(Facepalm)

Look, Democrats... I know you had to come up with someone, with ANYONE, who was charismatic enough to persuade the gullible that you (a) actually cared and (b) were really going to change things - but... come on. Really? All the shit going on in the world, and Mr. Charisma's voting 'Present' because he's got something MUCH more important to deal with?

Did you have a secret death wish? I mean, were you feeling suicidal and just wanting someone (like the rest of the country) to jump off a cliff with you to keep you company?

You sell this guy as serious, capable, competent, engaged, decisive, capable of thinking deep thoughts without breaking a sweat. And what do we see is his primary concern when Libya's in trouble, and Japan's been leveled?

BASKETBALL? HE'S TAPING HIS NCAA PICKS? AND THEN HE'S GOING GOLFING?

What in the bloody hell were you THINKING?

Wait, I'm confused. We've had a president the last two years? Coulda fooled me....

Who said they think, they 'feel'.

Ruth Marcus of the WAPO referred to this as the "Where's Waldo" presidency.

Personally, I was outraged when he played golf over the weekend while Japan was being devastated.

Shades of Nero.....

He was working hard last night, at least - big confab with political donors at a posh DC hotel to get ready to 2012.

Can't he just eat his waffle?

I don’t expect the POTUS to never take a break but that is about all this Presidents seems to do. His lack of leadership in creating a decent budget, hostility toward business and the oil industry, and his tendency of saying “it’s not my fault”, make me shake my head in disgust.

I hope his busy schedule doesn't exhaust him - there's a family vacation to Brazil on Sunday.

[sarc off]

It's probably better this way. When he does anything else it is usually the wrong thing.

The 2 most important things for Obama to have to govern (at least in his mind)

a. A teleprompter

b. A sandwedge

The Party didn't install Obama to lead, they installed him to do their bidding.

"... how does he get it all in?"

Ask the previous resident.

The more I see this and the more I think that Hillary will be on the ticket in 2012. if not at the top than as VP. I honestly dont know if Obama wants to get reelected. He has his fun in the sun, found the job to be harder than he thought and will gladly let someone else take it over so he can do what he does best. Sit back and pontificate about how things would be better if we would just be more equal with each other.

BTW who did Obama pick to win so I can root against them and bet on the other team (given Obama's track record of picking winners).

All presidents do this..Bush didn't cut short a vacation during Hurricane Katrina. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W._Bush:_Hurricane_Katrina

"All presidents do this...."

Yeah, keep drinking the kool aid, and keep Barry's party going. All this clown does is party. When he's not on TV preening.

this is a blessing! There is no way I want that incompetent communist puppet doing anything 'important'! Play golf! Pick basketball teams! Do nothing but play golf and think about basketball until you're unemployed, PLEASE!!!

Face it, Obama never was meant to actually run the country and make the decisions. He was the only one willing to let Valerie Jarrett run the country, is my opinion.

President Harding is the person who will benefit the most from this presidency.

Exactly! We all know he should be on the ground in Japan patching holes in reactors!

What I find fascinating is the belief that the President, of any party is immune to exhaustion and/or that the job of the Presidency isn't somehow one of the most stressful positions on the planet.

I'm not at all a Bush fan, but I actively argued for, not against, his vacations. He had a record setting number of days on "vacation", but honestly, who cares? Do any of us think that Bush or Obama or any modern President is ever "off"? Is there ever a moment of awake time they're not working? No, of course not. Give the man a break, people.

"Give the man a break, people."

I will. As soon as he resigns or is thrown out of office. He's an incompetent empty suit. But he might be good at selling used cars.

Jake

I happen to agree with your assesment of presidential downtime.
At the same time the President is supposed to be seen as leader of the country. Appearance of importance of things done by him matters. When you say that jobs are priority number 1 and then go off to the golf course right after the press conference that gives the distinct impression you are just saying what people want to hear instead of being sincere about it.

How does it look when someone says "This is top priority (Japan, jobs, etc) and then says BTW I think the knicks are going to win this year"? Or we are monitoring the latest developments on this situation and the steps onto the basketball court for a game of hoops?
If you went to your boss about something that was affecting your company and he said "I will get right on it" and then pulls out a sudoku pad in front of you would you take him seriously?

Obama has spent more time on the golf course in 2 years than Bush did in 8. He routinely says things and then his actions give the appearance of something else.

And Jake BTW

Did you rail against the left when they were enjoying Michael Moore's docufantasy>?

