http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1300852/Spanish-police-close-public-beach-Michelle-Obamas-250k-Spanish-holiday.html

I'm surprised no-one here has commented on this yet.

Someone needs to wake the frig up. I'm not paying taxes for this douchebag to go party round the friggin world. :smash:

You can add this to this rant too.

Obama Choppers Six Miles For Economy Comments - Political Hotsheet - CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20012904-503544.html)

$11,000 per hour to go 6 friggin miles?

You can add this to this rant too.

Obama Choppers Six Miles For Economy Comments - Political Hotsheet - CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20012904-503544.html)

$11,000 per hour to go 6 friggin miles?

you clearly don't understand the importance of the Obama's and their "work"

Hey, at least HE didn't go too!

I mean, I can't recall ever having a president take so many publicized vacations within his first year, EVER!

Funny, but how many of us, who ACTUALLY WORK FOR A LIVING, get to take 2 or more vacations a year, and have everyone else pay for them to boot? How many of us were able to just stop work and take off for a week, regardless of what work was like? How many of us would still have those jobs when we returned?

Here's a point to consider: How many other presidents took multiple vacations during their first year in office, and how many took one OUTSIDE the US?
I'm just curious that's all.


Now as for Mrs. Obama, if she were selling this as some kind of "peace mission" or "act of good will" then she might have slipped under the radar, but because it's ANOTHER vacation, she's back in the spotlight again!

Obama pick's up tab for 3 (the Family): the tax payer picks up the tab for what 60+ members of the entourage/security?

2 vacations a year? This dude is on 2 in the last 3 weeks!

And he's off to the Vineyard too!

Sorry I'm wrong. EIGHT VACATIONS JUST THIS SUMMER. 10 days on MV coming up before the end of the month :smash:

"Back in the U.S., anger was mounting - especially as it has emerged the First Lady will have enjoyed eight holidays by the end of the summer"

He should have choppered up for the free Shakespeare in the park with Deval

It is absolutely amazing, how 'above the populace' today's politican's have become


Romney/Brown in 2012!!

This happens with Every. Single. President.

the Clinton haircut

How can it be a disgusting use of public funds when you have NO CLUE how much taxpayer funds are being used?

-spence

Spence go back and read what it says.

Whether or not the taxpaying American will be paying for meals, they will definitely be footing the bill for the First Lady's 68-strong security detail, her personal staff - and the use of presidential jet Air Force Two.
The per diems for the secret service team runs at around £172 each, which amounts to nearly £60,000 for the length of the summer break.
Use of Air Force Two, the Air Force version of a 757, comes in at £91,900 for the round trip. This does not include time on the ground.
Mrs Obama's personal staff, of which there are an unknown amount and who might cost considerably more per day, also have to be taken into account.

The American public will also cover the cost of the only official part of the holiday, a visit to the Spanish royal family on the island of Majorca.
This will involve transport there and back for the entourage - as well as travel, accommodation, food and expenses for all while on the island.

Conservative estimates already put the total cost at £150,000. With Majorca to come, the bill will be more like £250,000.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1300852/Spanish-police-close-public-beach-Michelle-Obamas-250k-Spanish-holiday.html#ixzz0vsOD9WqC



How can it be a disgusting use of public funds when you have NO CLUE how much taxpayer funds are being used?

-spence

So she uses AF2 on State Business, she's the First Lady so she has protection and all the "extras" are privately paid?

I'm not sure what your expectations are, that the First Lady stays in DC baking cookies? It would seem as though the taxpayer isn't paying for anything extravagant, or perhaps even unreasonable.

-spence

did you see her short hairs sticking out of her bikini?@??@? talk about pubic relations...

So she uses AF2 on State Business, she's the First Lady so she has protection and all the "extras" are privately paid?

I'm not sure what your expectations are, that the First Lady stays in DC baking cookies? It would seem as though the taxpayer isn't paying for anything extravagant, or perhaps even unreasonable.

-spence

"State Business" :rotf2::rotf2:
you are such a tool....:uhuh:

vacations are not state business

state business your killin me.

She's got multiple planes and 70 friggin people there just to support her security.

Spence I ask you this...

Why as a citizen of the USA would I want to go to work and have to pay a tax to the government (effectively at some point working for free to pay this tax) so that this doosh can spend $250,000 to go to Spain to play %$%$%$%$ing lala on the beach or shopping.

GET REAL MAN

IT'S MY TAX DOLLARS SUPPORTING THIS %$%$%$%$! As a small business owner I just made 30 lures to pay that tax this week. I gave away my time and raw materials so that this %$%$%$%$%$%$%$ could do this? Yea I did and it ain't right. Anyone who says it is must be delusional or hallucinating so which is it :hee:

Mmmm curly fries :jump1::rotf2:

did you see her short hairs sticking out of her bikini?@??@? talk about pubic relations...

where is the humanitarian mission to Haiti ?

this is PURE Barrak......... pissed me off
and i'm takin off...

leaving him alone on his Birthday ?
WTF whaT a BITCH !

it's nothing more than a fashion publicity stunt...
because she thinks she some kind of role Model PFFF

she couldn't have found anywhere in the USA to TRAVEL
so that she could boost the local economy like
down south?... oh yeah to hot... well, how bout ALASKA

How can you be a role model to America by flying to Spain?

