ranch in TX.  That’s it.  For a variety of reasons, some of which you mention, those two locations allowed for a much smaller security footprint, and consequently a much lower cost to taxpayers.  Obama not only chooses places that are WILDLY expensive, but it was reported today that he and his wife took SEPARATE government plans, only hours apart, to get to the same place.

This is a guy who has no concept of expense control.

Ah yes…more from the Faux crew. Wondering if they hacked the President’s phone? Short memory span folks those Faux folks.

Spot on!!!! The President can’t go on a working vacation like the Bush baby did?

Passed 2 plans? Yup. I guess terrorism is alive and well. The Repugs. held the country hostage in getting their “little” plans passed.

Bunch of Faux trolls who salivate on command.

War? Really???? Guess ol Morimar is going into exile or don’t you want to own up to that inconvenient lil ol fact.
Jobless folks are planning a march in the street and Congress is on vacation? How about the Repugs leglislating 2 weeks of work and one off?  Now thats an accomplishment!!!

Hey Boner!!! WHERE’S THE JOBS YOU PROMISED???

Once again the GOP jack-offs attack the messenger so that they don’t have to deal with the message. Her point is indisputable. Just admit it and move on.

Well who can replace him? Even Rove is scared of the candidates so haphazardly flung out to run and hoping one sticks?

In your “beloved Bush’s” own words…..”Fool me once………Well you can’t fool me again”? roflmao

Name calling is all you and your “ilk” have. What ever on earth happened to “critical thinking” on the right?

The election was in fact stolen!! Thanks to the conservatives in the SCOTUS.

Coffee Party? ROFLMAO!!!!!!!

Seriously??? Faux News is you main source of news and that’s blatantly obvious.
I suspect you adore Hannity,,and Limpbaugh.

With Bush the Libs counted trips to meet foreign leaders, attend summits, receive dignitaries at Camp David, and even tossed in Saturdays and Sundays – even if he was in the WH – to goose the “vacation” numbers higher.  And as I mentioned, it is more egregious when Obama chastises Congress for leaving on their break the day prior to his own vacation.

turk281 please get your facts straight. the national debt was 5.8 trillion at the end of 2001, not 2008. At the end of 2008, the debt was over 10 billion.

It was proven by an independent agency that Gore lost. So quit your whining. You bitch at me for calling someone a crybaby then you act like a crybaby, how ironic. GORE LOST.

Rachel’s is still, no matter how many days bush took, a hypocrite. And Bush isn’t pres. anymore, remember bush, 4.5% unemployment guy. Not 9.2% unemployment guy with failed stimulus, obamacare and dowgraded credit rating for the country guy. Duh

Fox news, those are Rachels’ words, fool.

now watch this drive

Yeah, the dem’s just loved Bush. We don’t want him to fail, we want him to lead. Leading from behind, as I recall, means you’re looking at other peoples tush”s. Obama is following, and he’s not working like a rudder on a sail boat. Theres’ no direction from the whitehouse, listen to the left, they’re coming out of the woodwork. Scarborough and Mika were on cap hill a week ago together, and joe stated that the legislators they talked to said there’s no direction from the whitehouse. Mika, the pres’s tweety buddy, just shook her head in despair. she would’ve been screaming at the top of her lungs if it wasnt the truth, and Joe said that was from the LEFT.

The whole article and thread are about the numbers dipshit,proving while President Obama has taken considerably less vacation time than Bush and Reagan inbred tebagging asswipes like you will ignore the facts and complain about President Obama’s vacations.  Point proven.

And then there’s this lovely article: Michelle Obama Takes Separate Government Jet Hours Extra Vacation Time Martha’s Vineyard President Arrives Uses Two Helicopters Air Force One 500 Mile Journey.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2027541/Michelle-Obama-takes-separate-government-jet-hours-extra-vacation-time-Marthas-Vineyard-President-arrives-uses-TWO-helicopters-Air-Force-One-500-mile-journey.html

Strawman, your on fire.

Everything I have seen counts his entire time at Camp David and Crawford, whether he was meeting with world leaders or not.

He spent a total of 23 days at his parents estate in Maine.

The Secret Service stood down to a skeleton crew = LIE

Okay Val, you’re being reasonable today, cut it out. I think the real question here is why on Earth would anybody want the job of President of the u.s. The only reason I can think of is the book tours upon retirement and the millions you can make for speeches, because this job sucks.

Call the cops, someone stole the real Valkyrie 101.

Yeah, Indisputable, per the ex man. We’re sorry we even questioned the “hypocrite” headline, because Rachel was always guarding Bush’s right to take a vacation, visit the ranch, go golfing or whatever, it’s a tough job. Being a hypocrite, I mean. just ask Rachel.

AAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

You meant that as a joke, right?

I can’t remember, were you one of those ripping Bush for doing pretty much the same thing? This is only an issue with those that see America as a third world country.

Frank Zappa would be considered a conservative in name only today. I didn’t realise he actually considered himself a conservative, but a little research shows he did, which surprised me. However, he would have hated todays neo-cons.

Sheik Yerbouti’s Rat Tomago is the greatest guitar solo of all time.

I’m concerned that this piece completely glosses over an important point, that our nation is in crisis mode. Our President gives the impression that campaigning is a tough business that requires down time for recovery. He leaves people feeling like jobs and the economy aren’t #1 on his to-do list.
It’s how he divides up his time with things that detract from attention to jobs and the economy. He needs to take a page out of Bill Clinton’s book with the constant claims that he was the “hardest working President” of all time. Obama gives predominantly the opposite impression. That is just another element that causes a lack of confidence in our economy which hurts growth.

I agree with your first comment. And I defended Bush — whose policies I loathed — for his vacations, too. I want a president who’s fully rested and not always stuck in DC.

As for your second remark, Rachel isn’t strictly a journalist and she never pretends to be. She’ll gladly cop to being a commentator. That’s not to say that part of that job isn’t on some level news gathering. It’s just that I find her more intellectually honest than most of her counterparts over at Fox. Certainly she does it with greater humor and grace than the bombastic Bill O’Reilly or the über-smug Sean Hannity.

They are pissed a black man is taking a vacation. I swear to God that is it.

Not that I expect facts to penetrate your Faux News talking points bubble, but here’s a little chart that puts the lie to your assertions about how Obama “tripled Bush’s debt.” The numbers are from the CBO:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/06/09/business/economy/20090610-leonhardt-graphic.html
 

Then why did he write a hit piece on Bush’s vacations while with TIME? 

MItt isn’t President, in case you didn’t know.  Now he may be soon, but you’re jumping your gun!!  And really, I’m getting SO sick of the liberal hate of people that are successful.  It’s getting SO tired.  In this country, success use to be something to be proud of, not ridiculed.

Bush’s vacations were in TX while Cheney and Rumsfeld made the important decisions. Obama makes the decisions for his administration. Seems like Ghadaffi got his message yesterday and is about to leave town. Obama is wise to take a respite outside of DC, to get out of the bubble and meet people as he has done and take a little time to breathe. He is never off. There is a crisis round the world at all hours day and night. He has to rely on others to do their jobs, he cannot micromanage a fed govt that serves 300 mn people. He needs the time with his family and I am glad to see that he faces that fact.

It’s great that Rachel points out the stupid hypocracy of the taliban republicans but what a shame that so much time should be wasted on a non issue because people actually think this is news…

Maybe not to a dumb redneck who has never been to Martha’s Vineyard.  Try visiting the Vineyard then you would have a better understanding of not just the optics but the place.  Why rare si many conservatives so ignorant?  Why are liberals like Rachel Maddow and Bill Clinton Rhodes Scholars.  You like C students like Sarah Palin and Rick Perry.  They speak your language.  The language of the ignorant and mediocre. The language of frustrated conservatives.

Obviously you have not been to Martha’s Vineyard.  There are wealthy places to stay but there are plenty of very reasonable places where school teachers can afford to stay.  Why do clueless conservatives speak and write about things they no nothing about.  Maybe it is the same reason they support poorly educated politicians,  Conservatives are just intellectually lazy.

You’re right – I haven’t been.  I also know what the Pres is paying for rent and it’s none too reasonable.  

I know conservatives are intellectually lazy – thus we would never say “they no nothing about”.  
We might say “you know nothing about” – but hell, we are the poorly educated, so we wouldn’t do that either! lol

Rachel was pretty pissed about the previous tenant taking a holiday.  Perhaps you should refrain from condemning anyone.  You know if the fu shits and all that stuff?

Perhaps Rachel is just stupid and we should leave it at that.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=809_vOga7xk

loved the “taliban republicans” – I think some people might be offended don’t you?  I also think that talking like a 16 year old (unless you are 16) is rather silly, don’t you?  What a shame….

Perhaps Rachel is just stupid and we should leave it at that.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=809_vOga7xk

loved the “taliban republicans” – I think some people might be offended don’t you?  I also think that talking like a 16 year old (unless you are 16) is rather silly, don’t you?  What a shame….

Wow, so if we still had Bush the country would be doing fine.  You can’t  be that lost, can you?  Even Donald Trump referred to G W Bush as a TOTAL DISASTER.  

One Google search and you can find this quote “I think Bush is probably the worst president in the history of the United States”.  Yeah, that “4.5% guy” that almost caused a Great Depression.

Wow, so if we still had Bush the country would be doing fine.  You can’t  be that lost, can you?  Even Donald Trump referred to G W Bush as a TOTAL DISASTER.  

One Google search and you can find this quote “I think Bush is probably the worst president in the history of the United States”.  Yeah, that “4.5% guy” that almost caused a Great Depression.

Optics are vital in times like these. The impression people get in a time when our President needs to instill confidence is most important.
Sometimes a cartoon says it better:
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2011/08/18/90905

Optics are vital in times like these. The impression people get in a time when our President needs to instill confidence is most important.
Sometimes a cartoon says it better:
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2011/08/18/90905

That woman don’t preach to my choir. Ugly mug on her too.

Mitt, sadly, will not be president. The only reason it is relevent is because of the obvious irony of Romney ripping Obama for vacationing in Martha’s Vinyard, while at the same time he will be at his vacation home there wining and dining political donors. I’m fine with Mitt fundraising, and if he had been fundraising in one of his other vacation homes around the country, then it would not have been so ironic. At that point I doubt if Maddow would even have mentioned it.

Yep.

So, you, as a Liberal think it’s about the location of the vacation, and not the vacation itself? If that’s the case, that pretty much sums up the distinctions between Liberals and Conservatives.

Or, you can fool the Liberals all the time, and they’ll never know!

There’s barely anything on his mind, pretty much, all the time.

Come on, he had a beer-summit with another racist and a cop. Where the hell are your manners?

Let’s not forget the illegal alien parasites he wants to giver work permits to.

Checked it out. Are you sure you want to tout those issues as achievements? It looks more like a list of reasons to unload this idiot in 2012! Maybe you could enlighten us just how those issues somehow are positives instead of negatives.

And the Governor was just as inept as the Mayor.

You seemed to miss telling us that both Clinton and Carter took less vacation days during the same period. Why is that? Didn’t fit your attempt at misdirection?
Is it about the number of days, or, taking vacations while millions are out of work, and an economic morass that seems to be getting worse. Guess it depends on whether your a Liberal or Conservative, doesn’t it?

Sweetheart, if you need THAT much help understanding the obvious, get a dictionary and look up “positive” and “negative.” I’m not your teacher.

Congress left town and went on vacation with legislation and federal agencies not fully financed. Bush owned his ranch so thats where he went to vacation. the obama’s own a home in Chicago only and so go to a vacation spot of thier choice. The entire clearing brush thing was so made up it was beyond me. No ranch grows that much brush to clear. Do you all not find it odd that he then retired and sold his ranch and now owns a regular house with a regular lawn. The ranch was for show hee haws!

I disagree, hey_there.  I am a fiscal conservative.  I believe that small government is more efficient government.  I’m basically a libertarian.  I don’t care about social issues, and I feel government doesn’t belong in the bedroom.

These were Zappa’s views as well, more or less.

But I totally agree with your Rat Tomago statement.

That Maddow is one tough reporter isn’t he?

On martha’s vineyard, serving the exalted one.

First, mayhem, it’s Mr. Dipshit to you, secondly, the headline is hypocritical republicans about Obama’s vacations. Well, as has been posted on this site on several occasions today, check Rachel’s former ridiculing of Bush when he went on vacation. there’s the true hypocrisy, she’s on the bully pulpit for Obama, but slammed bush for the same infraction. HYPOCRITE.

Finally, the real answer. thanks, barb, You can all go home now, barb’s got the answer here. Black man on vacation, republican haters can’t stand it. Racists one and all, vacation racists at that. Oh, Barb, unfrotunately, god’s not listening to you, swear to Satan or something. More in line with your life philosphy.

Wow, you must be old if yo know that joke, seek.

Rachel Maddow looks like ‘WIll Wheaton’ grown up! Check out the main character in ‘Stand By Me’ and you have to admit it!