Michelle Obama's Spain Trip --

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

aprilmayjune wrote:How does this have nothing to do with him or what's happening? How do you figure? first of all, He's on vacation, not accomplishing anything while our economy sucks, oil is taking over the gulf coast, soldiers are constantly dying in Afghanistan etc etc etc.. Now where it's important to spend time with family and what not, you don't see every Tom, Dick and Harry on vacation or long weekend constantly because they all HAVE JOBS TO DO..

Secondly, I despise the fact that we are working hard to provide those vacations for them, while all of the above problems are still not being taken care of.

First of all, he, Barack Obama, is not on vacation. His wife took the children to Spain. How many of you have taken your children on summer vacations this year. How many of you also plan to take a family vacation during the Winter and Spring breaks. Are the Obama girls not allowed to enjoy their summer break away?

Secondly, you are not working to provide these vacations for them. M. Obama used personal funds to pay for her vacation with her daughters. But I guess facts do not matter to you as long as you can continue to spew your hatred and lack of details to the facts.

I too have a job, and I enjoy long weekends in the summer with my family. It is called leave. If you do not have a job that affords you the opportunity to spend time with your family to take vacations and mini-trips, don't hate the player, hate your job. My family is planning a 3-day trip to Niagara Falls. I love my accumulated leave. Yes!

As has pointed out many times. the US taxpayer is not paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for your security, (extra security, as well); cost of US Air Force jet, or anything else. If the Obamas are truly paying for this trip, let's see the proof. It hasn't been forthcoming and it won't because they are not paying. We, the US taxpayer is on the hook for this extra vacation.

[Anonymous]

Should the First Family live a life comparable to mediaeval monks?

How much did the US taxpayer pay for Bush's excursions to Midland? When it's all added up, does it even total $100 million a year?

Come on, all this is -- is just another excuse for folks who already dislike Obama to dislike him more.

[Anonymous]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100810/pl_yblog_upshot/first-lady-went-to-spain-to-spend-time-with-grieving-friend

/end thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Should the First Family live a life comparable to mediaeval monks?

How much did the US taxpayer pay for Bush's excursions to Midland? When it's all added up, does it even total $100 million a year?

Come on, all this is -- is just another excuse for folks who already dislike Obama to dislike him more.

I voted for him but I didn't vote for his wife to flit all over for personal vacations. Acccompaning the president on a state visit is one thing. The visit to Spain is not a State Visit. Also, with all the perks of the White House and at the beck and call of the First Family, how on earth can they be considered to be living like monks in any age.

FWIW, I voted for him because he was the lesser of two evils.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100810/pl_yblog_upshot/first-lady-went-to-spain-to-spend-time-with-grieving-friend

/end thread.

I think this story does end the thread. Too bad she had to take alot of flack for this.

[Anonymous]

See the newest article on the Associated press. the other people paid their own expenses and the hotel that she stayed in was booked by the Secret service so they could guard the hotel. she was visiting a dear friend who's father just died. people need to get all the facts before passing judgement. she deserves to visit close friends during their time of need for a few days. this is not as lavish as one would think. GW Bush who was our president spent 1020 days on vacation during his term. don't forget about that. we paid for all his vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See the newest article on the Associated press. the other people paid their own expenses and the hotel that she stayed in was booked by the Secret service so they could guard the hotel. she was visiting a dear friend who's father just died. people need to get all the facts before passing judgement. she deserves to visit close friends during their time of need for a few days. this is not as lavish as one would think. GW Bush who was our president spent 1020 days on vacation during his term. don't forget about that. we paid for all his vacations.

Why did it take the White Hose a week to come out with the "truth,\."? Also, her friend's father died a while back and MO did not attend funeral. I don't care if she and her other "guests" paid for their hotel and personal needs, did they chip ina nd pay for the use of a US air force plane?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See the newest article on the Associated press. the other people paid their own expenses and the hotel that she stayed in was booked by the Secret service so they could guard the hotel. she was visiting a dear friend who's father just died. people need to get all the facts before passing judgement. she deserves to visit close friends during their time of need for a few days. this is not as lavish as one would think. GW Bush who was our president spent 1020 days on vacation during his term. don't forget about that. we paid for all his vacations.

Why did it take the White Hose a week to come out with the "truth,\."? Also, her friend's father died a while back and MO did not attend funeral. I don't care if she and her other "guests" paid for their hotel and personal needs, did they chip ina nd pay for the use of a US air force plane?

I get it now. You are an uptight, undersexed, jealous crone. There will never be anything good enough to satisfy you. LOL

[Anonymous]

Um the above makes no sense. Anyhow- now that there is this grieving friend wrinkle (bizarre) I now want more details on this trip. Now I hve questions like - how many rooms were rented? Did the American taxpayers via secret service pay for empty rooms in Spain? Why could they not have re routed this trip to FL, or she invited her friend to spend time in the white house with her daughter (quite the treat). It's just NOT adding up for me; in fact, it's almost weirder.

[Anonymous]

We must also look at the logistics. Odds are this vacation was planned a LONG time ago, possibly long before the spill happened. That's not to say they couldn't change plans, but I know that whenever the First Family travels, there is a ton of prep work that must be done to secure all the venues. So it would not surprise me if it was too late for her to make a change, especially if it risked causing a lot of trouble for the Spanish hotel/area that probably got shut down weeks ago to host her. As some have pointed out, she is stopping in Florida next, which may have been pre-planned or may have been tacked on specifically for the reasons cited. Who knows?

This is the best point on the thread.

Plus, if she did go vacation on the Gulf Coast, everyone who doesn't like her would just accuse her of pandering and/or trying to drum up support in the Gulf states. If you don't like the Obamas, you don't like the Obamas, period.

[Anonymous]

Black woman here again. The grieving friend angle changes nothing for me. I like the POTUS and love the FLOTUS but this whole trip is just "bad optics." On another tangent -- The outfit she selected for her daughter in which to meet the royals was totally inappropriate.

[Anonymous]

I think it's hilarious how many of you think a beach trip to the gulf coast of Florida and a trip to Spain are interchangable. I realize many of you have an antipathy for anything "Spanish" ("Ain't that where them Ee-legal Ayleeuns come from?"), but the Spanish Riviera is not the same place as the Redneck Riviera.

[Anonymous]

12:00 Huh? We are helping to pay for this extravagant trip. Look, if the President had gone to Europe for business and Michelle and Sasha wanted to stay on ... that's what Michelle did last summer, and she didn't get any flack for it. This trip just smacked of too many of the wrong things given the economy. How much did this trip cost taxpayers per day? And why did the trip start off as a mother-daughter getaway and morph into a trip to console a grieving friend? (Plus the shoes they wore to lunch with the King and Queen of Spain. Dreadful!)

[Anonymous]

Anyway, the grieving friend explains for me why she went out of town during her husband's birthday. I was wondering about that -- even though he celebrated his birthday with classic guy stuff -- hanging out with sporting figures. It still seemed odd to me. But now it makes sense -- if it was to accommodate a friend who already had plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Q: Why can't it just be a vacation?

A: Because we're subsidizing it.

Let's not forget how many tax payer dollars were spent on dear Dick Cheney and his heart problems. I'm sure he isn't changing his heart unhealthy lifestyle to save you and me a few bucks.