This is almost beyond Clintonism's

leaving him alone on his Birthday ?
WTF whaT a BITCH !



I wouldn't worry about that, I heard that Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dorn, Reverend Wright, Loius Farrakhan and Rashid Khalidi...you know, all of his friends from the neighborhood.... showed up at the Obama mansion with a birthday cake for Barry...I'm sure they had a wonderful time discussing the further destruction of America.....personally, I find her husband's "disgusting use of public funds" far more offensive...


"STATE BUSINESS"...WHAT A COINCIDENCE??..."LET THE OBAMORONS EAT CAKE":rotf2::rotf2::rotf2:

Meanwhile at the five-star luxury Villa Padierna, where the group have chosen to spend their mini-break, preparations were under way for Marbella's event of the year – a star-studded charity gala hosted by Hollywood A-listers Antonio Banderas and Eva Longoria.

Expectation was high that the First Lady would be the special guest at the event on Saturday night after she received a personal invitation from Ms Longoria, star of Desperate Housewives, who lent her support to Barack Obama during his presidential campaign.

I'm not sure what your expectations are, that the First Lady stays in DC baking cookies? -spence

Didn't you get the memo?....Cookies are now on the banned list.

state business your killin me.

She's got multiple planes and 70 friggin people there just to support her security.

Spence I ask you this...

Why as a citizen of the USA would I want to go to work and have to pay a tax to the government (effectively at some point working for free to pay this tax) so that this doosh can spend $250,000 to go to Spain to play %$%$%$%$ing lala on the beach or shopping.

GET REAL MAN

IT'S MY TAX DOLLARS SUPPORTING THIS %$%$%$%$! As a small business owner I just made 30 lures to pay that tax this week. I gave away my time and raw materials so that this %$%$%$%$%$%$%$ could do this? Yea I did and it ain't right. Anyone who says it is must be delusional or hallucinating so which is it :hee:

It seems most if not all of the taxpayer funds used for this trip are in transportation and security, which I don't believe she has any say in. It wouldn't surprise me if the Secret Service didn't arrange the logistics.

The additional expenses that were at her discretion were paid out of pocket.

Shouldn't the First Lady be able to take a kid on a trip? Doesn't sound all that unreasonable to me. Is it expensive? Sure, but right now she's a VIP with national security concerns.

Had she been on a commercial flight that was hi-jacked you'd be screaming "how could they let the First Lady on a commercial flight!".

-spence

So Laura and the bottle twins never took a vacation, EVER? or did they pay for everything w/o secret service.

give me a break.

up to a case of straws Bugger. next stop will be a gross....

Is that enough to make a plug yet Bryan? :hee:

So Spence thinks it's ok to work so that Chuckles Mcgee can go frolic with the King of Spain.

Meet me at my shop 4:30 Monday morning I got plenty for you to do if you like working for free.

While Obama preaches sacrifice, his family frolics in Spain (http://www.theage.com.au/world/while-obama-preaches-sacrifice-his-family-frolics-in-spain-20100807-11pd2.html)

BE STILL MY BEATING HEART SOMEONE ELSE THINKS THE SAME WAY I DO

Hope you got the receipt for them straws.

"Just last month, Mrs Obama flew to the Florida panhandle, a tourist draw hit hard by the oil spill crisis, and delivered the message that for parents ''looking for things to do with their kids this summer … this is a wonderful place to visit''.

So Laura and the bottle twins never took a vacation, EVER? or did they pay for everything w/o secret service.

give me a break.

....

Laura and her husband didn't lecture America about shared sacrafice and scaling back their lifestyles and personal responsibility and CARBON FOOTPRINTS on and on...and then proceed to break all records for self-indulgent excessive spending at the taxpayers expense....the more you try to defend these people the more rediculous you appear...it must be comforting to be a democrat politician or spouse of one knowing that you can engage in pretty much any form of hypocritical and distasteful behaviour and the average democrat will dismiss criticism of it without question, defend it as perfectly appropriate and encourage more of it...Rham Emmanuel was right...:uhuh:

"Just last month, Mrs Obama flew to the Florida panhandle, a tourist draw hit hard by the oil spill crisis, and delivered the message that for parents ''looking for things to do with their kids this summer … this is a wonderful place to visit''.
From what I heard this trip has been scheuled for some time. Would seem quite transparent to cancel your plans at the last second just for the appearance of it all.

-spence

From what I heard this trip has been scheuled for some time. Would seem quite transparent to cancel your plans at the last second just for the appearance of it all.

-spence

I'll take "seeming transparency" over gluttonous hypocricy any time :uhuh:...just for the appearance of it all....

I'll take "seeming transparency" over gluttonous hypocricy any time :uhuh:...just for the appearance of it all....
If that's the case perhaps you should take your beef up with the US Secret Service. I can forward your info along if you'd like.

