Obama says Air Force One travel is ‘not my choice' in sharp exchange

[monmouth]

President Barack Obama on Thursday firmly rejected any criticism that his worldwide travel on Air Force One or his family's vacations have left him out of touch with Americans' struggles, saying flying aboard the famed official plane is "not my choice."

"The fact of the matter is, I think if you look at my track record, I'm raising a family here. When we travel, we got to travel through Secret Service, and Air Force One, that's not my choice. I think most folks understand how hard I work and how hard this administration is working on behalf of the American people," Obama told KMOV of St Louis. The interview was one of four sessions the White House arranged with local TV in states expected to be battlegrounds in November.

KMOV reporter Larry Conners had told Obama that some of the station's viewers "are complaining, they get frustrated, even angered, when they see the first family jetting around, different vacations and so forth, sometimes maybe, they think, under color of state business and that you're out of touch, that you don't really know what they're experiencing right now."

"Well, I don't know how many viewers you're talking about that say that," Obama countered. "We do hear from some," replied Conners. "I hear from all kinds of viewers about everything," Obama shot back. "I'm sure you do," said Conners.

Rest of article: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-air-force-one-travel-not-choice-001915991.html

[Retrograde]

1. Obama's taking vacations now?

He goes off to his native Hawai'i once a year, and I think Martha's Vineyard in the summer, but that's hardly anything compared to some of his predecessors!

[Lawlbringer]

4. Bush was at his Ranch for what seemed like 70% of his Presidency

and even Bill (My personal favorite President) Clinton seemed to be at Camp David all the time lol


Which leads me to believe that the White House isn't a very fun off-hours place. Wouldn't they want to make it a little more homey? Take a little break from working and go play some pinball or something.

[sylvi]

11. I read somewhere that Clinton took the fewest vacations of recent Presidents

I think he really enjoyed life at the White House. I know I would.

Arguably, I suppose, a president could never really be "on vacation". There's always something going on, always irons in the fire.

[HopeHoops]

24. Always memos 'bout terrists plannin' to bomb the US to ignore.

[GoCubsGo]

27. Any time he leaves DC, they claim he's on vacation.

It doesn't matter why he goes elsewhere, and the bitching is even worse if he dares take his wife and/or children with him. Democratic presidents and their families are not supposed to leave Washington, DC. They are not supposed to have anything resembling a normal life. They are not allowed to travel abroad for foreign relations purposes, either. Only republican presidents and their families are allowed that.

Bunch of fucking hypocrites.

[treestar]

35. I remember them whining at Christmas time

About how dare Michelle and the girls go ahead to Hawaii? They should have waited with Dad at home until Boner decided to do whatever it was that would release Dad for Christmas vacation. Oh, the cost to the taxpayer!

[SwampG8r]

30. i never even hear about the family using

camp david now that you mention it

[Angry Dragon]

2. Obama should buy bush's ranch so he can

spend months there clearing brush

[DCKit]

13. Two things: It is a pig farm, and the brush was imported for photo ops. nt

[Angry Dragon]

19. I had heard about the brush but

had not heard about the pigs

[1StrongBlackMan]

3. More Fair and Balanced B.S. ...

A president's travel and vacations are always fodder for his critics, who inevitably decry them as wasteful or signs of idleness or detachment, and Obama has been no exception.

Yeah ... It happens ALL the time, with every president ... Yeah, right!

[whathehell]

17. I watched the video: The reporter's tone of voice & choice of words DID sound combative, nasty,

and biased.

He was described as coming at "the request of the RNC", so it should come as no surprise.

[SwampG8r]

31. yeah but

when bush went away we all felt safer so for 8 years we were pretty quiet about it
it was a "no..no..go ahead george ...we will be ok i'm sure" kind of thing
i mean if you remember the 8 years previously they thought the clintons did too much/little of everything

[BlueJazz]

5. George Bush can take a vacation every other week and that's cool.

Obama does it every 3-4 months he's "Not in tune with the people"

Stick it up your dumb asses, repugs

[PotatoChip]

7. I know. Isn't it funny how repugs conveniently 'forget'

- or never acknowledged in the first place- how much time GW spent vacationing... or claimed to be "working" at 'The Western White House'?

I doubt President Obama comes within 1/4 of the amount of time GW took for himself.

[BlueJazz]

10. Very true. They seem to have never heard of "People who live in glass houses....Etc"

[GoCubsGo]

28. They have projection down to an artform.

I'm sure they'll claim the President's trip to Columbia for the latest summit is a "vacation", as they have done on several other occasions when he was on foreign relations travel. Meanwhile, when Shit-for-Brains was doing the same, he was out saving the world. I never heard a peep from these hypocritical assholes when Dumbya took a week off to go to the Beijing Olympics.

[Mopar151]

34. Dubya took a week off to go drinking

So they took him to the Olympics. Anywhere but back to Europe......

[whathehell]

18. Agreed. The Prez doesn't take a lot of time off..Watch the video..The reporter DOES sound nasty. n/t

[appleannie1]

6. Only white presidents are allowed to travel on Air Force One.

[TwilightGardener]

41. That's really it. The Obamas should be content to fly unsecured coach--or drive themselves.

That's what their station is in life, after all, no matter what job he holds.

[SunSeeker]

43. Bingo. No one has ever asked any other President to fly commercial.

So some wingnut poses the question on some radio talk show or whatever and this interviewer thinks this is a legitimate question to ask our President?! It reeks of racism.

