01 July 2013

TOURIST IN CHIEF

Well, I see the President is off on another taxpayer funded family vacation, this time to Africa.  And that's a good thing.  I mean, how else do you rest up for your upcoming family vacation in Martha's Vineyard.

Now, I know many folks--some of whom I love and respect-- will criticize me, saying "What about all the time Bush spent in Texas?" and "Reagan was always going to California."  Good questions, I suppose, but at least they were going home.  He goes, or sends his extended family, to Asia and Europe and, now, Africa, none of which are in, well, you know, the United States.  (I'll give him this.  Chicago isn't California or Texas, and given the chance, I'd go to Texas, or northern California or Missouri or Montana, too.   But he's from Kansas, fer cryin' out loud, and that is as good as any of the other 49 States--except when KU plays MU, of course.)

Others--some of whom I love and respect-- will howl "This isn't a family vacation!  He's representing our country on an important diplomatic trip!"

Maybe, but look at the photos of the Pres, his wife, her Mom, one of the girls and his niece visiting a port in Senegal from which slaves were shipped to Europe, Africa, the Middle east, and North, Central, and South America two to five centuries ago.  Looks like a typical family vacation pic to me, complete with bored teenagers who wish to heaven they were back home in their rooms, doors closed to parents, surrounded by their music, iPhones, iPads, and so forth.

He was urged by his base--and, to his credit as an educated man, resisted--to apologize for slavery in America on this trip.  Ya see, he would have also had to admit that slaves were kidnapped by black men and then sold to other black men who then sold them to black and white traders to start that trade.  That would have required Senegal to have to apologize for the slave trade, a real breach of manners by a tourist.  In the elite liberal mind, political correctness trumps historical correctness every time.

Diplomatic trip?  Yeah, boy, we sure have  serious problems with Senegal, Tanzania, and South Africa.  I mean, where else can a President spend billions of taxpayer dollars (to fund electric power development)?  Probably in coal-fired plants....

Well, he could de-fund and close a whole lot of VA veterans health clinics.  As my (typically rebellious) 14 year old told me night before last, "Those guys [vets] were all volunteers.  If they got hurt in the Army, they volunteered for it and should pay for their own healthcare.  People on welfare didn't volunteer to live in slums and deal crack!"

The Pres apparently agrees because the only effect he can ever mention when cutting government spending is discussed is cutting defense spending and spending on veterans.  Maybe someone should mention the Department of Education, crowded with bureaucrats who are loyal dues paying union members and Who. Do. Not. Educate. A. Single. Child.  All at the unbelievably low price of $70 billion per year!    But I digress.

Look, Mr. President, if you want to take the wife and kids and mother-in-law and a niece or nephew or two on a foreign vacation, have at it.  But, please, Sir, not on my dime...