Obama: Tee Time or Time off

3 Wars.  An Economy that is tilting toward the abyss.  The stock market collapsing, unemployment rising, the dollar dropping, Europe in a mudhole.  Russia and China vying to see who is a bigger threat to the US.  Al Qaida not gone away. 

More deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq than in the last two years of the Bush Administration.  Hundreds of millions spent in Libya bombing something for some reason no one has any idea about, not even the WH.

I suppose Bush is forcing B. H.  to go on vacation so often.

Economy woes got you down? Time for a Vineyard vacay!

By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa with Megan Johnson
Inside Track
Friday, August 19, 2011
http://www.bostonherald.com



WEST TISBURY — While the stock market took another nosedive on repeat recession fears yesterday, President Obama landed on Martha’s Vineyard for 10 days of fun in the sun, hitting the summer playground of the rich and famous during worsening economic turmoil.

Air Force One touched down at Otis Air National Guard Base at about 6 p.m. last night, an hour behind schedule. The president boarded Marine One helicopter for the short hop to the Vineyard, then traveled by motorcade to Blue Heron Farm, his 28-acre hideaway on Tisbury Great Pond. First lady Michelle Obama and kids Sasha and Malia reportedly arrived on the island separately earlier in the day.

Like previous years, the president’s arrival was closed to the public. He landed in a back corner at Martha’s Vineyard Airport blocked from view by a wall of school buses.

The island’s latest First Tourist cuts a much lower profile than his Vineyard predecessor, Bill Clinton, who vacationed here six out of his eight years in office. When Bubba landed on The Rock he would be greeted by throngs of admirers, and handlers would stage a big tarmac lovefest, with invited guests lined up to greet him and the fam.

Obama, whose approval ratings are hovering at an all-time low, could probably use a little bucking up from the Vineyard faithful. But security concerns have put the kibosh on that.

Still, the president’s admirers were not deterred.

Several dozen families lined the motorcade route from the airport to Blue Heron Farm to cheer and wave to the prez, who traveled to the island with golf buddy Marvin Nicholson and first dog Bo last night. In front of Alley’s General Store in Chilmark more than 100 well-wishers waited more than an hour hoping for a glimpse of the commander in chief.

“It’s very exciting,” said Alessandro Decio of Milan, Italy, who was waving to the prez along with his wife and kids Maria, 10, Pietro, 13, and Eugenio, 15.

Alessandro, who was wearing an Obama “hope” T-shirt, said the fam, who are on a three-week U.S. vacation, are big fans.

“What can I say,” added his wife. “Our point of comparison is (scandal plagued Italian P.M. Silvio) Berlusconi!”

Fellow supporter Marwan Elmasri of Groton, Mass., said he wasn’t buying partisan criticism that the prez should have canceled his summer hols in deference to the economy.

“Why in the world shouldn’t he take a vacation?” said Marwan Elmasari. “We’re all on vacation!”

Last night a posse of Vineyard boldfacers, including Harvard profs Alan Dershowitz and Charles Ogletree; novelists Richard North Patterson and Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks; Rose Styron, the widow of author William Styron, and her daughter Alexandra, author of “Reading My Father”; singer Kate Taylor; and DNC Chairwoman and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz turned out for a $100-a-head fund-raiser dubbed “Voices For Obama” at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs.

The event was followed by a $500- to $1,000-a-head private dinner at the summer home of Ron and Judy Davenport, the founders of Pittsburgh-based Sheridan Broadcasting and longtime Obama supporters.

Obama was not expected at the event last night. Like previous years, the president likely will low-key it during his summer break. And while aides are not thrilled about the prospect of him being photographed on the links while the nation simmers over the economy, the First Duffer is not expected to forgo his favorite pastime in deference to political concerns.

Word is, he may tee off today at Mink Meadows, a public course and the island’s least chi-chi golf club. It is also, coincidentally, the course with the most difficult vantage point for photographers.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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What's Good for the Goose ...

Obama -

"I just miss - I miss being anonymous," he said at the meeting in the White House. "I miss Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, not shaving, getting into my car with my girls, driving to the supermarket, squeezing the fruit, getting my car washed, taking walks. I can't take a walk."



He says he enjoys golf but is not the fanatic that some have portrayed.


