“Obama stood on the South Lawn on Saturday updating Americans on the new bombing campaign in Iraq – and then he boarded Marine One for a two-week trip to Martha’s Vineyard,” Mr. Milbank wrote Monday. “There, half an hour after arriving at his vacation home, he was already on his way to a golf course.”
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This theme is so tired, it almost makes one wonder if Milbank just couldn’t think of anything else to write about that day. Obama’s defense – as always, and for all presidents – is that the nation’s chief executive is never truly on vacation. He brings top advisers with him, gets his daily briefings, and still has all the powers of the presidency, including making orders as commander-in-chief.
And, presidential scholars note, we should all be grateful to see our president getting out of Washington for a little R&R. Everyone needs to recharge their batteries, including the president.
Obama isn’t even taking the whole two weeks away from Washington. He’s returning to the nation’s capital on Sunday for two days of “in person” meetings at the White House, then heading back to the Vineyard. Still no word on why or with whom he is meeting.