Not Exactly Your Average Summer Vacation...

The First Lady and youngest first daughter, Sasha, are currently visiting Spain. At first it sounded as if it would be a nice mother-daughter trip. In my mind I imagined the twosome visiting old historical places and turning the vacation into a semi-educational trip. Why not? It’s a perk that goes with being the wife and daughter of the President of the USA and it wouldn’t be the first time a First Lady took a child overseas. I recall images of Hillary and Chelsea or the Carters and daughter Amy taking trips around the world visiting orphanages and hospitals. And it doesn’t hurt our image for the world to get a glimpse of the First Daughter doing good deeds. At least this is what I thought until I read an article on the NYDAilyNews.com all of which I confirmed via other sources.

It turns out that the mainstream media swallowed the line fed to them by the White House that this visit was "a private, mother-daughter trip with longtime family friends". First this “trip” is only for four days. That’s not a trip but a long weekend. Plus what few reporters have dared to mention is that this “private” mother-daughter trip includes not a handful but 40 of Michelle’s closest friends. Who has 40 close friends? And I’m sure Sasha will get a lot of private time with her Mom with all these people around. Yeh right.

This entourage along with approximately 70 Secret Service agents flew first class in Air Force 2. When they landed in Spain there were an additional 250 Spanish personnel waiting for them, which means that roughly 360 people accompanied this private mother-daughter trip. A picture of them shopping shows the First Lady and Sasha surrounded by the massive security detail. (And, again I wonder, must Mrs. Obama always bare her shoulders? Doesn’t this woman own any shirts or dresses that have sleeves?)

While in Spain they will be on the very chic Costa del Sol on the coast of southern Spain. There they will stay at Hotel Villa Padierna a 5-star hotel nestled in the hills above the resort town. Their luxurious hotel has been described as “posh”, "trendy" and “a millionaire’s playground” overlooking the coast. Oh great, just what a nine year old needs. Yet the First Lady and her 40 closest friends reserved 60 rooms at this elegant resort, more than a third of the 160 rooms available. The price? Room rates are as high as $2,500 for a room per night to $6,500 per night for a villa which includes 24-hour butler service, and private pool and garden. Gee, I wonder which type of room Michelle will have….

I’m sorry but this just doesn’t seem right. Not when the rest of the country is suffering with no end in site. Even more importantly is that this lavish spending is not a one-time incident. Remember their $70,000+ date night? And on their recent vacation in Maine they had the gall to fly their dog up in his own plane! They justified this by saying Bo was accompanied with other staffers but still why even bother with the dog at all? This might be acceptable if they were going to be in Maine for a few weeks but all my research points to their being in Maine for a weekend! I keep hoping I have this wrong for who would fly a friggin’ dog in another plane to join the family for what, just 3 days? Surely the First Kids could go without their dog for a few days and I bet they could find someone in the White House to walk Bo while they were gone. But sadly, for our country, this is a true story.

What makes all of this so disgusting is that the Obama’s try to portray themselves as an average couple. In a recent ABC interview Obama said that they are “not that far removed from what most Americans are going through." He also said "it was just a few years ago that we had high credit card balances, we had two kids, thinking about college. We had our own retirement accounts, wondering if we were going to be able to get enough assets in there." Oh right, just your run of the mill couple struggling to make ends meet in this deepening recession.

Our country may be drowning in debt, the economy is not bouncing back and unemployment is still high, but I'm sure everyone feels better knowing that our leader has been relaxing with his rounds of golf. In fact what reporters have managed to keep quiet is the fact that Obama has played 41 rounds of golf in the past 18 months for a total of about 200 man-hours. That’s the equivalent of twenty five eight-hour work days, or five work weeks spent hitting a little white ball which is reminiscent of Nero fiddling while Rome burned! For comparison, Bush2 played just 24 rounds of golf in his 8 years and he was seen as being a lazy, elitist, frat boy. So what does this make Obama? And did you know that Bush2 stopped playing golf entirely in October 2003 out of respect for the soldiers fighting and dying in Iraq? On the other hand in the nine weeks from April 2, 2010 – May 22 Obama played eight rounds of golf. Even after 11 people were killed in the greatest environmental disaster to hit the US, our current president managed to get in a round of golf every weekend but one. Comforting, isn’t it?