-spence

If that's the case perhaps you should take your beef up with the US Secret Service. I can forward your info along if you'd like.

-spence

are you wearing a brown shirt right now?

are you wearing a brown shirt right now?
No green.

-spence

:rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao:

From what I heard this trip has been scheuled for some time. Would seem quite transparent to cancel your plans at the last second just for the appearance of it all.

-spence

Ronda is beautiful, hope they at least hiked the gorge.

Another case of the right shooting themselves in the foot. More death threats to this pres. than any other and then they cry like babies when the secret service spends $ to protect the family.

Did Laura B ever take any vac. that needed secret service protection?

Ronda is beautiful, hope they at least hiked the gorge.

Another case of the rightnot just the right on this, particularly the foreign press(former fawners), criticism has been from all corners regarding the propensity for lavishness for these people balanced against their rhetoric shooting themselves in the foot. More death threats to this pres than any other prove it. and then they cry like babies when the secret service spends $ to protect the family.

Did Laura B ever take any vac. that needed secret service protection?

as usual, you completely miss the point...

Then what was the point of the first post?

Look it up yourselves, it has even been discussed here.

And calling a woman a douchebag is a new low for this site.

Then what was the point of the first post?

Look it up yourselves, it has even been discussed here.

And calling a woman a douchebag is a new low for this site.

OK...here it is...I know that reading isn't your thing but you should try it before you taunt others..noone has suggested that the First Lady should not get Secret Service protection as you suggest, the question is about the extravagant travel, the expense of dragging the SS protection along and the appearance of it all at a time when their rhetoric has been to trash extravagant living....:uhuh:

Michelle Obama today faced a fresh wave of attacks over her lavish break in Spain with 40 friends, which could easily cost U.S. taxpayers a staggering £50,000 a day.
The First Lady has been lambasted for her extravagance at a time when the economy is still .struggling

She had 2 friends and I think 4 of their kids (who all travelled on commercial flights) not 40. I read that they all paid their own way as did she (including food, room and transportation). There were some of her aides but they were taken along b/c she will make a courtesy call to the king and queen. The gov. pays for security and the secret service decides what is needed. Look at Salty's 13th post (I believe) he was ranting about the security detail.

I never said I don't read, I said I don't read obvious right/left wing articles.

Maybe the posts swerved from the original post. I almoststopped reading when someone complained how much vac. Pres. Obama took in his first year. I laughed at the hypocrisy and stopped reading.

If you ever go to the south of Spain, visit Ronda and Malaga - like Michelle. Both very nice.

[QUOTE=PaulS;786746]


I almost stopped reading when someone complained how much vac. Pres. Obama took in his first year. I laughed at the hypocrisy and stopped reading.

QUOTE]

so you percieve hypocricy in the complaint about Obama's vacation time and laugh..... but you see no hypocricy in the Obama's vacation time......interesting....

Morning Sentinel

The president was the first to walk onto the tarmac, dressed casually in a pale blue Oxford shirt and khakis. A few minutes later, the first lady, dressed in black capris, a tank-top and sandals, walked onto the runway. Shortly afterward, Malia and Sasha joined their parents.

Baldacci and his wife, Karen, presented the family with gift bags full of Maine-made goodies, including baskets made by the Passamaquoddy Tribe, popcorn from Little Lad’s Bakery in East Corinth, iconic L.L. Bean bags, University of Maine ice hockey hats, and an assortment of other Maine foods and books.

Karen Baldacci said the bags for Malia and Sasha contained one loon toy and one chickadee toy that sound their natural calls.

Arriving in a small jet before the Obamas was the first dog, Bo, a Portuguese water dog given as a present by the late U.S. Sen Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.; and the president’s personal aide Reggie Love, who chatted with Baldacci.

Bo has quite a "CARBON PAWPRINT"

I supposed a dedicated Obamoron would suggest that Bo is actually engaged in "shared sacrafice" because he was willing to "share" his private jet with the Presidential Dog Walker

There you go again showing your classlessness. That didn't take long.

There you go again showing your classlessness. That didn't take long.

I'll take that to mean that you've again lost the ability to provide a coherent thought...you can't provide evidence for the hypocricy that you percieve but simply assume it based on your ideaology...or something....and laugh..... and can't see the obvious hypocricy that is staring you in the face....just admit it ...you are an Obamoron :rotf2:

No, you can take it to mean that I think your classless.

oh, one thing on my ideaology, I voted for both Bush's the first time around (huge mistake).

No, you can take it to mean that I think your classless.

your sentences are getting shorter....not much left in the barrel aside from an occasional insult ....:rotf2:....typical :uhuh:

you do realize that your votes for Bush were irrelevant so I wouldn't be too hard on yourself...:uhuh:

oh...Paul...I'm curious how you went from supporting conservatives to supporting a communist in such a relatively short time?

your sentences are getting shorter....not much left in the barrel aside from an occasional insult ....:rotf2:....typical :uhuh:


Your like talking to the whiny little kid who has no friends, sometimes you talk to him, others times you don't bother :rotf2:. You just let him spoat off.

