The President's Drunk Vacation

I have a handful of loyal readers. Some of them even leave comments. I have one loyal reader who I would describe as a well-informed reader who can argue a good point. This person has even called me out a couple of times. However, yesterday this person questioned something that makes we want to respond.

Now, as you probably have guessed by now, this blog is mostly satire. Nearly everything I say is tongue-in-cheek. Obama is going to make the financial world collapse. (Tongue-in-cheek). Martin O'Malley is a self-indulgent arrogant jerk seeking higher political office with no regard for the middle class of people that he destroys. (NOT tongue-in-cheek).

So here is the comment that was left recently:

I prefer him being able to drink a beer to taking 250 days off in about the first year and a half of his Presidency.

Now, I honestly do not give a crap if the President is drinking a beer at the Wizards game. Good for him! It shows that he is more like the rest of us. He likes to relax and enjoy himself now and then rather than trying to appear all prim and proper and fake all the time, like the first 42 Presidents (yes - there have been 43 prior Presidents, but Grover Cleveland was 2 of them since he had non-consecutive terms!)

As far as Bush taking 250 days off in the first year and a half of his Presidency? Well, like me, this user MAY have been stating it tongue-in-cheek, but I don't know. But let's think about it.

Do you really think the President flew back to Crawford and spent half of his first term hanging out with Laura, watching the tube, drinking beers, goofing off on the Internet (if he even knows how), washing his truck, and mowing the lawn? I seriously doubt it. I have read 2 books by previous Press Secretaries (Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan) and both books say that every time the President went to Crawford for a "vacation", nearly the entire White House staff went along. Additionally, the days were filled with visits from dignitaries, special interests, Senators, Representatives, and perhaps a few space aliens (Oh, wait, that was during the Carter Administration!).

So, rather than thinking of this time as being a vacation, President Bush, like him or not, was more or less utilizing the flexible work schedules that many of us enjoy. You know, you get those emails from co-workers, "I'm working from home today". Why does the President need to be at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when he can do the same work in Crawford, Texas?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending former President Bush. I don't expect President Obama to engage in alternative work scheduling and co-locating as he has young children living at the White House, but I do not think there is any overwhelming reason why the President cannot work from home. The End.