The media covering the president's vacation in Martha's Vineyard are being discouraged from photographing President Obama playing golf. There is no access. Apparently, the White House is nervous that in tough economic times, whacking a small white ball could be construed as insensitive.
How insane is that?
Presidents are entitled to goof off once in a while, as Warren Harding and Teddy Roosevelt both understood. Harding was a card sharp, and Teddy ran around shooting animals. Almost every president took advantage of recreational opportunities, with the possible exception of Franklin Pierce, who did little but brood.
As you may know, George W. Bush was vilified for spending time at his Texas ranch when the Iraq war was going south. Even though W. entertained guys like Putin (no holiday is complete without him), liberals kept a close count of how many days Bush was cutting brush in 100-degree heat and riding around on his dirt bike.
Today, some right-wingers are criticizing Obama for his island jaunt during a bad economy. But, come on, isn't the president entitled to spend a few days with his family at the end of August? Is the country going to be downgraded again because he eats a little taffy?
All American presidents are under enormous strain. John Quincy Adams blew off steam by swimming naked in the Potomac River. Harry Truman got a massage most mornings before he began stopping the buck. Dwight Eisenhower spent almost as much time on the golf course as Sam Snead.
The truth is that creative people need downtime in order to operate at their best.
Bad decisions are often made when a person becomes exhausted. All day, every day, presidents are under siege to deal with one problem after another. Everybody wants something. The job never stops.
Thus, I have no problem with vacationing presidents. I want them to have fun, but also to set a good example while doing it. I'd like to see these guys move around a bit. The Vineyard is a great place, but there are tons of good vacation spots that could use the promotional boost a presidential visit would give them. What about the Outer Banks of North Carolina? The boundary lakes of Minnesota? The Tetons and the Cascades? All great American places, and there are thousands of others.
On paper, being president looks like a blast. You are the most powerful person in the world and fly on private jets all the time. You live in a great historical house and have a weekend place in Maryland. You have a great chef and unlimited entertainment options.
But the dark side is that you can never really relax. Everything you say and do is scrutinized, and there are always folks ready to betray you for book or interview money. Every second of your life is scheduled, and the days are very, very long.
So enjoy yourself on the Vineyard, Mr. President. Just don't get used to it.
Veteran TV news anchor Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor" and author of the book "Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama." To find out more about Bill O'Reilly, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. This column originates on the website www.billoreilly.com.
COPYRIGHT 2011 BillOReilly.com
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
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11 Comments | Post Comment
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Bill (the shill) O'Reilly is willfully ignorant. Going home and working on his ranch versus flaunting expensive tax-payer funded trips overseas and to expensive resorts in the faces of out-of-work Americans is different. He knows it, The American people know it and most of all o-blame-owe knows it. He loves to rub our faces in it. Bush is a gentleman and obama is a scalawag.
Comment: #1
Posted by: David Henricks
Sat Aug 27, 2011 4:26 AM
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David,
To suggest that Bush is a "gentleman" is to remove almost all meaning from the term. If you murder innocents next door, you are a monster. Start a war of choice that kills tens of thousands of innocents on the other side of the world and you can still be a "gentleman"?
The more relevant behavior comparison to out-of-work Americans is to that of the corporate CEOs and their congressional enablers. They continue to pay themselves increasing absurd amounts of money while they continue to ship jobs overseas and demand to keep their taxes low. The tea baggers cry that we can't raise their taxes because "they are the engine that makes jobs". How about this: Want to keep the Bush tax rate giveaway-for-the-rich tax rate for yourself? FIRST show us the jobs you have created, THEN you can claim the lower tax rate. Want to just keep that pile of cash and not create jobs? Fine, but it is time to pay a bit more in taxes.
Comment: #2
Posted by: Mark
Sat Aug 27, 2011 8:49 AM
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I do not respect President Obama much, but when he got the black bus and started touring, I appreciated that. I agree that he should not be so defensive about goofing off. In fact, he needs to hire a better PR team, because it is obvious that if he quit trying to do the impossible (be like Reagan), Obama could run as the President bringing fun back to the country. He would be wise to get in touch with Keith Stone to find out how to market a mediocre product.
Comment: #3
Posted by: Mike Hayne
Sat Aug 27, 2011 10:52 AM
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Outer Banks of North Carolina. Now that would be an interesting vacation right about now.
Comment: #4
Posted by: Masako
Sat Aug 27, 2011 7:22 PM
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Here in Michigan we just hired an emergency chancellor for failing schools. 250K a year plus 175K signing bonus. Another layer of incredibly expensive beauracacy and for what? Yeah, the rich are treating themselves real good, but then friends of government officials aren't doing so bad on the public dime either. Can't do much about corps. unless you are a stockholder and want to see decreasing dividends, but the public sector must be held to a tighter standard. The same thing Mark says about the "engine that makes jobs" can be said of Obama's job plans. Show us those non-public sector jobs before you take our tax money and pay absurd amounts to "emergency" this or that managers. Another scam perpetrated by government for the benefit of governmennt and their friends. Conservatives complain about Obama on the golf course, bur that is the safest place to keep this guy, he'll do less damage there than in the oval office. Nice economy he's got going here. Break par, 'bama.