Actually, I never insulted anyone on this forum until they spewed insults first :biglaugh: Bet you can't make that claim.:biglaugh: I would also bet that when posts start to go south, your insults are a high % of the reason.

PaulS...
the ignore button is your friend, trust me!

Your like talking to the whiny little kid who has no friends, sometimes you talk to him, others times you don't bother :rotf2:. You just let him spoat off.

Actually, I never insulted anyone on this forum until they spewed insults first :biglaugh: Bet you can't make that claim.:biglaugh: I would also bet that when posts start to go south, your insults are a high % of the reason.

"spout"

the thread goes south when the Obamoron has exhausted himself trying to defend the indefensible with regard to this president and fails to explain why criticizong his actions are "hypocritical" but his clearly hypocritical actions are not.......the list with this president is getting long and we're not two years in...you can only spin for so long before you get dizzy and fall down Paul...you should wear a helmet...

when I think of "classy", I think of the photo of Obama with his feet up on the hallowed Resolute desk of the Oval Office...now that's "CLASSY"...or classless...as it were...

"spout"

the thread goes south when the Obamoron has exhausted himself trying to defend the indefensible with regard to this president and fails to explain why criticizong his actions are "hypocritical" but his clearly hypocritical actions are not.......the list with this president is getting long and we're not two years in...you can only spin for so long before you get dizzy and fall down Paul...you should wear a helmet...

when I think of "classy", I think of the photo of Obama with his feet up on the hallowed Resolute desk of the Oval Office...now that's "CLASSY"...or classless...as it were...
Between your rampant mis-information, daily non sequitur rants, childish name calling and abuse of cut and paste...I'm not sure you're standing on firm ground to accuse anyone of failing to defend themselves.

You could be useful in describing the concept of entropy to a lay person though. Some of the Ask Spence questions are getting into physics and I might need a simplistic example that everyone can relate to :hihi:

-spence

Between your rampant mis-information , daily non sequitur rants, childish name calling and abuse of cut and paste...I'm not sure you're standing on firm ground to accuse anyone of failing to defend themselves.

You could be useful in describing the concept of entropy to a lay person though. Some of the Ask Spence questions are getting into physics and I might need a simplistic example that everyone can relate to :hihi:

-spence

oh...please...you prostitute yourself here each day for all things Obama making some of the most outrageous statements and turning facts on their head, claiming that most experts agree with you...gimme a break....Obamoron is a perfectly apt title for one who mindelessly defends all things Obama with no regard to facts and it's hardly offensive...we've had much worse...

the thread goes south when you started calling people morons - simple as that. You ruined another thread with your whining.

you started calling people morons - simple as that. You ruined another thread with your whining.

I thought this thread went south when the queen was called a "douchebag " in the initial post :rotf2:

:rotflmao: This thread is awesome

what a train wreck

you started calling people morons - simple as that. You ruined another thread with your whining.

"Obamorons"....it's a special type of moron...it was a general term when I first used it to muse at what a mindless defender of Obama might say to explain the "dog flying solo in the jet phenomon"....you jumped ugly and proceeded to whine about name calling and classilessness(sp?) and crap like that...boooohoooo

....not an Obamoron and perfectly stated...

The Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime: extravagant and out of touch with the American people

By Nile Gardiner World Last updated: August 7th, 2010

What the great French historian Alexis de Tocqueville would make of today’s Obama administration were he alive today is anyone’s guess. But I would wager that the author of L’Ancien Régime and Democracy in America would be less than impressed with the extravagance and arrogance on display among the White House elites that rule America as though they had been handed some divine right to govern with impunity.

It is the kind of impunity that has been highlighted on the world stage this week by Michelle Obama’s hugely costly trip to Spain, which has prompted a New York Post columnist Andrea Tantaros to dub the First Lady a contemporary Marie Antoinette. As The Telegraph reports, while the Obamas are covering their own vacation expenses such as accommodation, the trip may cost US taxpayers as much as $375,000 in terms of secret service security and flight costs on Air Force Two.

The timing of this lavish European vacation could not have come at a worse moment, when unemployment in America stands at 10 percent, and large numbers of Americans are fighting to survive financially in the wake of the global economic downturn. It sends a message of indifference, even contempt, for the millions of Americans who are struggling just to feed their families on a daily basis and pay the mortgage, while the size of the national debt balloons to Greek-style proportions.

While the liberal-dominated US mainstream media have largely ignored the story, it is all over the blogosphere and talk radio, and will undoubtedly add to the President’s free falling poll ratings. As much as the media establishment turn a blind eye to stories like this, which are major news in the international media, the American public is increasingly turning to alternative news sources, including the British press, which has a far less deferential approach towards the White House.

The First Lady’s ill-conceived trip to Marbella and the complete disregard for public opinion and concerns over excessive government spending is symbolic of a far wider problem with the Obama presidency – the overarching disdain for the principles of limited government, individual liberty and free enterprise that have built the United States over the course of nearly two and a half centuries into the most powerful and free nation on earth.