"It's the only excuse I have to get outside for four hours at a stretch," he said.



I have no problem witrh this ... BUT, if HE gets this excuse, then the same applies to any Repulican president who played golf or may golf - during war, after war, between wars ... even on the day he starts a war that Congress did not approve and costs us $4 million a day and will not see a major change when we withdraw.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Golf: Not Necessarily Any More Sane than Soccer

Imagine soliciting for this tournament. 




Afghanistan's only golf course: Bring your clubs and AK-47




By Timothy Kenny, Contributor / June 24, 2010
Christian Science Monitor
Qargha, Afghanistan



After war, a time for golf.

There is nary a blade of grass at the Kabul Golf Club, just outside Afghanistan’s capital. The greens are not green; they are hard-packed brown sand, laced with oil and swept clean to keep the putting surface smooth. The fairways are rock-strewn and scrub-filled.

Ball finders – required, according to course rules – accompany golfers and their caddies, who carry a swatch of artificial turf and tee up each new shot. Without the ball finders to search in all the brush and undergrowth, a round of golf would likely be much shorter here at Afghanistan’s only course. Why? Because most golfers would give up before finishing.

Michael Alexander, a Londoner who has played his way across some of Britain’s best courses, notes that golf at the nine-hole Kabul Golf Club provides moments that playing at St. Andrews can’t.

“The Army checkpoint,” for example, he says. “The free [ball] drop at the Army checkpoint – that was the real difference with St. Andrews,” says Mr. Alexander, tongue in cheek.

A recent charity tournament here brought out 44 golfers, paying $100 each, for the privilege of playing the hard-scrabble course west of Kabul.

The tournament netted $4,000 last year for two local charities, said tournament director Richard Day, a Canadian working in Afghanistan since November 2006. This year’s outing, the third in three years, is expected to donate a like amount to two local nongovernmental groups, the Women of Project Hope and PARSA, which work to assist disadvantaged members of Afghan’s society such as the disabled, widowed, or orphaned.

Course founder and club pro, Mohammad Afzal Abdul, opened the course in 2004, after the Taliban first fled Afghanistan and a generation-long era of war had begun to fade. Security remains tight however during the tournament. Police toting AK-47s keep a watchful eye from nearby hilltops as two dozen or so armed men walk the course.

The future of golf in Afghanistan may appear uncertain over the near term, but not to Mr. Abdul. “I teach [every week] 100 to 110 boys, after-school students,” he said. “I want to teach everyone golf.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Obama: Let them golf (otherwise - I will golf while the Middle East burns)

Mr. President, give it up for the good of the families who have lost loved ones, for the troops who do without the basic necessities, for the millions today who stand against despotic governments and for the millions in the United States who would like to learn and play golf but are homeless or unemployed.  Mr. President, do you have any feelings left?  Do you want the American people to see a man off golfing while the world collapses - the Middle East is falling apart, China is expanding exponentially ... and the question is - is this the end of the United States, and you are golfing - is this the image you want the American people (and the world) to see?



Golf is Back! Obama’s 60th Outing as President



by Keith Koffler
March 5, 2011, 2:26 pm
White House Correspondent


Well, the mercury has crept back up above 60 degrees here in Washington, and so it’s time once again for President Obama to head out to the golf course.

This is the president’s 60th time golfing as president, meaning Obama has spent two months of his presidency on the golf course.

The rounds usually take about five hours, including motorcading back an forth to the course.

According to statistics compiled by CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, who keeps close tabs on the president’s activities, Obama played 30 rounds in 2010, 28 rounds in 2009, and two this year, including today.

George W. Bush gave up golfing in 2003, explaining why he did it in a 2008 interview with POLITICO.

“I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”

Some think Obama should follow Bush’s example. But Obama clearly is addicted to the game and probably feels he needs to play to get his mind off of Washington, generally choosing the company of young administration staffers instead of lawmakers or senior aides.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is an avid golfer too, and unlike Obama, plays with lobbyists.

Obama’s on the links with his usual posse. From the pool report:

The president, in a black cap and light black jacket, emerged from the White House at 1 p.m. for what I believe is the President’s first golf outing this year stateside. A 10-vehicle motorcade departed a minute later and stopped at all stop signs and mixed with traffic for the uneventful 22-minute ride to Andrews AFB.

