How deliciously cynical of the First Couple that they would take a holiday in Stickville, USA so they can pretend to know us and know the pain they’ve inflicted on us:
Barack and Michelle Obama flew off for a brief holiday in North Carolina on Friday in what was seen as an attempt to take a “middle class” vacation more in keeping with those of ordinary Americans.
The Obamas spent their holidays last year in Hawaii and Martha’s Vineyard, the Massachusetts island beloved of millionaire businessmen and celebrities.
However, following the US president’s fresh attack on Wall Street greed this week, it was apparently deemed wiser for Mr Obama not to be pictured relaxing alongside the same bankers he has been lambasting.
You know, as cute as all this stage-propping might be…it’s stunning that Obama would think a weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounded by Secret Service and Local Sheriff’s Deputies, along with a few rounds of golf on courses most of us can’t afford to play on, is sufficient to feel what life is like in the middle class.
Stunning in its arrogance.
Next trip, how about the President and his family spend a weekend in, say, a cardboard box under any bridge in any major US City…maybe even in a public park on a bench-no food, no water, no roof over their heads. An extra special nice touch would be that they spend the weekend in a homeless shelter and be forced to eat the soup kitchen food our new middle class now eats…you know-the folks that used to have jobs, used to have homes…and now have nothing but what the Government hands out to them for their daily sustenance.
Now THAT would be a really cool weekend…hunh?
Steve Maley
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Asheville is one of the pricier NC destinations
reverelth (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 12:15PM EST (link)NTTAWWT. The hotwl where he is staying has been host to 10 Presidents, and, I’m sure, countless Wall Street bankers.
The insidiousness of this is the premise of the Emperor dictating how the “middle class” should live.
The best and worst places in Hawaii, Vegas, or anywhere else play host to all sorts of economic strata.
He just can’t get beyond dividing people.
http://www.libertytreehugger.com
What a complete joke
Jack_Savage (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 12:31PM EST (link)The Club Level room rate at the Grove Park Inn is $675 per night, with the Value room rate being $205 and others falling somewhere in between. I’ll let our gentle middle class readers decide if that qualifies as “middle class” or not.
With the exception of Chapel Hill, Asheville is by far the most granola-eating, liberal, tree-hugging enclave on the east coast. As a result, I feel very sure that the Obamas will be the only black people in Asheville this weekend, with the exception of the help at the Grove Park. No one vacations or stays at the Grove Park unless they are wealthy or part of some conference that is held there during the slow season. No one buys a drink at the bar, visits the spa or plays golf unless they fall in one of those two categories.
Pitiful.
Exactly. I was there for a conference once.
jeffreywturner (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 2:45PM EST (link)Just like you describe it. It is a freaking PALACE. No way I stay there on my own dime. The only people who actually stay there regularly are bluebloods.
“Life is too short, can’t we all just eat pork and kill some terrorists?”
With the exception of Chapel Hill, Asheville is by far the most granola-eating, liberal, tree-hugging enclave on the east coast.
usadying (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 4:49PM EST (link)We drove through Asheville last year. A beautiful setting. How interesting that it’s a symbol of progressive utopia. They have a TERRIBLE gang problem. I guess that’s what we have to look forward to.
I'm waiting for the lefties to respond
RedBeard Saturday, April 24th at 1:00PM EST (link)I’m sure they will say that Obama just can’t win, no matter where he takes his many, many vacations. And they would be right. Pretentious phonies can’t win.
Standard-bearer for grouchy curmudgeonry since, oh, 1975 or so.
I'll give it a try...
wannabeanncoulter Saturday, April 24th at 5:09PM EST (link)How’s this for a faux lefty response: Maybe the Obamas should go to Crawford and clear brush. Bo could chase the armadillos.
Come to think of it, Laura Bush didn’t get much variety in vacation spots. It was always either Crawford or Kennebunkport. I’ve been to Kennebunkport — nice place. Haven’t been to Crawford….
I do think anyone named B. Hussein Obama should avoid using “hijack” and “religion” in the same sentence. — Ann Coulter
Speaking of the homeless...
Steph C (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 1:11PM EST (link)There seem to be more of them these days. I rarely keep cash on me but hubby brings home his change which I’ve been putting in a “piggy” bank (actually a large owl). I robbed it yesterday and put the bigger coins in the car. Figure even change is better than nothing.