It is epitomised above all by the President’s relentless drive towards big government against the will of the American people, and the dramatic increases in government spending and borrowing, which threaten to leave the US hugely in debt for generations. It is also showcased by Barack Obama’s drive towards a socialised health care system, which, as I’ve noted before, is “a thinly disguised vanity project for a president who is committed to transforming the United States from the world’s most successful large-scale free enterprise economy, to a highly interventionist society with a massive role for centralized government.”

There is however a political revolution fast approaching Washington that is driven not by mob rule but by the power of ideas and principles, based upon the ideals of the Founding Fathers and the US Constitution. It is a distinctly conservative revolution that is sweeping America and is reflected in almost every poll ahead of this November’s mid-terms. It is based on a belief in individual liberty, limited government, and above all, political accountability from the ruling elites. The Obama administration’s mantra may well be “let them eat cake”, as it continues to gorge itself on taxpayers’ money, but it will be looking nervously over its shoulder as public unease mounts.

"Obamorons"....it's a special type of moron...it was a general term when I first used it to muse at what a mindless defender of Obama might say to explain the "dog flying solo in the jet phenomon"....you jumped ugly and proceeded to whine about name calling and classilessness(sp?) and crap like that...boooohoooo

....not an Obamoron and perfectly stated...

The Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime: extravagant and out of touch with the American people

By Nile Gardiner World Last updated: August 7th, 2010

What the great French historian Alexis de Tocqueville would make of today’s Obama administration were he alive today is anyone’s guess. But I would wager that the author of L’Ancien Régime and Democracy in America would be less than impressed with the extravagance and arrogance on display among the White House elites that rule America as though they had been handed some divine right to govern with impunity.

It is the kind of impunity that has been highlighted on the world stage this week by Michelle Obama’s hugely costly trip to Spain, which has prompted a New York Post columnist Andrea Tantaros to dub the First Lady a contemporary Marie Antoinette. As The Telegraph reports, while the Obamas are covering their own vacation expenses such as accommodation, the trip may cost US taxpayers as much as $375,000 in terms of secret service security and flight costs on Air Force Two.

The timing of this lavish European vacation could not have come at a worse moment, when unemployment in America stands at 10 percent, and large numbers of Americans are fighting to survive financially in the wake of the global economic downturn. It sends a message of indifference, even contempt, for the millions of Americans who are struggling just to feed their families on a daily basis and pay the mortgage, while the size of the national debt balloons to Greek-style proportions.

While the liberal-dominated US mainstream media have largely ignored the story, it is all over the blogosphere and talk radio, and will undoubtedly add to the President’s free falling poll ratings. As much as the media establishment turn a blind eye to stories like this, which are major news in the international media, the American public is increasingly turning to alternative news sources, including the British press, which has a far less deferential approach towards the White House.

The First Lady’s ill-conceived trip to Marbella and the complete disregard for public opinion and concerns over excessive government spending is symbolic of a far wider problem with the Obama presidency – the overarching disdain for the principles of limited government, individual liberty and free enterprise that have built the United States over the course of nearly two and a half centuries into the most powerful and free nation on earth.

It is epitomised above all by the President’s relentless drive towards big government against the will of the American people, and the dramatic increases in government spending and borrowing, which threaten to leave the US hugely in debt for generations. It is also showcased by Barack Obama’s drive towards a socialised health care system, which, as I’ve noted before, is “a thinly disguised vanity project for a president who is committed to transforming the United States from the world’s most successful large-scale free enterprise economy, to a highly interventionist society with a massive role for centralized government.”

There is however a political revolution fast approaching Washington that is driven not by mob rule but by the power of ideas and principles, based upon the ideals of the Founding Fathers and the US Constitution. It is a distinctly conservative revolution that is sweeping America and is reflected in almost every poll ahead of this November’s mid-terms. It is based on a belief in individual liberty, limited government, and above all, political accountability from the ruling elites. The Obama administration’s mantra may well be “let them eat cake”, as it continues to gorge itself on taxpayers’ money, but it will be looking nervously over its shoulder as public unease mounts.

NPR also mirrors this sentiment.
The First Lady?s Vacation From Empathy : NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129084360&sc=fb&cc=fp)

totally out of touch.

NPR also mirrors this sentiment.
The First Lady?s Vacation From Empathy : NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129084360&sc=fb&cc=fp)

totally out of touch.

"Totally out of touch"??? You didn't really read it did you?

-spence

"Totally out of touch"??? You didn't really read it did you?

-spence

The only way I can make you guys stop whining is to make sure you read it so you can try and nibble at me instead of beating your chest at each other for no good reason

The only way I can make you guys stop whining is to make sure you read it so you can try and nibble at me instead of beating your chest at each other for no good reason

I've read a number of articles on this story, from all sides. This ones is pretty rational but really softballs the question...as in...might not have been the best idea politically...

What's interesting is that, as usual, most of the early "reporting" people read from the blogs was wrong. This story isn't that exciting, and only with a little Monday morning quarterbacking has any real impact.

-spence

did you see her short hairs sticking out of her bikini?@??@? talk about pubic relations...


Your joking right. All this money for the plane and no bikini wax??????????