POTUS’ golfing buddies today include Ben Finkenbinder of the press office, Marvin Nicholson, the president’s trip director and David Katz, a Dept of Energy staffer.





 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Obama and his use of time

Do I care if what a president does on his own time, in the privacy of his residence or room or wherever he is physically located - onvacation or on tour -  nope.
Do I care if the president does not report everything to us every day - nope.
Do I care if the president is just not interested in all the bullshit on any given day/week - nope.
Do I care if a president plays golf everyday - nope.
Do I care if a president goes on one vacatiuon to Hawaii and costs the American taxpayers many millions of dollars - nope.
Do I care if the president goes to a Broadway play and costs the American taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars - nope.
Do I care if a president doesn't keep every promise he makes when he campaigns to become president - nope.
What I do care about is hysteria and for eight years Democrats, and to be honest not all Democrats, mostly the ones on the left side, were apoplectic everytime Bush was in the news.  They kept track of how many balls he hit, how many days he spent at his ranch, how often he snickered or drooled, how many times he slurred or guffawed or ... and it was hysteria.  It was as if the anti-Christ was in residence, ironic given the far left are rarely if ever religious, however much they feign obeisance to some form of religious idea.

Yet their standard-bearer behaves more like Bush on some issues than Bush and I have never read any expression of outrage over the time Obama has spent golfing.

Bush played golf about 24 times in 8 years.  Obama has played 57 up through 12/31/10.  Doubled in less time.



The following from the English Telegraph, April 2010


Barack Obama plays golf eight more times than George W Bush



President Barack Obama has played golf 32 times since he took office, eight more than his predecessor George W. Bush - who was mocked by the Left for his fondness for the game - did in his entire presidency.

By Toby Harnden in Washington
19 Apr 2010


Mr Obama's latest outing on the links came on Sunday, when an opportunity opened up on his schedule after flying bans over most of northern and central Europe forced him to cancel his trip to Krakow to attend the funeral of Lech Kaczynski, the Polish president.

Mr Bush was shown in the Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 9/11 condemning "terrorist killers" in the Middle East when asked a question on the golf course in 2002. Barely pausing for breath, he added: "Thank you. Now watch this drive."

Mr Bush later gave up golf, saying in a 2008 interview: "I don't want to some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf... And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

The golfing figures were compiled by Mark Knoller of CBS Radio, the unofficial White House statistician.

Mr Obama's Sunday golf game prompted anger in Poland, where the Warsaw Business Post carried a headline reading: "Obama goes golfing instead of attending Kaczynskis' funeral".

















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Obama Golfing

Few seem to begrudge President Obama the occasional golf outing (presidents need to unwind, right?). But John Kim, a producer for PGA.com (the PGA Tour runs the primary men's professional golf tours in North America), took to Twitter on Tuesday night to ding POTUS for excessive golfing.


In response to learning of Obama's 50-plus rounds of golf since taking office, Kim wrote, "that's more than me! But then again, my job is ... golf. Wait, that doesn't seem right."


And later: "the old adage is: those who work in golf never get to play. Guess I need to run for president to hit the links!"




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Bush v Obama: Vacations? or Just Another Way to Stay Connected

Democrats attacked Bush for always being away ... now Republicans are returning the favor, and the Democrats reply:  technology is amazing, we can get communications to him wherever he is.


The Washington Post reported today that Obama has taken nine vacations since taking office in 2008 for a total of 48 days. Some trips lasted just a day while others, like his Vineyard escape, lasted for a week-plus.


President Bush, by comparison, had taken 14 trips for a total of 115 days to his Crawford, Texas, ranch during the same period of his administration, the Post reported.

White House adviser John Brennan told UPI the president remains engaged, even while on vacation.

“Communication systems are very robust,” Brennan said. “We can move information at the speed of light. We can get to him very easily here.”












Obama

Obama Golfed while the Debt Escalated, the Market Fell, and Consumer Confidence Sank.

It is sad to watch as liberals lose all their ammunition they stored up for Bush - born to wealth (poor compared to Gore or Kerry), a guy who played golf while soldiers died (Obama has been golfing quite a bit and presumably some of that time American  soldiers were being shot at, at the very least) - or the claim that Bush was golfing all the time - and now, Obama, who, not even two years in, has outpaced Bush. 

AMAZING.

Is Obama getting any work done, with all that golf?  Apparently so or we would have liberals rioting in the streets claiming that he was neglecting his responsibilities (as they did when Bush would golf) ... and yet, when Bush golfed (much less than Obama) he was attacked for failing to be on duty, to be in the office, in charge ... listen liberals, if Bush was neglecting his responsibilities, Obama abdicated his responsibilities a long time ago.


Here is an idea Mr. Obama - INCREASE taxes on ANY golf related material 180%.  Country clubs with golf courses, golf clubs, golf balls, golf fees ...

There are about 30,000,000 golfers in the United States of which 9 million are regular and frequent players.  They also tend to range toward the top of the economic pile.  Golfers spend more than $26 billion each year (including equipment) with the median gree fee hovering around $34.  Golfers spend about $26 billion a year on travel to go play golf at various courses.  Over $50 billion.  Now tax it.  double the green fees, double everything, tax anything related to gold and you have just scored $50 billion you can use to pay for more things you can't afford - and when you play golf Mr. Obama, you should be paying.














Obama Has Shot 41 Rounds of Golf as President



by Keith Koffler on July 16, 2010, 3:30 pm



President Barack Obama has played a remarkable 41 rounds of golf since becoming president, easily outpacing his predecessor and possibly damaging his ability to portray himself in 2012 as a populist advocate of average folks.

With the excursions lasting on average at least five hours, the president has devoted a total of more than 200 hours to golf, not counting time spent on the White House putting green. That’s the equivalent of twenty five eight-hour work days, or five work weeks spent smacking golf balls.

The former community organizer’s 41 trips around the links – a standard of recreational activity well beyond the budgets of most Americans – compares to only 24 total outings for former President George W. Bush, according to statistics compiled by White House chronicler Mark Knoller of CBS News. Bush, whose golf outings were used to help deride him as a callow, lazy, rich boy, played his 24th and last round on Oct. 13, 2003, saying he was ending the practice out of respect for the families of Americans killed in Iraq.

Since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 rig workers and started the Gulf oil spill, Obama has teed up seven times, according to White House Dossier’s count. This includes back to back sessions April 23 and 24 while on vacation at the Grove Park Resort & Spa in Asheville, NC, just days after the crisis began.

Obama’s focus on golf borders on obsession. Startled reporters follow him out to the course in the motorcade in the broiling Washington heat and then wait in the air conditioning while he puts in 18 holes. Rarely does he play any less.

On June 19, he dragged the 67 year old Vice President Biden onto the course for a sweltering 18 holes, calling into question whether he was trying to commit murder-by-golf in order to free the 2012 VP slot up for Hillary.

From a period stretching from April 3 to May 22 of this year, the president went golfing eight of nine weekends. WOULD YOUR WIFE LET YOU DO THAT?? WOULD YOU LET YOUR HUSBAND? Michelle, what gives?

He went out only once in June when, with the Gulf of Mexico slowly becoming the new U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and accusations of presidential inattention at their height, White House image counselors appeared to think the golf needed scaling back. But he’s back with a vengeance, having made his way out on the course both weekends so far this month.

Since he’s officially on vacation this weekend in Bar Harbor Maine, there appears to be little holding him back from heading out to the greens at least once.

While on the course, Obama for the most part likes to keep it nice and light, often playing with a youngish crowd. No deep discussions of policy on the links.

One of his companions on nearly every outing is Marvin Nicholson, the affable, White House trip director. Nicholson, a former “body man” to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), is the perfect guy for getting away from it all, having worked as a golf caddy, a bartender, and in a windsurfing shop – where he met Kerry.

Also generally on hand is David Katz, a former Obama campaign photographer.

Emphatically not invited for the most part are members of Congress or senior White House aides.

The White House is of course sensitive to the awkward look of the whole thing. A search of the word “golf” on the White House page or the photo sharing site Flickr brings back only nine official White House photo results, three of which are neither of Obama nor golf. A search for “basketball,” the everyman’s game, brings back 39 photos.

But who wants to be the White House official to tell the president to cut back on golf? Somebody with another job offer, one would presume.





 
 
 
 
 
 
 
obama plays golf

When it gets tough - go golfing.

Glad to know everything is prioritized.


Obama skips Polish funeral, heads to golf course


By Joseph Curl
April 18, 2010


A massive volcanic plume covering most of Europe forced President Obama to cancel a Sunday trip to Poland to attend the funeral of the nation's president. But the last-minute change left an opening in his schedule, so the president headed to the links for a round of golf instead.

On a cool but sun-drenched Sunday, the president and three golfing companions went to Andrews Air Force Base to play 18 holes. It is the 32nd time Mr. Obama has played golf since taking office Jan. 20, 2009, according to CBS Radio's Mark Knoller.

After canceling the Poland trip on Saturday, the White House announced that Mr. Obama had no public schedule for Sunday. He was to have arrived in Krakow in the morning, attend the 2 p.m. funeral and leave for home by 5 p.m., arriving back at the White House after midnight.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, Maria, along with dozens of top Polish government officials were killed April 10 when their airplane went down in heavy fog after clipping a tree on approach to Smolensk, Russia.

Mr. Obama has not gone to the Polish Embassy in Washington since the accident, but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. both have. There, they signed a condolence book.

Mr. Obama was not the only world leader to miss the funeral because of the expanding volcanic ash cloud. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also canceled.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, however, flew by plane from Moscow for the funeral.

Other foreign leaders used different modes of transportation to get there. Slovenian President Danilo Turk decided to drive the 500 miles to Krakow. Romanian President Traian Basescu traveled to northwestern Romania by helicopter and then continue by car through Hungary and Slovakia.

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip made the 18-hour drive to the funeral, while Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus made the trip by car and train. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko left Kiev with his wife at 7 a.m. Saturday for the long road trip.

Mr. Obama has played golf far more often than former President George W. Bush. In his eight years in office, Mr. Bush played just 24 times. His last time as president was Oct. 13, 2003.

He said in 2008 that he gave up golf "in solidarity" with the families of soldiers who were dying in Iraq.

"I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf," Mr. Bush said in a White House interview Saturday with the Politico. "I feel I owe it to the families to be as — to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

He stopped playing after he received word of a deadly attack in Iraq while playing golf during a stay at the family ranch near Crawford, Texas.

"They pulled me off the golf course, and I said it's just not worth it anymore to do," Mr. Bush said in the interview.

Since Mr. Obama took office, 397 soldiers have died in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Another 151 have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Obama and the Press Pool

I understand he doesn't believe he needs to do anything traditional, but he put his children into this freakshow and while they deserve privacy in private, if they are in public, anyone could and would photograph them and record their goings and doings.  Why the press was not invited is odd given that for more than 40 years this has been the case ...

On another note, he also went golfing - at a time when we are at war, men have died in Afghanistan and Iraq, Poland lost a sizeable percent of their government, and Iran is still in crisis stage (do I care that he is golfing again - not at all, but liberals apparently do, because every time Bush went golfing they attacked him) - I figured I would make them feel comfortable by pointing out Obama's tendency to do the same, more often.





Obama leaves WH without press, breaking protocol



Associated Press
April 10, 2010



WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama quietly breached years of protocol on Saturday morning by leaving the White House without the press with him.

About two hours before reporters were supposed to be in position to leave with the president, Obama left the grounds of the White House. Members of the press were told he was attending one of his daughter's soccer games in northwest Washington, D.C.

The White House press corps traditionally travels with the president anywhere he goes, inside and outside the country, to report on the president's activities for the benefit of informing the public and for historical record.

After Obama left, a press aide hastily gathered members of the media who happened to be at the White House early or working on other matters. They rushed to a van and left the White House to catch up with the president.

Too late. By the time, the press van appeared to arrive at the president's location, the press was told he was already departing. Time to go back to the White House.

Reporters and photographers didn't have a chance to see him or his vehicle to verify his presence at any location.

Although nobody outside the White House or the press may have noticed, Obama broke years of tradition.

The small press "pool" that accompanies the president had been told to gather at the White House at 11:30 a.m. He left about 9:20 a.m.

Asked what happened, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said: "The president decided this morning to attend his daughter's soccer game. The pool was assembled as soon as possible to be there as well."

Obama eventually left the White House again on Saturday for a round of golf. This time, the press was with him.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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