Comment: #5
Posted by: Tom
Sat Aug 27, 2011 7:27 PM
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Come on O'Riley...when does this guy work? Obama is either vacationing (on my dime), playing golf or being on TV almost daily! He probably spends the remainder of his time enjoying re-runs of himself on TV. Reminds me of Big Brother. Anyway, if you tell lies long enough, you will believe them and so will the less educated people.
You made a statement that creative people need downtime to operate at their best. Well, I have yet so see him create anything viable to improve the economy (or his czars). Nope, you got it all wrong. You compare him to other presidents. So far, he hasn't behaved like a serious president that is concerned at all about the state of the union! Give it a rest...you have really been touting him lately. You need to get out in the real world too.
Charlie Holmes USMC Viet Nam
Comment: #6
Posted by: Charlie
Sat Aug 27, 2011 11:48 PM
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Charlie,
Obama is in the difficult position of running on the disaster that he prevented. The bold actions taken at the beginning of his administration likely prevented the Bush depression. Or not. Hard to know for certain, but it does make for a challenge at re-election time. I notice that this little economic problem is a bit bigger than the US economy, so there are limits to what any president could do.
He needs give up on trying to get reasonable action out of the GOP and realize that the GOP has his defeat at re-election as their number one priority with the good of the nation and economy a distant third. (Comes after doing the bidding of their corporate masters.) If Mitch Maconnel was offered a choice between revitalizing the economy now, with the likely re-election of Obama, and leaving it deep in the dumps for a few years, with the likely defeat of Obama, which do you think he would choose?
"Anyway, if you tell lies long enough, you will believe them and so will the less educated people." As an educated person, you must be relieved that the most recent masters of The Big Lie, the Bush administration, are no longer running the show.
Comment: #7
Posted by: Mark
Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:54 AM
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Mark---Time to get over "It's all Bush's fault." I suppose Dems will dwell on that forever. Again, you tell a lie long enough, the less educated will believe (along with false promises of more entitlements that the American people are flat tired of providing). You emphasize my point with the Mitch McConnell statement above. You mention Repubs winning the election by failure to work with Obama and not giving him a chance. Not so. He has had is chance. Obama refuses to do anything about the economy on purpose as he is an an avowed socialist by his studies and the people he with whom surrounds himself. That is a fact! Don't blame the GOP (although there are a lot of incumbent RINOS that should be voted out). The election is the only thing that saved this country from total destruction on Obama's part. i.e. Amnesty for illegals to flood the already failing job market to garner votes in the presidential race. Nope, he is a narcissistic fraud from the git-go. Hopefully a one term president and someone can clean up the mess he and the libs have made. (again, there are repubs like McCain that need to go too!)
Thanks for the reply.
Comment: #8
Posted by: Charlie
Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:01 PM
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"He needs give up on trying to get reasonable action out of the GOP and realize that the GOP has his defeat at re-election as their number one priority with the good of the nation and economy a distant third. (Comes after doing the bidding of their corporate masters.) "
So people who have a different view philosophically and politically to Obama are not reasonable. They should stand on the sidelines with their mouths shut for the good of the country. Seems that Goldman Sachs and B of A were calling the shots during Qe2, they must be democratic corporate masters. No, maybe it is all of the labor unions receiving Obamacare waivers, they must be the masters of Obama.
Of course Republicans want to defeat Obama, holding any other expectation is childish. The democrats ran somebody against Abraham Lincoln, for crying out loud. As for blaming Bush, he was a poor President but he is three years gone. Don't lie to yourself, this is Obama's economy. Wanting everything to go your way without opposition would be another form of lying to yourself. This you can believe; we are in the era of a new liar. Some of us oppose that liar, and this opposition is comprised of highly intelligent and educated people. Don't lie to yourself about that.
Comment: #9
Posted by: Tom
Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:02 PM
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-----More routine chain-pullng from the once genuine and hardnosed O'Reilly.
AS FOX 'News' is now virtually soft programming for aqueisence before the
USURY psychopathy of the ILLEGAL FED, and franchise slum amalgamation
with collapsed Mexico ---and, most notoriously, the RED China sellout and TREASON OP
---the UN. is now set to be brought forward as 'world authority'.
Time to face the fact that Oxford Murdoch, with his people working in Beijing
for that regime's 'perception management' office ----is the most cunning and
effective Fabian FAKE OUT of all time.
O'Reilly's not getting any younger ---and helbound eternity is getting more REAL
by the hour for all of us.
--------------Time for the REAL.
Comment: #10
Posted by: free bee
Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:49 AM
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HEY, O' REILLY, “Veteran of TV”, It is because of YOU I finally canceled my cable. I mean, if you run your show (supposedly serious interviews with interesting intelligent people) just like Jerry Sprinster Show…. Constantly interrupting you opponents, angrily booing them….Well, if this is considered to be one of the best… Count me out of it. Do you know how many noteworthy and intellectual people consider your show complete crap? You probably impressed with your ratings? But do you know the level of education of your average viewer? Don't be lazy do a little research, I bet you lost the most educated and accomplished part of your audience in the last couple of years….
So good buy, so long and thanks for all this free time that I've got by not watching TV! ☺
Comment: #11
Posted by: OBAMALAND
Sun Sep 4, 2011 9:17 PM
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