“[I]f the public are bound to yield obedience to laws to which they cannot give their approbation, they are slaves to those who make such laws and enforce them.” –Candidus in the Boston Gazette, 1772
Hillbilly Politics
I haven't seen a lot of homeless, but in upstate NY (Oswego, Rochester)
Xasteius (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 1:49PM EST (link)there are a lot of ‘for lease’ signs around (at least 50% of the businesses).
Don’t leave the party, hijack it back!
The only poll that counts is the one at the ballot box.
I don’t want to be Reagan. I want to be a Chance/Soros hybrid.
Stunning
paula68154 Saturday, April 24th at 1:17PM EST (link)Now we are having a problem with the president taking a vacation? Really?
When did President Bush sell his Crawford ranch? When are we going to just talk about real issues?
What is stunning to me is that you can’t find a substantive article to write about.
I’m a moby, so I say ‘we’ when I mean ‘you.’
She's blammed, I know
RedBeard Saturday, April 24th at 1:54PM EST (link)But I can’t help responding to ol’ Paula as follows: Do you always miss the point of discussions so completely?
Standard-bearer for grouchy curmudgeonry since, oh, 1975 or so.
It is stunning that you actually wasted
paula68154 Saturday, April 24th at 1:18PM EST (link)space writting about the president taking a vacation.
I’m a moby, so I say ‘we’ when I mean ‘you.’
It is also stunning that you are wasting two comments on this.
janis (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 1:27PM EST (link)The subject at hand was reported on by one of the newspapers in Great Britain. Their take was the same as Dave’s and the other commenters here. As far as I’m concerned, the man can go on permanent vacation and never set foot back D.C. We could all use a break from his determined destruction of this country.
If you can’t see the cynical side of the Obamas in doing this and being sure it was reported and photographed, then you are either willfully obtuse or a true believer. Perhaps you would prefer we comment on how often this dude plays golf when he should be attending to his duties in a more intelligent manner? We can do that, too.
Janis- Isn't it great when you can
Scope (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 1:43PM EST (link)voice your opinion, and the “moron” which she called someone on a former thread, can’t back talk. She was blammed. I suspect because she showed her true Liberal self.
It was the 'we.'
Moe Lane (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 3:49PM EST (link)I can’t abide liars.
The Kim Kardashian of blogging.
Check out my blog at http://moelane.com/.
http://moelane.com/filthy-lucre-filthy-lucre/
http://twitter.com/moelane
My (combined) wish list.
Hey janis, it's probably better that Obama IS on vacation.
Xasteius (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 1:44PM EST (link)Frankly, if we paid every member of Obama’s administration 100 million in cash to take a permanent vacation, we’d save the country money in the long run.
Don’t leave the party, hijack it back!
The only poll that counts is the one at the ballot box.
I don’t want to be Reagan. I want to be a Chance/Soros hybrid.
You know what else is stunning
justpassingby Sunday, April 25th at 1:49AM EST (link)why people really care about something like this. Not to mention how people talk about how they are “pretending” to be middle class or how they planned photographers. The last couple presidents had the same type of press coverage, why is beyond me, knowing where they go on vacation does not mean a thing to me. Lets talk about policy issues, not this gossip rag crap.
W. Bush Did Not Play Class Warfare Like MAObama
Ausonius (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 1:45PM EST (link)The irony here is that it is openly stated – without irony – that this is a middle-class vacation, when it could never be a middle-class vacation, because MAObama – the millionaire Harvard elitiist snob, who has never actually WORKED at a middle-class job, or been in a position to CREATE a middle-class job, and is doing everything possible to destroy the middle-class – is part of of the UPPER CLASS!
Democrat Millionaires who play Class Warfare from the side of the supposedly downtrodden are always exposed to this sort of ridiculous irony: MAObama, Teddy Kennedy, John Kerry, John Edwards, etc. all rolling up their shirtsleeves and taking off their ties when they visit workers at some of the remaining factories which their policies have not yet shut down.
Better just to be Thurston Howell and actually be a snob: we could respect you more!
Ausonius: 310-395 A.D. Teacher, Poet, Consul, General, Farmer.
Personal Tutor to the future St. Paulinus of Nola and to young Gratian, heir to the throne during the turbulent final years of the Western Roman Empire. When his former student Gratian was assassinated, Ausonius threw up his hands and retired to his farm in Gaul. Rome was captured by barbarians 14 years after his death.
Cato@rock.com
You really think Obama is "Upper Class"?
jeffreywturner (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 2:59PM EST (link)Perhaps if your definition of “Class” is based entirely on financial means, then sure, but I know many people who haven’t a fraction of the means of the Obamas, and yet are of a much higher class than they are IMHO.