The left (not saying you ) has a bad track record of yapping at one thing and then doing the same thing and heaven help them if they get called on it. Then there is rightous indignation

"For the second week in a row, the most powerful man in the world stepped away from the White House to hit the golf course."

Its the 7 year teleprompter itch.

"Exactly! We all know he should be on the ground in Japan patching holes in reactors!"

No, he should be acting like he's actually interested enough to pay attention! And make decisions - like what to do about Libya.

I will give him this - he's still supporting nuclear power here in the US. For now.

This week, at least.

No bets on next.

"Obama has spent more time on the golf course in 2 years than Bush did in 8."

How much time has Obama spent clearing brush, jogging, or riding his mountain bike?

Compare the Obama's golf to those, they are better comparisons.

Bush fostered job creation. Barry fosters divot reparations.

"Obama has spent more time on the golf course in 2 years than Bush did in 8."

Remind me... how many month-long vacations has Obama taken on his ranch?

Look, I'm not necessarily bothered by the fact that Bush spent so much time out of the office. I'm not convinced that an office, any office, is the best place to get real work done.

The point is, if you believe that Obama isn't dealing with Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, the global economy, etc. because he takes a break once in a while, then you certainly have to agree that considering Bush planned most of the Iraq invasion from Crawford, then Bush was an equal failure.

Seriously, give these guys a break. None of us have ANY clue, and never, ever, ever will what the level of stress and work is. Why do you think they go gray nearly instantly upon entering the office? Until you have a job like that, how about we STFU when it comes to critiquing whether or not they should be allowed to take a break once in a while?

914:
"Bush fostered job creation."

Ha ha ha ha ha. Ha. Seriously. Ha. But anyway, that's not what this is about. Back on topic.

Could it be that this brand of leadership is exactly that which helped generate the situation that motivated the anger of Jeh. Wright (D.D) back then. I mean, it sure as heck helped shape Detroit's generations of decline and woe.

Does everyone here realize that there are people in this country that believe that this guy is doing such a wonderful job that this country NEEDS him to have another term (bangs head against wall..REPEAT)

JAKE-

"What I find fascinating is the belief that the President, of any party is immune to exhaustion"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Yes, it must be awful tiring stabbing America in the back day after day.

BTW Jake, I really don't have a problem with Obama if he is never in Washington. My problem is lact of consistant leadership. He is not acting or looking Presidential. He cannot make decisions. He comes across to me like he wants to party all the time. This guy is like no president I have ever seen in my life.

"Seriously, give these guys a break. None of us have ANY clue, and never, ever, ever will what the level of stress and work is."

I can remember back to Kennedy and I am not sure I have ever seen a President whose commitment to the job is inversely proportional to the difficulty of the moment. If the only thing he has in common with past Presidents is that he finds the job exhausting then that is not a rousing endorsement.

I keep expecting him to surprise me and show he's good at something, but the day will never come!

If the job is that damned bad, maybe certain people shouldn't "apply" for it.

Or is someone putting a gun to their heads and "forcing" them to do it.

Someone should remind Barry, "If you can't take the heat, stay the hell out of the kitchen!"

As was said by the last HONEST Democratic president.

Garandfan, your comment is almost accurate.

It should read "As was said by the last HONEST president."

What in the bloody hell were you THINKING?

That he probably wouldn't set vacation and recreation records like the last guy?

I can agree that Obama should care about appearances and not be publicly recreating while serious shit is going on. But the argument on the thread quickly shifted from "timing" to "amount of time". On the latter front, Obama-haters have no leg to stand on.

Bush took his vacations at the ranch he owned and Camp David. Since he owned Crawford his vacs there cost taxpayers very little. Camp David was made for a Presidents vac. and set up with everything a President needs to work away from Washington ..including privacy. In both places Bush could do anything he could do in Washington and not disrupt the locals. I don't think anybody can get alot done when it comes to national matters on a golf course. Our present president does not seem to have much of a work ethic and comes across as being detached. As I've said before he is not like any other President I've seen before.

So john, since you clearly have the facts at your fingertips, what are the percentages for the 43rd and 44th Presidents time spent "off the clock"?

People, people, give Hussein a break. Everything's just fine in his book. Sure, Libya and Egypt are powder kegs, Japan has been devastated, the US is broke and going down the tubes.

But Indonesia is just fine, so no problem. Fore!

