FLASHBACK: Obama Promises No Vacations For Himself As President [VIDEO]

WHAT A KIDDER!

Glenn Reynolds: THAT ONE HIT THE EXPIRATION DATE IN NOVEMBER OF 2008

This is how he sold himself and this is what his followers bought.  

Listen To What Obama Said About Presidential Vacations Before He Was President.

Michigan Scenes

On Vacation

In the middle of a vacation, and checking the internet there are a few sites that are always able to give us a quick but thorough overview of what’s happening in the world away from sun, water and cool breezes.  And no, I’m not talking of islands but of beautiful Michigan and its Lake Superior and Lake Michigan shores.

Pictures when I return.

For a rapid overview there’s DRUDGE who gives us pictures and headlines and is now more influential than the NY Times.  A paper in its dotage has become a caricature - and a punching bag - that even Liberals won’t bother to defend any longer.  The Times and the US Post Office are both sliding into irrelevance.

For pithy comments as well as a universal overview of the important events and thoughts of the day, there’s Glenn Reynolds, Professor Instapundit.

More later.

Postcard from the Staycation

The Anchoress is vacationing vicariously. 

Circumstances being what they are, we have decided to stick close to home this year. We hope you don’t mind if we tag along, vacationing vicariously with you through media. After all, reading that you’ve driven four under par is like a victory for all us little people and I personally pine to see the latest fashions in casual wear and fine jewelry modeled by your wives and daughters. That Eva Peron was right, it really is just as satisfying for us to watch your families of four accessing private and government jets—even two at a time—to travel to your summer homes or Martha’s Vineyard or Bermuda, as it would be for us to fly to Disney or the Gulf Coasts, and no luggage hassles or feel-copping TSA pat-downs for any of us! I call that sweet!

Obama briefed on economy while at Martha's Vineyard

Obama, who has been criticized by Republicans for taking a vacation while many Americans face severe economic struggles, was briefed on market and financial developments by Brian Deese, a top economic aide

.

Is this better than checking the Wall Street Journal for a few minutes a day?

The Obama Vacation in Martha's Vineyard

DRUDGE

SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER...
Obama plans to play golf today...
Obamas Fly 'His & Her' Jets to Lux Vacay...
Air Force One, two chopper convoys, motorcade...
Buchanan: The View From The Vineyard...

As he and his daughters bicycle around the summer playground of the Northeastern elite, Martha's Vineyard, President Obama is steadily bleeding away both the support of the nation and that of his most loyal constituency.

(read the rest of Buchanan)


Noonan: The President's Island Retreat

How could he not be depressed? He has made big mistakes since the beginning of his presidency and has been pounded since the beginning of his presidency. He's got to be full of doubts at this point about what to do. His baseline political assumptions have proved incorrect, his calculations have turned out to be erroneous, his big decisions have turned to dust. He thought they'd love him for health care, that it was a down payment on greatness. But the left sees it as a sellout, the center as a vaguely threatening mess, the right as a rallying cry. He thought the stimulus would turn the economy around. It didn't. He thought there would be a natural bounce-back a year ago, with "Recovery Summer." There wasn't. He thought a toe-to-toe, eyeball-to-eyeball struggle over the debt ceiling would enhance his reputation. The public would see through to the dark heart of Republican hackery and come to recognize the higher wisdom of his approach. That didn't happen either.

Nothing worked! And nothing's going to work. He's the smartest guy in the room, but he's got the reverse Midas touch. Everything he touches turns to—well, unsatisfying outcomes.

He's the smartest guy in the room?  So the problems and setbacks are all bad luck?  He has doubts, Peggy?  He certainly hasn't shown any.  He does have the top job in the Federal Government, a fleet of jets, a fleet of cars, a fleet of (new) buses, free housing, a staff of thousands, a great income and a lifetime pension.  He may have screwed the country up for the rest of us, but he's set for life.  He's got his, meanwhile the rest of the country is lined up looking for work. 

More DRUDGE:  Thousands line up for jobs.

Back from vacation

Sunset over Lake Michigan

Peyton Place

Camden, Maine was the set for the original movie version of Peyton Place shot in 1957. The town remembers.

Hawthorne Inn, Camden, Maine

Maine Lobster Festival

I have been away for a week in Maine. Some images ...


Kayak


Camden, Maine


Camden Maine Harbor




Steamed lobsters

Why Posting Has Been Light (nonexistant)

I have been on vacation.
But I'm back and plan an essay "Reflections on African Self Government."

Where I've Been

In case you're wondering why I have not beenm posting ... I have been away for about 10 days in God's Country playing in the snow.

Back soon.

Views at night, day and evening

Night


Evening

Winter wonderland

Grand Haven pier.

My recent vacation

"I'm off the see the blizzard" and had a great time. Temperatures in the single digits, snow every day and the most fantiastic wind sculptures along the Lake Michigan waterfront.

More pictures to follow.

Weekend Getaway

We took a long weekend to a B&B in Lexington, Virginia. We relaxed, ate, and toured the surrounding coutryside including VMI where "Stonewall" Jackson and George C. Marshall are revered.