“Life is too short, can’t we all just eat pork and kill some terrorists?”
As A Millionaire Elitist, Yes, MAObama Is "Upper Class"
Ausonius (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 3:03PM EST (link)As you should be able to tell from the tone above, I hold him to be devoid of “class” in any other sense.
Ausonius: 310-395 A.D. Teacher, Poet, Consul, General, Farmer.
Personal Tutor to the future St. Paulinus of Nola and to young Gratian, heir to the throne during the turbulent final years of the Western Roman Empire. When his former student Gratian was assassinated, Ausonius threw up his hands and retired to his farm in Gaul. Rome was captured by barbarians 14 years after his death.
Cato@rock.com
Ausonious, you and jeffreywturner made this entire post worthwhile
Vassar Bushmills (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 3:20PM EST (link)It’s all about class, it has always been about class. Marx had to create a class of people in order to justify his own vision of his own intellectual class, and the arrive at an ecomomic system that would then destroy class, i.e, strawmen.
Clever. The point is, America didn’t really destroy class (except from the European royal bloodline point of view) so as compartmenatlize; by intellect, education, wealth, and merit.
We’re all pretty much middle class in America. Everything ‘s scrunched to the middle…no real upper class, a la lords of England, and no real lower class. such as you can still find in Soho, paris or Cairo…a hereditary poor. Obama’s trying to change all that, but so far, no cigar.
Old saying, "you can have a lot of class and little money,
penguin2 (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 3:58PM EST (link)and a lot of money and no class. Class can not be purchased, it is an innate thing. Some of the people that I have known from the humblest of beginnings have so much more class than all the riches in the world could purchase pretentiously.
Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. – Benjamin Franklin
When Good stands up to Evil, Evil blinks. – Vassar Bushmills
Conservative Education: Suggested Reading List
Activists Taking Action: Unified Patriots
See: Monty Python, The Upper-Class Twit of the Year competition (n/t)
Finrod (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 5:39PM EST (link).
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. How much for the ape?
You wasted seven months at Redstate to flame out like this, ghost? nt
Xasteius (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 1:45PM EST (link)Don’t leave the party, hijack it back!
The only poll that counts is the one at the ballot box.
I don’t want to be Reagan. I want to be a Chance/Soros hybrid.
:channeling Moe: OWW! OWW! STOP IT! STOP IT! [nt]
Bill S (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 2:47PM EST (link)“It’s such a fine line between stupid, and clever.” – David St. Hubbins
I want to see them on a real vacation
texasgalt (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 1:46PM EST (link)dancing alone on some secluded beach. Most of teh One’s base probably are too young to remember it’s already been done.
Oh, yes, that was a precious moment
RedBeard Saturday, April 24th at 1:59PM EST (link)A precious moment in set-up phoniness.
It was almost as good as the time Slick Willie was filmed walking along the Normandy beach, and just happened to come upon a handy pile of rocks, which he just happened to think of making into a cross. It was all so touchingly spontaneous, you know. [barf bag required here]
And in both cases, the leftie media just lapped it up like the useless fools they have become.
Standard-bearer for grouchy curmudgeonry since, oh, 1975 or so.
Must be nice
momo Saturday, April 24th at 1:51PM EST (link)to jump on the plane for a middle-class weekend away to a luxury resort. Obama claims my income makes me “rich”, but since I don’t get to jet away for the weekend, I now realize I am poorer than the “middle class”!!!
Sounds like they did a focus group on where to go for vacation like Bill Clinton
honorable (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 2:04PM EST (link)Dick Morris has mentioned number of times how he did a focus group on where the Clintons should go on vacation and then sent them to Jackson Hole Wy for a fishing vacation. Hoping to make them look like the ordinary middle class family vacationing.
BO is not fooling any of us by going to NC for a vacation.
The pictures of Obama in Ashville make him look like an interloper-nt
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 2:11PM EST (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
Obama and Michelle could never understand a middle-class
penguin2 (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 2:15PM EST (link)vacation, whatever that means. Did he pinch pennies and save all their spare change, did he even skip a round of golf, (doubt it). Did Michelle put off buying a new dress (or sneakers) to make sure there was enough in the kitty for the trip. No, they will be waited on hand and foot, and as the first couple I don’t begrudge them the treatment.
