With every "misspoken" word, with every "hope for change" and with every broken promise our frienemies in government have presented to us, is there really anything they can do to surprise us anymore? When the smoke fades and the mirrors are broken, what lies beneath the polished shells of our leaders isn't always as meaningful as we'd hoped. All that "change we can believe in" has been flushed to its final resting place alongside Harry, my pet goldfish, may he rest in peace, when I heard Obama chose to skip the Arlington Cemetery Memorial Day ceremony to spend the holiday in Chicago. I guess he needs to be reminded that the holiday wouldn't exist without the soldiers he dissed.
Obama can jet over to San Francisco on the whim of one of California's most toxic senators, Barbara Boxer, but can't find the time to hang out in Louisiana or pay homage to some of the bravest soldiers this country has ever seen. I believe this vacation is the final nail in the liberal coffin. It is his second vacay since the oil spill. What a guy! Glad to see he's taking some time off; he shouldn't have to work so hard at his age. Wasn't his strength supposed to be his youth? He takes more breaks than rush-hour traffic. And now he's chosen downtime at home instead of fulfilling his presidential duties.
I know he's not the first to miss a patriotic ceremony; I'm not blind to the obvious flub ups of our former leaders. Does that mean he has to follow in their footsteps? I thought he was going to create paths, not schlep his way down roads already taken. The media gave us a long list of presidents who sent their consolation prize, i.e., the vice president, to some events that they should have attended personally. They remind us that George W. spent some time in Texas when he should have been honoring fallen heroes, but since when is Bush the model president? The left didn't respect him, so why on earth would they justify Obama's actions through Bush's mistakes? And how childish does it sound to say, "Well, so and so did this, too." If Bush jumped off a bridge, would Obama do the same?
Obama may not have swept Memorial Day under the rug completely because he participated at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, but let's face it – he has the worst possible timing. For a man who is facing some major backlash from his critics, he practically served them ammunition on a silver platter. Obama needed some good PR and he came up short, as usual.
His behavior toward this country, toward the oil spill and now Memorial Day at Arlington has been a real slap in the face to America and everything she stands for. Our president is supposed to offer an example of how we should treat our country. Some will criticize my opinion by asking, "How would you fix this oil spill, smarty pants?" And to that I say: I'm not the president, but if I had a house-full of advisers who are all experts on the subject, I'm pretty sure vacations wouldn't be part of my game plan. And I sure as heck know if the White House advisers speculated a 20 percent increase in oil flow (as they did over the weekend), I wouldn't rest until an effective solution was put into place. Vacation is not an acceptable solution when our own people are suffering. Speaking of rest, didn't the president say his administration wouldn't rest until the oil spill is stopped? At the risk of being called Captain Obvious, I'm sure hanging out in the Windy City with the family qualifies as rest. We have every right to expect Obama to give this complicated job called the presidency more than a "college try," especially since the left gave W. such a hard time for not strapping on a life vest and repelling into the eye of Hurricane Katrina. Where's Obama's scuba gear?
My dose of honesty: Overall, the past couple of months have been an eye-opener for the American people. His actions have shown his true priorities: 1) Himself; 2) Shut down Arizona's right to protect a border he should be protecting; and 3) Cram health-care reform down our throats. I wonder how he'd react if we said, "You can have your health-care reform if you fix this oil spill." How high do you think he'd jump? I don't know how Mr. Obama found time between a war, reading (or not reading) Arizona's immigration law and a national oil-spill crisis to go on vacation. I guess being president isn't so hard after all. Sounds to me like you can do pretty much whatever you want – unless you actually want to help this country; then you've got your work cut out for you.