Geez, why didn't he ask him why he insists on living in the Whitehouse, when there are more "in touch" accommodations across the Potomac?

[NatBurner]

44. basically

[Raven]

8. If some of these assholes stopped threatening his life

maybe he could fly commercial.

[wandy]

9. Just goes to show how dumb some of our red footed friends are.....

Obama and family have NO choice other than Air force 1.
We would not let the President of the United States go tramping around on a Gray Hound Bus.
No matter who the president is at the time.
And the whole security thing has got to be a real bitch.
My bet is Obama can't even go out in the back yard without 3 to 5 secret service agents hovering around him.
As it should/must be, no matter who the president is at the time.
If our red footed friends had to put up with that they'd be screaming about government intrusion.
But yes, Limpballs will tell them what a wast of taxpayer dollars it is.
And they all will echo the same Meme.

[DCKit]

12. Republicans: Can't remember recent history, or immune to their own hypocrisy?

You decide.

Personally, I think W* spent so much time on AF1 'cause that's where he could drink in relative peace. Well, that and the fact that he had absolute no respect for the taxpayer dollars it cost to get that sucker (and all the support vehicles, SS and staff) off the ground.

[ellisonz]

14. Larry Conners is disrespectful to the office of the President...

[Chiyo-chichi]

21. Absolutely disgraceful.

Last edited Sun Apr 15, 2012, 08:46 AM - Edit history (1)

Everyone should watch this: http://www.kmov.com/video/yahoo-video/News-4s-Larry-Conners-sits-down-with-President-Obama-147240915.html

And anyone who lives in the viewing area should write/call the station to complain.

Every word out of his mouth is disrespectful to the office of the President!

He introduces the piece by saying "I TOLD the president..." not "I ASKED." Are you supposed to be a journalist, SIR?

He also says:
--"The president ASKED ME to the Whitehouse SO HE COULD PUSH THE WARREN BUFFETT BILL"
-- "OF COURSE he sidestepped the question"
--"Mr. President, you overstepped your bounds"

Absolutely disgraceful tone from start to finish.

[hamsterjill]

45. "...SO HE COULD PUSH THE WARREN BUFFETT BILL"

With great emphasis being made on the word "push" by the reporter.

I totally agree. This reporter was completely disrespectful and it's obvious that he's a Republican shill. I felt like the President was being cross-examined rather than being interviewed.

The Obama vacations do not number anywhere near the numbers taken by the Bushes!

[otohara]

15. GWB - I miss being pampered; I miss Air Force One

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-10-20/news/27078733_1_pro-bush-crowd-creature-comforts-lecture-series

[LiberalFighter]

16. Just send the jerk a case of beer.

That should tide him over til hell freezes over.

[Chiyo-chichi]

20. Is "under COLOR of state business" a phrase?

At first I thought it should be "under cover" and that the typo was telling.
I guess "under color of authority" is a legal phrase... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_color_of_authority, but is it one that is widely used by the general public?
Or is Larry Conners using it for another reason?

[DCKit]

23. I wouldn't use the word "color".

That's like throwing them red meat.

[SwampG8r]

32. its a

[book_worm]

22. So 2 republicans complained and this 'reporter' decided that was a groundswell!

[joebaur42]

25. No Vacations Allowed

Fairly certain presidents will always be criticized for taking vacations, even though they're never truly on vacation. If Obama was surfing in Fiji, he'd still have a direct line to the White House.

[mentalsolstice]

26. Truthfully, I would get off a commercial flight

I would deboard a flight if I saw the Obamas sitting on the plane. I would think 50-50, this is either the safest plane to be on, or it would have a big old bullseye on it. For the safety of all passengers, I would prefer that the 1st family travel securely on AF1.

[SwampG8r]

29. nope not his choice

and thank you mr president for not making it
i have been in 3 different cities where presidents visited
everytime it was the traffic nightmare you have when you have been in traffic so long you take a nap
so i salute you mr president and please continue flying private
oh my god can you imagine the president and wife and kides and secret service and air marshalls all flying together commercial?

[GoCubsGo]

37. They don't want him traveling PERIOD.

"The President is always at work, so he should be able to go wherever he wants." does not apply to Democratic presidents. They can't travel or do anything else that requires spending money--even though they spend far less than any republican president ever did. Just wait until they really start bitching about the President campaigning on the taxpayers' dime, while conveniently forgetting that they excused Dumbya for doing just that, because "He's always at work."

[SwampG8r]

38. and it was true for dumbya

and its also true for every president
they dont ever go on "vacation"
they mobilize the white house to where ever the POTUS is
where the president is he isworking no matter who it is
although i will stand by a statement i made that when bush went on vacation everyone felt safer

[Tippy]

33. The truth be known....

What they are really pissed off about is the color of the Presidents skin...They just don't want a black man using AF One

[treestar]

36. Petty assholes

Why do journalists ask the President about the concern of petty jerk wads?

[Blue_Tires]

39. I feel sorry for the next president

since AF1 (currently a modified Boeing 747-200) is scheduled to be replaced before the end of this decade, probably by a 747-8...

I can't wait to see how petty the politics get over that price tag...

[monmouth]

40. Oh, there won't be any petty politics over the price tag if the Prez. is a repub..n/t

[trueblue2007]

42. WHAT ABOUT WHEN BUSH WENT ON VACATION??? Did Bush NOT use Air Force 1 ??? OF COURSE HE DID

KMOV reporter Larry Conners IS A DAMN LIAR