I do take exception to the typical elitism of the media and OB1′s worshipers; that he is described as taking a “middle class vacation.” Nothing shows more disdain and disconnect from ALL of the American people than to be so pretentious – they don’t print vacation brochures label “Regular Americans” or “The Common Man”
Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. – Benjamin Franklin
When Good stands up to Evil, Evil blinks. – Vassar Bushmills
Conservative Education: Suggested Reading List
Activists Taking Action: Unified Patriots
Geez
Black River Wolf (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 2:20PM EST (link)I wish I could even have enough money to go for a lower class vacation.
“In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame,
two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.”—-John Adams
I love that our detractors would even THINK that we care
Dave Poff (haystack) (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 2:29PM EST (link)about Presidents taking vacations.
Sheesh-reading comprehension is such a powerful tool when sufficiently applied to print and online media.
Too bad it’s in such short supply over there on the left.
“It does not take a majority to prevail … but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”
~Sam Adams
So, maybe he's working as a waiter and Michelle
mbecker908 (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 3:02PM EST (link)is a maid for the weekend?
I really just hate the term "Class" to describe affluence.
jeffreywturner (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 3:36PM EST (link)We as conservatives need to start calling out the liberals on the class warfare.
We can start be refusing to play their game of referring to poor people are “working” class (as if middle or high income people don’t work too) and middle-income people as “middle-class” (as if their income determines how classy they are).
Then, we can force them to define their terms if they insist on using them. They are happy to say that “middle-class” refers to people earning less than $250k per year (or whatever made-up number fits their plans), but we should force them to put a bottom on it too. What is the least someone can earn and still be “middle-class”, $30k?, $50k?, and by extension, what are you calling these people who are below middle-class? By definition, are you implying that these folks are “low-class”? Yeh, let’s force them to say that and see how it goes over with voters.
What liberals fail to understand is that we abandoned the class system with the founding of this country. In a class system, you are born a serf and will always be a serf. There are clearly defined classes and you are simply born into them. This system or a variant of it still exists in large part in many countries around the world.
A “class” in the way liberals want us to accept the term, is something you are stuck in and have no control over, such that the serfs (most of us) must rely upon the government to make us comfortable with serfdom.
We really need to start calling the liberals out on the class warfare, just like we do on the race-baiting, or else we lose the battle before it even begins.
“Life is too short, can’t we all just eat pork and kill some terrorists?”
Precisely! Leftists Love GroupThink and HATE Freethinking Individuals
Ausonius (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 6:21PM EST (link)Unions, ethnic groups, Greens, etc:
Leftists cannot handle the agreeably chaotic idea that Americans should not be lumped into groups for easy handling!
To quote the late Patrick McGoohan: “I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.”
I propose dropping the “C” and the “L” from the word “Class” to describe the liberal elite!
Ausonius: 310-395 A.D. Teacher, Poet, Consul, General, Farmer.
Personal Tutor to the future St. Paulinus of Nola and to young Gratian, heir to the throne during the turbulent final years of the Western Roman Empire. When his former student Gratian was assassinated, Ausonius threw up his hands and retired to his farm in Gaul. Rome was captured by barbarians 14 years after his death.
Cato@rock.com
If the President wants a "Middle Class" Vacation...
Erick Brockway (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 3:56PM EST (link)Maybe he and Michelle can sit thru a 90 minute time share presentation in Las Vegas to get a free room, like we have to?
Note to lefties;
“Don’t be afraid to see what you see.” -Ronald Reagan
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I'm guessing they're enjoying the world class
jenniferjmilleresq Saturday, April 24th at 4:56PM EST (link)(top 1 or 2 in the US) spa today since it’s raining here today. No golf on the historic course… I don’t begrudge them at all, but not the most effective PR move to focus on how it’s a lot more plebian than their typical vacation.
Domestic, Really!
teapartypatriot Saturday, April 24th at 5:04PM EST (link)To further show how the ArrogantOne is really just like you and me, tonight he will have DOMESTIC wine with his taxpayer-paid Fillet Mignon!
I can dream, can't I?
america1st (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 6:18PM EST (link)The last I knew, there are more fatal snake bites in NC than anywhere else in the country and there are black bear in the mountains. We can always hope Mother Nature will rid us of this excreta.
Logic in the mind of a liberal is like a snowflake in the desert: lost, alone and soon destroyed by a hostile environment.
what?!
jenniferjmilleresq Saturday, April 24th at 9:17PM EST (link)This is really sick.
Somehow, I'm left thinking of...
Bill S (Diary) Saturday, April 24th at 6:38PM EST (link)this:
But I don’t really want to think of Barack & Michelle as Brad and Janet. No, sir. Not at all.
“It’s such a fine line between stupid, and clever.” – David St. Hubbins