Good mid-summer ranting everyone. Way to go Scott

IMHO this is all crap. The first lady has a right to take a vacation where ever she wants and as a result of her husbands job, the US govt must spare no expense to protect her and her family. What would happen if they were kidnapped by some thugs? How much would that cost us then? Not only in $ but in credibility?
There are much bigger things we should be focused on. All presidents families take vacations and we pay to protect them. This is nothing, move along

IMHO this is all crap. The first lady has a right to take a vacation where ever she wants and as a result of her husbands job, the US govt must spare no expense to protect her and her family. What would happen if they were kidnapped by some thugs? How much would that cost us then? Not only in $ but in credibility?
There are much bigger things we should be focused on. All presidents families take vacations and we pay to protect them. This is nothing, move along

You had me going there for a second:rotf2:

im actually serious!

im actually serious!

Well now I hope you all feel bad...According to the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet, the first lady made the trip because she wanted to spend time with her best friend, Chicago physician Anita Blanchard, who lost her father this summer

im actually serious!

What.. common sense in the political forum. blasphemy!

She's still a CHUMP :hee:

Well now I hope you all feel bad...According to the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet, the first lady made the trip because she wanted to spend time with her best friend, Chicago physician Anita Blanchard, who lost her father this summer


this is funny...

The story being circulated is that Anita Blanchard, Michelle's obstetrician, lost her father recently, and supposedly, "Mrs. Obama was not able to make the funeral at the beginning of July."

Does Michelle Obama rearrange the calendar only for vacations, but not for funerals?

Dr. Blanchard purportedly promised her daughter a trip to Spain for her birthday and invited Michelle and Sasha to tag along to spend post-funeral time together. So let's see...Michelle left Barack with Oprah Winfrey on his birthday to travel with baby doc Blanchard to one of Europe's poshest resorts.

How did the conversation unfold? "Oh Anita, I'm so sorry about your dad's untimely death. Let's assuage the grief by spending some girlfriend time eating tapas and chatting inside a canvas beach hut beside the sunny Mediterranean Sea."

Sorry, but Michelle strutting through Marbella in a one-sleeved, black and white Jean Paul Gaultier top and oversized Chanel sunglasses doesn't exactly convey the message of a woman consoling a bereaved friend. Maybe it's just that Middle America is unacquainted with the Chicago funerary tradition of flamenco dancing a month after burying a parent.

The White House is also saying that Mrs. Obama did not travel with three dozen close and intimate friends, as reported in the press. So why were sixty rooms reserved in the Villa Padierna for an average of $2,500 a night?

According to Mrs. Obama's spokeswoman Catherine McCormick Lelyvel, the grief getaway included "six White House advance staffers and two East Wing staffers, Deputy Chief of Staff Melissa Winter and Mrs. Obama's personal assistant, Kristen Jarvis."

In addition to the 250 security personnel supplied by the Spaniards, Mrs. Obama employed "three shifts of uniformed and plainclothes agents and military personnel flew with her on a big Air Force 757."

In addition to attempting to clarify Michelle's trip, Lynn Sweet asked the obvious question: "So why did Mrs. Obama go to Spain at this time? She's not tone-deaf politically." Does the Washington Bureau Chief for Chicago Sun Times mean politically "tone-deaf" on the style of President Obama?

In the article, entitled "Inside story of Michelle's trip," a probative Lynn Sweet inquired even further: "What was behind the 'mother-daughter' vacation?" You mean besides perusing exclusive shops, strutting around town in strappy Maison Martin Margiela sandals, sunning on a balmy beach, dining in exquisite restaurants, and paying homage to Spain's "cultural tribute to Muslims," the Alhambra Palace?

Presently, presidential spinmeisters are submerged in a campaign to head off trip-to-Spain flack and are answering Sweet's inquiries by saying Michelle "felt it was important as a dear friend"...to do what? Travel to a five-star resort, barricade off large swathes of a public Marbella beach, and flaunt the privileged perks of the elite in the face of struggling Americans?

Presidential apologist, shameless lackey, and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked at a briefing if there was any concern about "the appearance" of Mrs. Obama's Spain trip.

With a straight face, Gibbs actually made the following, very private statement: "The first lady is on a private trip. She is a private citizen and is the mother of a daughter on a private trip. And I think I'd leave it at that."

Wrong! The day Michelle Obama launched the Let's Move governmental task force and became America's spokesperson/monitor for BMI and CEO of the fatty food patrol, the First Lady officially became a very public figure.

This week, that same public figure expects America to swallow the story that $75,000 a day was spent on the Costa del Sol to console a bereaved friend, when overdue hugs and tears could have been shared in Washington, D.C. at no cost to the American taxpayer.

If it really was 60 rooms at $2500 a day wouldn't that be $150,000 and not $75,000?

Sure, fact checking is hard, but we're only talking a few sentences apart.

I wonder what else was made up in your post.

-spence

If it really was 60 rooms at $2500 a day wouldn't that be $150,000 and not $75,000?

Sure, fact checking is hard, but we're only talking a few sentences apart.

