Obama’s vacations and golf outings, by the numbers

[G_j]

President Obama’s annual family vacation — an escape to tony Martha’s Vineyard — has once again served as an inviting target for critics. They ask how he can relax while the world burns, wring their hands about "optics" (aka "how it looks to the average American&quot and recycle decades-old complaints about presidents enjoying high-end resorts and historically patrician sports like golf.

Just how many vacations has Obama taken since January 2009? How does he compare to his two-term predecessor, George W. Bush?

The authoritative figures come from CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller.

Knoller has meticulously chronicled presidential data since 1996 with an attention to detail that has made successive White Houses regard his figures as more reliable than their own. He keeps tabs on everything from the number of trips overseas to the number of foreign leaders who visit the White House to the number of formal press conferences. He also tracks how often presidents flee Washington for what he calls "vacations" — always in quotes — which he notes can never be clean breaks from the job, thanks to modern communications, which bring global crises to the presidential doorstep no matter where it happens to be.

Knoller graciously shared his latest data with Yahoo News.

...more....
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-s-vacations-and-golf-outings--by-the-numbers-211532262.html

[Autumn]

1. On those vacation days Obama could have been doing something useful and constructive.

Like clearing brush in Texas.






thanks I needed this for FB

[djean111]

2. Of course, I considered it a plus if Bush was on vacation.

Not as much time to do shitty things.

[n2doc]

3. But But...there weren't any crises during W's term!

Oh..wait....

[uppityperson]

4. K&R

[winter is coming]

5. And if you think this looks bad, you should see the chart of Bush's mental absences.... n/t