The funny part is that, despite all the golf outings, Barry sucks at golf. Big time.

Take some lessons, Barry! Good grief!

Gotta love Jake's very lame attempt to defend Barry's ineptitude and overall laziness.

Even dragging up "Bush took months off" mantra from Moron.org and DU rants is laughable. Bush worked at his Crawford ranch, while racists Barry and Moochelle waste millions on extravagant vacations sticking it to the whitey taxpayer every chance they get (that's exactly how they see it and they enjoy it).

Keep trying to defend your narcissistic fraud. It has an entertainment value.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xE2YVK6rKU

"You would think, given all that's going on in the world..."

No, he's doing exactly what I thought he'd be doing!

Nothing!

Barrack Obama doesn't care about Japanese people!
Or, Americans!

What a bunch of racist losers. Sitting in a circle wacking off to "I hate Obammy" postings....

I hope his busy schedule doesn't exhaust him - there's a family vacation to Brazil on Sunday.

Well, he's too late for Carnival...that was last week.

Jake: ".. then you certainly have to agree that considering Bush planned most of the Iraq invasion from Crawford, then Bush was an equal failure."

Unbelievable.

If you really believe that "Bush planned most of the Iraq invasion" instead of sitting there and listen to the O-7's to O-9's present the various options along with pros and cons, then you are too dumb to even bother conversing with.

Woop not one person has mentioned Obama's race. That is until you. Congrats on being the racist person of the blog. You obviously have something against Obama's race as you seem to feel that that is the only reason why someone would criticize him. Hence you must feel that his race is something to be criticized. hence you are racist.

While Rome burned...

Woop,
There is a distinct pattern to your posts here. To make your point you always rely on two inferences: racism and sexual innuendo. I don't know how you look at the world in general but that pattern is not typical of a mature adult you know.

To make your point you always rely on two inferences: racism and sexual innuendo. I don't know how you look at the world in general but that pattern is not typical of a mature adult you know.

Who ever said "woop" was an adult? He/She posts like a dull 12-year-old, and there's no minimum age for being an idiot on the internet. So I have always assumed that woop is either a teenager or very slow adult.

Woop,

You keep coming back. The truth must cleanse you're filthy peckered mind.

John:

"I can agree that Obama should care about appearances and not be publicly recreating while serious shit is going on."

It's like he sets a quota for himself - "I've made two decisions today - that's enough, I'm going golfing." And it wouldn't be so bad if the decisions were actually about SERIOUS stuff. Like Libya - he goes "Quadaffi needs to go", but then doesn't do one damn thing to help, or push the agenda. It's left to FRANCE, of all countries, to go "Okay, time to set up a No Fly Zone. Who can help?" And then you hear other Arabic countries going "You're right - but we don't have the resources."

They look to the UN. The UN looks to us.

President Obama looks at a wall, trying to figure out his NCAA picks.

Tell me again how he's supposed to be the best President ever? How he's so dedicated and capable? How he really wants the best for America, how he's trying to improve our image overseas?

The world looks to us for leadership, like it or not - and what do they get in reply?

Cue the fucking crickets.

The "man" is contemptible. He is posing as a human being and unfortunately he fooled enough people to be sitting in comfort in the White House. Surely there aren't any folks out there who really believe he cares about anyone or anything beyond himself!!

I'm with the guy who's astounded with all the BS going about to the effect there's been a "president" these past couple of years.

You may have had one of those but I haven't.

And nor has My America!

Turns out we've all been scammed.
Once again James OKeefe was involved.

Check out this Reason story.

http://reason.com/archives/2011/03/15/us-stung-by-latest-undercover/singlepage

An excerpt:

"We've tried everything," O'Keefe said. "Nationalizing health care, the stimulus, a $4 trillion budget, insane levels of debt, even high-speed rail. No matter how ridiculous a proposal we come up with, people take it seriously."

That's good stuff Hank... if no one else beats me to it, I'll try to get it up (so to speak) later today...

Good to see our liberal friends still holding Obama to the GWB standard. Anything he does that's questionable it's always but GWB did it too. Maybe they are finally coming around to the notion this guy is just another slimy politician after all.

You know what? I'm with Jake. I say Obama should take his trip to Rio and stay there until about, oh say, Jan 2013. Then come back long enough to hand the keys to the next guy.

It's not the time spent on vacation so much as the entire attitude about it and the level of disconnect with real and pressing issues.