I wonder what else was made up in your post.

-spence

I think the point was the 60 rooms .....perhaps the 75,000 per day was the cost for security...or Michelles food bill...who cares...you should apply your close scrutiny to the bull %$%$%$%$ that you roll out on a daily basis...you'd have a field day with yourself....:uhuh:

HuffPO..where she has come under fire for her lavish break on the Costa del Sol with 40 friends, which has been estimated at costing U.S. taxpayers $75000 a day.


yes taxpayer cost 75,000 per day......they were paying for their rooms themselves and some other things were they not ?

So at $75,000 somewhere around 2500 people or more worked for an entire day JUST to send Hilda on vacation EACH DAY

Over 12,500 people paid taxes in the 5 days they were there and that money is gone forever. Figure in the COST of borrowing $75k a day.

Disgusting.

Robert Gibbs says leftwing critics of Obama 'ought to be drug tested' | Richard Adams | World news | guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/aug/10/robert-gibbs-crazy-liberal-critics-obama)

News Headlines (http://www.cnbc.com/id/38600623)

2 days after

I think the point was the 60 rooms .....perhaps the 75,000 per day was the cost for security...or Michelles food bill...who cares...you should apply your close scrutiny to the bull %$%$%$%$ that you roll out on a daily basis...you'd have a field day with yourself....:uhuh:

HuffPO..where she has come under fire for her lavish break on the Costa del Sol with 40 friends, which has been estimated at costing U.S. taxpayers $75000 a day.


yes taxpayer cost 75,000 per day......they were paying for their rooms themselves and some other things were they not ?

No, she specifically says the 75,000 a day was being spent on the Costa Del Sol hotel, and that the American Taxpayer was bearing the brunt.

I don't believe the Whitehouse has released any numbers other to say that private expenses were being covered by the Obama's.

So how does she know how much it cost? Did someone look on the back of the room door where they list the outrageously inflated rates? Wouldn't one think that if there were 40-60 rooms booked that they'd get one hell of a discount?

Lots of accusations and little in the way of fact.

-spence

gentlemen -
Across the globe, ambassadors and their families are given protection at all times. Every time they leave the emabassy, dinner, dates, school, etc. They get security. Its in the countries best interest to protect them. Think how every dink country has an embassy, marines, security etc. It is EXTREMELY embarrasing to have something happen to high level US people in foreign countries. For people who serve this country, we have an obligation to do everything we can to protect their families abroad.
Now the Obamas are wealthy, they made their money and where I disagree with Mr Obama is that they should spend it any way they want as much as they want. If the choose to go abroad, they IMHO deserve top protection from the US government. US Citizens elected Obama, his family life is EXTREMELY impacted and I dont hold it against anyone for taking a vacation wherever they want. If you think protecting her was expensive just imagine the cost to both life and $ if she or her kids were ever abducted.

gentlemen -
Across the globe, ambassadors and their families are given protection at all times. Every time they leave the emabassy, dinner, dates, school, etc. They get security. Its in the countries best interest to protect them. Think how every dink country has an embassy, marines, security etc. It is EXTREMELY embarrasing to have something happen to high level US people in foreign countries. For people who serve this country, we have an obligation to do everything we can to protect their families abroad.
Now the Obamas are wealthy, they made their money and where I disagree with Mr Obama is that they should spend it any way they want as much as they want. If the choose to go abroad, they IMHO deserve top protection from the US government. US Citizens elected Obama, his family life is EXTREMELY impacted and I dont hold it against anyone for taking a vacation wherever they want. If you think protecting her was expensive just imagine the cost to both life and $ if she or her kids were ever abducted.
Rational, level-headed and non-partisan posts like this in the Political Forum make me feel like I'm in a Twilight Zone episode.

Rational, level-headed and non-partisan posts like this in the Political Forum make me feel like I'm in a Twilight Zone episode.

JD - its time to come out of the closet bud, you're a conservative. Just admit it.

JD - its time to come out of the closet bud, you're a conservative. Just admit it.

As I've said many times before, JD is a self-loathing conservative. He knows deep down that he is one, but he hasn't come to grips with it yet. :)

RIJimmy, did you get my text this morning? Nothing changed between then and the time I left.

No, she specifically says the 75,000 a day was being spent on the Costa Del Sol hotel, and that the American Taxpayer was bearing the brunt.

I don't believe the Whitehouse has released any numbers other to say that private expenses were being covered by the Obama's.

So how does she know how much it cost? Did someone look on the back of the room door where they list the outrageously inflated rates? Wouldn't one think that if there were 40-60 rooms booked that they'd get one hell of a discount?

Lots of accusations and little in the way of fact.