Speaking of the environmental disaster, why couldn’t Michelle and Sasha, along with their 40 best friends have picked a resort on our Gulf Coast? The Gulf is nearly clean of oil now, a fact which I think is a real miracle and a sign that the earth is a lot tougher and more resilient than environmentalists would have us believe. Anyway, the Gulf may be nearly back to normal but our tourist trade is hurting badly and sure could have used the boost a 4-day vacation by the First Lady. Hell, they could even have flown the damn dog down, too.


So while the rest of us worry and suffer as our country falls apart, our country's leader repeatedly relaxes on a Country Club’s lush golf course while his wife and her 40 closest friends spend the taxpayers money in a posh resort in Spain. Not surprising that some conservative media, after learning of the First Lady’s recent trip, are beginning to call Michelle the “material girl” or worse – a "modern Marie Antoinette". Oh well, on the bright side, thanks to Michelle’s anti-obesity campaign at least we don’t have to worry about the First Couple lecturing us to ”let them eat cake”.

The High Cost of Experience

Experience. How necessary is experience? How much does experience really count? I always thought experience counted for something but I never realized just how important it is. That is until I recently watched two sporting events. Sunday afternoon I turned on the US Open where I learned that a young golfer had been playing the games of his life. Dustin Johnson walked up to the first tee at the famed Pebble Beach Country Club going in to this last day with a 3 under par. He was the leader in one of the most prestigious golf tournament of the year. It turns out that he didn’t even have to par the course on Sunday and he would be holding the trophy at the end of the day.

Dustin had in fact won other tournaments played at Pebble Beach. So he did have experience with winning on this golf course but not with playing the US Open. Long story short – he choked and did it big time on national TV. On the second hole he shot a triple bogey then followed by a double bogey and a bogey. Luckily halfway through the tournament they stopped showing him on TV for it was truly painful to watch. By the end of the day he was 11 over par and had dropped from a 3 under par to a 5 over par. Ouch. So it was Graeme McDowell who was seen kissing that US Open trophy instead.

The other tale of experience occurred Monday morning or more accurately Monday afternoon in England. It was the first day of the two-week Wimbledon tournament. Roger Federer, the six time champion of Wimbledon was up against an unseeded player Alejandro Fallah. I turned it on thinking it would be a quick match. To everyone’s horror the champion lost the first two sets and was a game away from losing the match. Fallah was playing unbelievably and the unthinkable was about to occur – a first seed player was going to lose in the first round. And then it happened. Experience kicked in. Federer took back control of the match and won the third set, fought hard against Fallah to win the fourth set and then pretty much played by himself as Fallah faded during the fifth 5-0 set to give Federer the win. Roger would now move forward to the next round while Fallah's Wimbledon try was over for this year.

After watching these two sporting events I couldn’t help but wonder about our inexperienced President. He does ok when reading from a script and he has strong arming Congress down to a science. But when something unexpected happens or he even speaks off script he chokes. He totally mishandled the Christmas bomber, Fort Hood shooting, and now the Gulf Oil Spill. It took him about two months with hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf before he finally took action. And what was that action? To form committees to investigate it. Great.

But what if one of these inept bombers get it right and manage to blow up a part of America and killing hundreds or thousands Americans. Hasn't it occurred to anyone else that the radical muslims might be planning something big next year on the 10th anniversary of 9-11? What then? Why should we expect this inexperienced president to suddenly show leadership skills if a life and death situation should occur?

I realize that people have been asking these questions ever since Obama won. And I heard them but the value of experience never really sunk in until it was unquestionably demonstrated over the past two days. Dustin Johnson might have been experienced playing Pebble Beach but the pressure of being the leader of the US Open was beyond anything he had ever encountered. The pressure, the crowds, the TVs, and again the expectations that came with being the leader brought him to his knees. On the other hand, there is Roger Federer who I am sure was shocked to find himself a game away from losing in the first round of Wimbledon. Lesser players would probably have succumbed. Not Federer. His experience allowed him to dig in and turn around his game. By the fifth set he was in such command that it was Fallah who gave up.

Which is President Obama going to be when he is faced with a major crisis? Will he totally choke as the golfer Dustin did or will he emulate Federer and find some inner strength from his years of experience to not only face the crisis but turn it to our country’s advantage so that we come out a winner? I am afraid that we all know the answer.

Tiger Declawed?

The lead story on the news last night was about the sex life of a golfer. How ridiculous is that? There is so much going on in the world, and the country is bleeding from numerous wounds yet the main stream media kicks off the nightly news with Tiger Woods’ apology for screwing around. What does that say about “serious” journalism? Could you see David Brinkley doing a story about Arnold Palmer’s sex life? I don’t think so...

Actually I have always felt that Tiger was treated unfairly throughout the whole ordeal. Yes he was wrong for cheating on his wife but I felt that the public and media over reacted. It is not like this is the first time that an athlete fooled around. In fact for most athletes having an active sex life is almost a requirement. Think over the years of how many famous basketball, baseball, football and hockey players were known for their randy sex life. Could you imagine anyone telling Joe Namath or Wilt Chamberlain that they need help for their sex addiction? Hell no. Or better yet, what about Mick Jagger or any other rock star who is surrounded by groupies the minute they get off of the stage? It is ludicrous to even image their being labeled as sex addicts and in need of therapy! Instead the men admire them and the women want to be one of their partners.

The same day that Tiger issued his apology there was an article about the sex lives of the Olympic athletes. For the past few Olympics one of the freebies found in the Olympic village for the athletes are free condoms. In 2000 Sydney supplied the village with 70,000 condoms and still had to bring in 20,000 more after they ran out! I love the story about Beijing which not only stocked up on 100,000 condoms for the athletes but the condoms also had the Olympic motto of faster, higher stronger! This year Vancouver is also providing 100,000 condoms for its athletes but sans the motto. As the article by Today show journalist Mike Celizic, from which I found all of this information, further details, those 100,000 condoms works out to be 14 condoms for each of the athletes, coaches, trainers and others housed in the Olympic Village. I bet no one would even think of demanding apologies or requiring sex therapy for these athletes!

Yet I can understand the fascination in Tiger’s Jeckle and Hyde behavior. Unlike others, I never saw him as a family man. Instead, I always thought of Tiger as being aloof, arrogant even, as if his enormous talent put him on a different level than everyone else. And when I watched him play golf and see him hit these spectacular shots, he almost seems inhuman. Then there was this new personal side of a passionate man having adulterous sex and even semi relationships with more than a dozen beautiful women. Wow. It almost sounds like every man’s fantasy – to be a champion athlete and to then have your pick of beautiful women almost, as their reward for a great round of golf. What man wouldn’t want to trade places with Tiger for a day, the old Tiger, that is.

Cheating on his wife was wrong, but only to his wife, it really wasn’t anyone else’s business and I don’t think he deserved this punishment. Some of the people who heard his apology said it was insincere and “too little, too late”. While others said he appeared broken and not the same man he was a year ago. I tend to agree with journalist Carlos Monarrez who said “It was hard to imagine this guy ever pumped a fist, stared down a putt or uttered a curse word in frustration. Those are the images of Woods that have defined him and endeared him to fans. Now, who knows?”

All athletes, be it golfers or Olympic champions need certain qualities of arrogance, defiance, competitiveness that makes him work and struggle to be the best. He has to have this mindset that believes that he is a champion. Call it the Alpha male syndrom or wanting to dominate and lead the pack. And throughout history the reward for these Alpha males who have beaten their foes, be it on a battlefield or a golf course or a ski jump, has always been a beautiful woman. Just as the women are having their own, although less visible, contest for the right to be with a winner.

So I wonder, what will this “therapy” and his sincere (or not), self belittling apology do to Tiger the golfer? Will this declaw him? Will he lose some of his competence? Will he begin to doubt and question himself? And in the long run who has won from this spectacle? Not his sponsors. Definitely not the PGA. Not even his wife. I wonder if she will even like the new Tiger 2.0 version? For if she does take him back, she married an Alpha male champion, not the new hesitant, demeaning, albeit supposedly faithful husband.

Of course there is always the possibility that he really isn’t changing all that much. I am almost waiting for an outburst, the kind he is known for on the golf course. The equivilant of throwing his golf club while cursing a blue streak. Something other than that boring and weak apology. I would have loved it if he had simply told the media and others to go to hell; that he is the greatest golfer ever. That is all that matters and that his personal life is just that, personal. He did try to tell everyone to leave his family alone but he sounded wimpy. He needs to get angry. To pump his fist in the air while psyching himself up to tell them all to go to hell. That would sound truer than his self deprecating apology. Nonetheless, regardless of the outcome, it still doesn’t belong among the top stories of the day.

Man Up, Mr President

After nine months in office Barack Obama needs to either start acting like the President of the greatest nation on earth or at the very least Obama needs to grow a pair and start acting like a man.

The hypocrisy of this man and his followers knows no bounds. Everyone recalls that one of Obama’s main campaign themes last year was that he was going to enact “change”, right? And wasn’t cleaning up Bush’s mess implicit in Obama’s desire to replace him as President and his pledge to change the direction of this country? And even I agree that Bush left a lot of problems but instead of changing things Obama is still complaining about the mess left by Bush. Excuse me? At my old office the unwritten rule was that you could blame the person you replaced for one month, after that it was your problems and messes. Yet after nine months Obama is still whining about the problems Bush left instead of manning up and taking responsibility. Mr. President, its past time that you quit your bitching and do the job you promised you would do. I didn’t vote for the man but I still want him to act like a President and not like a spoiled brat complaining that the mess isn't his fault and that he needs more time to decide what to do.

Perhaps making a decision might be easier if he actually spent more time at the office. I’m beginning to think that Obama is the kind of president who likes the perks but not the work. Take for example, golfing. Did you even know he was a golfer until after he was elected? It sure wasn’t mentioned much since golfing didn’t go along with his image. And yet, this ex-community organizer recently played his 24th game of golf since being President! So nearly three times a month Obama was out hitting the balls while the country suffered from high unemployment, two wars, bail outs, car industry going up in ruins etc. etc. And yes, the last president was also an avid golfer, but it took him two years and nine months to play golf 24 times!

Obama is also quite the entertainer. Funny how you never hear about this, either, but Obama frequently hosts dinner parties inviting all kinds of Hollywood entertainers, famous singers and musicians. Did you know that the First Couple have been hosting a “music series” whose purpose is rather vague other than to demonstrate a commitment to the arts? Although in a recent MSNBC report, Michelle did mention that “she wants her daughters, Malia and Sasha, to be ‘aware of all kinds of music — other than hip-hop.’” I guess as First Lady, instead of buying her daughters CDs she has a dinner party where the guest of honor works for their dinner by putting on a concert for the First Daughters.

Between rounds of golf and listening to the likes of Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire or taking his wife out on a date, it’s no wonder the President doesn’t have time to make decisions. In fact the only decision it seems he has made is that its good to be President and barely into his first term he is planning for his second term. Perhaps this is why he delays decision making – he doesn’t want anyone to be mad at him. It is also why he is constantly traveling gee, guess where, to swing states that he is afraid he might lose now that people actually know him.

The President also likes to hear himself talk. Oh he never settles anything with his speeches but he sure takes a long time to say very little. As Politico.com reported: Six months into his presidency Obama had already “uttered more than half a million words in public.” In one whirlwind week last month, the president made his third appearance on “60 Minutes,” gave a major speech on the financial crisis the next day, and made a record five talk-show appearances the following Sunday. And on the eighth day, He did Letterman. Yak, yak, yak. And yet after listening to one of his speeches you walk away wondering what it was that he said.

This summer Obama held numerous town halls across the country pitching the new health care plan, except there was no plan. There were half a dozen or so plans being discussed by Congress but we had yet to see a plan agreed upon by the Senate and House. And it is also like Obama for him to ask Pelosi and Reid to come up with a health care plan thereby relieving Obama of making a decision. Instead, he did what he does best, talk and at town hall after town hall, there was Obama going on and on and on about a health plan that didn’t even exist yet. Typical.

So instead of being President and making decisions Obama is still campaigning or else enjoying the perks of the office. Hell, after nine months in office he still hasn’t decided which church to join in DC nor could Obama even decide what kind of dog to get! And he never did make that decision as somebody gave him a dog, thereby making the decision for him. So if Obama struggles in making a decision about buying a friggin’ dog, no wonder he dithers on major issues, like the wars.

Speaking of the wars, a key advisor recently quit because we had no strategy for the war in Afghanistan. If we continue to neither bring in more troops nor pull them out then the situation will continue to worsen. Yet when Obama was told of this resignation and asked about determining a strategy, the President said he needed more time. Excuse me? This is the man who complained bitterly about Bush’s “mishandling” of the war so you would think that his team would have had their own strategy in place even before Obama was elected. Instead soldiers will die while the President is out playing golf instead of making a decisions.

Conservatives pointed out during the election last year that most of Obama’s political experience was in campaigning. And in the little time Obama did spend in office he rarely voted on an issue and if he wasn’t conveniently absent for an important vote he would cop out with his indecisive “present”. So it should come as no surprise that Obama continues to dither on making decisions.

Except he isn’t one of 50, where he could let others make the decision. Instead he is now the top man. And guess what, as President you don’t always have the luxury of more time. Nor can you vote “present” and hope someone else makes the difficult decisions for you. As Truman so succinctly put it “The buck stops here.” So its way past time that you man up and do your job, Mr. President.