The Obama Double Standard: Plans Trips to Chicago every 6 to 8 Weeks

Dwayne Horner | February 16, 2009 1:20 PM

I remember all those times when President Bush was criticized for "vacationing" down in Crawford. The Washington Post even once wrote, "Bush's long vacations are more than a curiosity: They play into diametrically opposite arguments about this leadership style.

To critics and late-night comics, they symbolize a lackadaisical approach to the world's most important day job."

Question, where are those same critics now? Barack Obama plans on coming back to his "Kennebunkport is on the South Side" every six to eight weeks during his four years in office. Hmmm, it's ok for him to take a vacation LESS THAN A MONTH into office, but President Bush endured heavy criticism from the left when he left the Oval to head to Texas.

Let it be known that I don't think the President ever takes a "vacation" because his staff and lines of communication are there 24/7, regardless of where he is at. As a veteran of several presidential motorcades, I know this to be true. Kenneth Duberstein, Reagan's White House Chief of Staff, once said

"The Oval Office is wherever the president of the United States is. With the communications being what they are, the president can communicate instantly with whomever he wants anywhere in the world."

In fact, the Crawford Ranch was set up as a remote office and the President conducted business there on several occasions, including having heads of state visit.

http://www.september11news.com/Nov14BushPutinTruck.jpg

The problem here is the double standard. The headline for the New York Times is "This President's Escape is Home Sweet Home Chicago." Hmmm, doesn't sound too critical does it?

"Over the course of his presidency, national catastrophes have taken shape while Bush has been on vacation," writes Satyam Khanna at the leftist ThinkProgress.org. Question, where was Barack Obama during the tornadoes and plane crash in New York? How absurd is that, very. It just goes to show the absurdity of the left.

Consider this, too, going to Chicago is quite different than Crawford, as the New York Times points out.

"But heading to one of the nation’s busiest cities for a presidential getaway is quite a different undertaking than retreating to a bucolic rural setting."

"Throughout the weekend, flight restrictions for small planes were in place for a broad area around Mr. Obama’s Hyde Park home. The neighborhood itself was cordoned off with police barricades and the heightened security measures with which residents have grown familiar when Mr. Obama is in town."

Gee, wonder if the domestic terrorist and GD America preacher were let in? Hmmm....