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Hate on Me: Obama Foes Angered at His Vacation
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 2:51 pm
By: Michael H. Cottman, BlackAmericaWeb.com
When President Barack Obama and the First Family travel to Martha’s Vineyard later this week for a five-day seaside holiday, right-wing critics will be poised to ridicule Obama for what they call out-of-control vacation spending.
Actually, it’s already started.
“Let them eat cake. It’s good to be the king!” blared a commentary on a Web site called the Republicans Club of St. Augustine.
"What a freakin' hypocrite!" says a critic on astueblogger.com. "What happened to sacrificing for the common good? Oh, that's for the little people."
Republicans are griping about the property reserved for the Obamas: It reportedly rents for $35,000 to $50,000 a week.
The Blue Heron Farm, a 30-acre compound in the town of Chilmark, has a swimming pool, a basketball court and a golf tee. The property sold for $20 million in 2005, and Chilmark was listed the most expensive small town in America by Business Week in 2007.
Republicans shouldn’t be too bent out of shape: the Obamas are renting the “farm” from a wealthy conservative couple: Mollie Van Devender contributed money to Republican Fred Thompson's presidential campaign, and her husband contributed to both Thompson and Sen. John McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, according to media reports.
Still, GOP bloggers and Republican insiders are questioning the wisdom of Obama’s costly vacation at a time when millions of Americans are unemployed and many families are struggling to keep their homes, the result of a devastating nationwide recession.
“Why don’t they go home to Chicago?” the Republican editorial asked. “It’s good to be the king! Can you imagine the media horror if Bush so much as considered such outrageous ostentation during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression?”
Obama can’t seem to get a break. While White House aides say Obama needs – and deserves – a break from arguably the world’s most stressful job, his critics are blasting his health-care plan and his vacation.
The president was hoping to push through health care legislation before Congress took its summer recess, but that did not happen. It’s Obama’s first major challenge since being elected – an enormous proposal to overhaul the nation’s health care system at a time when millions of Americans are out of work as a result of the economic downturn.
The president’s battle with Republicans will become more intense in the weeks ahead, as Democrats are now sending emails to residents to counter GOP attacks on his plan.
And then there’s the media frenzy.
Reporters from all over the country will descend on Martha’s Vineyard next week to cover Obama’s vacation, and some are still scrambling to find last-minute hotels, guest houses -- or any place with a bed, a landline and hot water.
Even though reporters won’t have access to Obama while he’s vacationing, the throng of reporters will be interviewing store owners, residents, vacationers – anyone who claims to have seen the Obamas or anyone who knows someone who claims to have seen First Family.
And there’s another celebrity journalists will be looking for: Oprah Winfrey.
The Boston Herald reported last week that "word on The Rock is that President Barack Obama's BFF Oprah Winfrey reportedly is trying to rent a massive estate in Katama on Martha's Vineyard for the last two weeks in August."
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 2:51 pm
By: Michael H. Cottman, BlackAmericaWeb.com
When President Barack Obama and the First Family travel to Martha’s Vineyard later this week for a five-day seaside holiday, right-wing critics will be poised to ridicule Obama for what they call out-of-control vacation spending.
Actually, it’s already started.
“Let them eat cake. It’s good to be the king!” blared a commentary on a Web site called the Republicans Club of St. Augustine.
"What a freakin' hypocrite!" says a critic on astueblogger.com. "What happened to sacrificing for the common good? Oh, that's for the little people."
Republicans are griping about the property reserved for the Obamas: It reportedly rents for $35,000 to $50,000 a week.
The Blue Heron Farm, a 30-acre compound in the town of Chilmark, has a swimming pool, a basketball court and a golf tee. The property sold for $20 million in 2005, and Chilmark was listed the most expensive small town in America by Business Week in 2007.
Republicans shouldn’t be too bent out of shape: the Obamas are renting the “farm” from a wealthy conservative couple: Mollie Van Devender contributed money to Republican Fred Thompson's presidential campaign, and her husband contributed to both Thompson and Sen. John McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, according to media reports.
Still, GOP bloggers and Republican insiders are questioning the wisdom of Obama’s costly vacation at a time when millions of Americans are unemployed and many families are struggling to keep their homes, the result of a devastating nationwide recession.
“Why don’t they go home to Chicago?” the Republican editorial asked. “It’s good to be the king! Can you imagine the media horror if Bush so much as considered such outrageous ostentation during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression?”
Obama can’t seem to get a break. While White House aides say Obama needs – and deserves – a break from arguably the world’s most stressful job, his critics are blasting his health-care plan and his vacation.
The president was hoping to push through health care legislation before Congress took its summer recess, but that did not happen. It’s Obama’s first major challenge since being elected – an enormous proposal to overhaul the nation’s health care system at a time when millions of Americans are out of work as a result of the economic downturn.
The president’s battle with Republicans will become more intense in the weeks ahead, as Democrats are now sending emails to residents to counter GOP attacks on his plan.
And then there’s the media frenzy.
Reporters from all over the country will descend on Martha’s Vineyard next week to cover Obama’s vacation, and some are still scrambling to find last-minute hotels, guest houses -- or any place with a bed, a landline and hot water.
Even though reporters won’t have access to Obama while he’s vacationing, the throng of reporters will be interviewing store owners, residents, vacationers – anyone who claims to have seen the Obamas or anyone who knows someone who claims to have seen First Family.
And there’s another celebrity journalists will be looking for: Oprah Winfrey.
The Boston Herald reported last week that "word on The Rock is that President Barack Obama's BFF Oprah Winfrey reportedly is trying to rent a massive estate in Katama on Martha's Vineyard for the last two weeks in August."
fi come block up the place wid SS
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