-spence

who fing cares? use whatever numbers that you want, it doesn't change the perception of the mini break

here, I'll put in in a way that even a democrat can understand...no lavish trip to Spain by the First Lady and her friends ever fed a hungry child.... get that Jimmy???? noone has suggested that they shouldn't get protection or that their kids should be abducted...it's not complicated....it's about the appearance of it all at a time when the American economy and Americans are suffering and juxtaposed against the rhetoric of these two aholes for the last two years....EVERY ARTICAL HAS POINTED THIS OUT...from the left and the right....tone deaf Obamas!!!...enjoying their own little world of opulence while they wreck the country, everything with these people has been over the top from the beginning, how many dollars do you think have been spent by, for or at the request of Obama since he began his campaign to present day...all told ? frightening thought.......even the leftwing media has coalesced around a message of "the optics" of the trip and how badly it has played out in the minds of average people....geeze...they're not feeekin' royalty...or are they?

BTW...I hear they're flying Bo to Hawaii for a session with a world renowned puppy groomer and a little canine R&R

JD - its time to come out of the closet bud, you're a conservative. Just admit it.

As I've said many times before, JD is a self-loathing conservative. He knows deep down that he is one, but he hasn't come to grips with it yet. :)
I took a big swing toward the Right after the IRS robbed me of $7,500 direct from my bank account without notice earlier this year. That made for a fun day.

I took a big swing toward the Right after the IRS robbed me of $7,500 direct from my bank account without notice earlier this year. That made for a fun day.

Welcome to the dark side.:gh:

I'm in the middle of a dispute over a tax bill I got this year for 2005. I swear they just send out bills and hope you pay it without questioning it.

who fing cares? use whatever numbers that you want, it doesn't change the perception of the mini break

here, I'll put in in a way that even a democrat can understand...no lavish trip to Spain by the First Lady and her friends ever fed a hungry child.... get that Jimmy???? noone has suggested that they shouldn't get protection or that their kids should be abducted...it's not complicated....it's about the appearance of it all at a time when the American economy and Americans are suffering and juxtaposed against the rhetoric of these two aholes for the last two years....EVERY ARTICAL HAS POINTED THIS OUT...from the left and the right....tone deaf Obamas!!!...enjoying their own little world of opulence while they wreck the country, everything with these people has been over the top from the beginning, how many dollars do you think have been spent by, for or at the request of Obama since he began his campaign to present day...all told ? frightening thought.......even the leftwing media has coalesced around a message of "the optics" of the trip and how badly it has played out in the minds of average people....geeze...they're not feeekin' royalty...or are they?

BTW...I hear they're flying Bo to Hawaii for a session with a world renowned puppy groomer and a little canine R&R
The "perception" of the situation is a direct product of the numbers.

Had this story not had a price tag associated with it people wouldn't have thought much of it. Instead, there's manufactured outrage because it "fits" the image of royalty the Right has strained so hard to paint to serve their own needs.

Underneath everything, you have a daughter who was promised a short trip (4 long days) to Spain for her birthday, a few close friends who were brought along and a lot of hullabaloo because she happens to be the First Lady.

This isn't about being tone deaf, it's about a moment of sanity with your kid while everybody is trying to tear your down. Not an easy job if you ask me...

-spence

Underneath everything, you have a daughter who was promised a short trip (4 long days) to Spain for her birthday, a few close friends who were brought along and a lot of hullabaloo because she happens to be the First Lady.


-spence

Well said Spence.... just a normal Birthday tradition that I feel we all should try. I'm thinking China for my daughters 12th....

Well said Spence.... just a normal Birthday tradition that I feel we all should try. I'm thinking China for my daughters 12th....

well you wont need any security, they have this big wall down there......

Spoiled kids from spoiled parents

This isn't about being tone deaf, it's about a moment of sanity with your kid while everybody is trying to tear your down. Not an easy job if you ask me...

-spence

"don't cry for me..... America......the truth is I 've never liked you....."

they're all effin spoiled

daddy gets what he wants and if he don't he rants and raves til he gets it.

mommy gets what she wants too. Heck just look at this thread. Now it's ok to lavishly spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a stupid vacation. Take me next time Hilda.

Spence for president :soon:

they're all effin spoiled

daddy gets what he wants and if he don't he rants and raves til he gets it.

mommy gets what she wants too. Heck just look at this thread. Now it's ok to lavishly spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a stupid vacation. Take me next time Hilda.

Spence for president :soon:

and the most over- hyped media darling first lady in history is apparently being torn down by "everyone"...TOO FUNNY

Well said Spence.... just a normal Birthday tradition that I feel we all should try. I'm thinking China for my daughters 12th....

I don't think a quick trip to Spain is that crazy for a family with means as the Obama family certainly is. I could see them doing this even if Barak wasn't POTUS.

As for China, it should be a great growth experience. I'm all for kids traveling abroad when young to experience the world.

Hell, my 6 year old has been on well over 20 separate trips from Florida to Mexico to Seattle already! If it wasn't for the baby coming Europe would be on the radar very soon. And while we're doing fine we're certainly not rich even by Dem standards.

-spence

Michelle Obama popularity falls | Washington Examiner (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Michelle-Obama-popularity-falls-100520134.html)

Gee who woulda thunk it.

Wait til the next TWO vacations in the next two weeks.

:smash:

Spence can't stand up for her now he's busy changing poopie diapers :hee:

Not while my mother in law is here I won't be :hihi:

-spence

hehe :kewl: