Torpedos Over Tripoli

Look at his schedule. There were as many sight seeing trips as meetings.

Maybe I'm wrong, but this trip looks to me like the family decided to go to Brazil for Spring Break and then added a business trip component to it to justify the trip.

And, people do that all the time. It's why trade shows & conventions are often held in desirable locations -- especially warm weather locations in the middle of Winter.

But, families would cancel that kind of trip in an emergency. And Obama should have cancelled this trip.

It's also not the first time these issues have come up, so they should know how to deal with them.

He had to reschedule the trip to Indonesia. Michelle was criticized for her trip to Spain. The family left a day before the President for their trip to (was it) Aspen an an additional cost.

It's all over the news today, and I'm watching MSNBC, so it's not some right wing echo chamber criticism.

And, yes, Mika sucks. She's getting more unlikable every day. She was really upset about the "vacation" charge today and came very close to crying.

 

Especially given that £70 million was worth a whole lot more then than it is now.

 

What is surprising is how tone deaf he and his people are to the PR fallout from something like this. Again, it certainly looks like he's got some shitty advisors.

Either that or he was just afraid to tell Michelle he had to cancel the trip.

 

Yep. What, about $2.00 per then, right?

 

I hate to say it, but i think this is a big part of the reason.

Michelle wasn't totally sold on him running for president & didn't want it to upend their entire lives -- especially the kids.

For most families, if the husband/father needs to attend to business, the rest of the family can still pile in the car and go to the shore. if the President cancelled this trip, the whole trip was off and the family now had no plans for Spring Break.

I think the family vacation aspect of this trip -- and his desire to not disappoint them -- is why the trip went forward.

 

There are just days when I say to myself, "Self, what did you ever do before you could read a barista's breakdown of the psychology behind the President's travel habits?"

 

Nonsense. Brazil is kind of an important country. This was a state visit. Obama postponed a trip to Indonesia twice because of domestic political concerns, and that was more of a vacation/personal trip to boyhood home kind of thing.
The idea that a President has to be sitting in the Oval Office to conduct matters of state is insane. So is the idea that Presidents must only do one thing at a time. It was bullshit to rip George Bush for sitting in that Godforsaken ranch in Texas, and this is just the same bullshit from the other side.

 

Blame it on Rio

 

Still can't handle any criticism of the president, huh, "Mark"?

I've worked in politics and I worked in the marketing of a politician. I've also marketed brands.

What's your experience in politics?

I'm also not the only one questioning his vacation.

And, I'm not a barista. I own a company that sells and services commercial coffee and espresso equipment. It's a good business.

You've never discussed your career here. What is it that you do? How successful are you? You seem very smart and talented. You must be a big shot at a big city metro.

The WSJ has a daily circulation of over 2,000,000. The number 100 paper, the State, in Columbia S.C. has a daily circulation of 75,000.

$100 says your paper doesn't have half the circulation of the number 100 paper in the country.

So, before you go criticizing my career, maybe you should look in the mirror.

 

John Stewart is pissed at Obama:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/23/jon-stewart-criticizes-obama_n_839391.html

 

Mark what you should do is start your own operation. Oh wait.....