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The presidency travels with you.
Jay Carney, White House press secretary • Defending Obama’s vacation plans. The president is still heading to Martha’s Vineyard, despite the economic picture of America. After Standard & Poor’s downgrading of America’s credit rating, should Obama be taking this vacation? Or is a family vacation now more important than ever? Whatever the case may be, it’s not like Obama hasn’t sacrificed time off for the sake of the country already. Last year, he took part of his vacation in Pensacola, Fla. in an effort to draw attention to the Gulf Oil Spill. And he’s already called off multiple vacations this year as a result of budget negotiations. source

Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2011 00:10

ShortFormBlog’s European Adventure: Hey all, Ernie of SFB here. You might know me as the guy who screws with the design of the site every weekend. Just wanted to give you an update on the next few days … I’m headed to Dublin to pretend to be a busker for a week. I plan to listen to a lot of U2 and sit in my hotel room and watch “Once” multiple times in an attempt to get the true Irish experience. But seriously, the blog will continue over the next week with our intrepid staffers Chris Tognotti and Seth Millstein taking the helm, and everyone’s favorite breaking news dude, ProducerMatthew, playing utility infielder. I’ll be back on Tuesday, but keep in mind that if you bug us, there might be a slight delay in getting back to you. It’s nothing personal. Oh, what am I kidding, it totally is! Either way, I’ll pound a Guinness in your honor, kids. All 5,600 of you! source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

Instead of stimulating the hospitality sector of Illinois’ economy, Senate Democrats should come back to the Madison, debate the bill, cast their vote, and help get Wisconsin’s economy back on track.
A statement from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker • Criticizing State Senators for taking a “vacation” instead of voting for the bill that would totally screw over their most important constituents. Walker is in no mood to compromise at the moment – even as unions have offered to take the cuts in efforts to retain their collective bargaining rights – which means that Democrats really have no incentive to return. Especially considering the continental breakfasts they’re probably eating right now! source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

OK, not to be jerks to you guys, but we think we’ve put in a pretty good year of blogging. And, well, Obama’s in Hawaii, and Hawaii’s gonna be warm but rainy all weekend. In other words, perfect stalking weather. We want to follow the president along with his family and learn the truth … is Obama in fact Muslim? When he goes to open up presents under his palm tree on Christmas day, will there be a star on top of that palm tree? Or a crescent? The Coast Guard is watching out for people like us, but we’re watching out for people like the Coast Guard. Plus, we have hundreds of thousands of dollars to throw around! We can totally pay their $32,000 fine! Plus, Julius is a robot without any feelings! We don’t care if he goes to jail! (But seriously, this is a long way to say that we’ll be taking it easy for a few days, with fewer posts. Because we want to go to Hawaii to stalk Obama. That’s right! See you this weekend, Sasha and Malia!) source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

People would rather see their President in Put-in-Bay, Ohio, or the Wisconsin Dells than in the Kennedy realm of Cape Cod.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley • Regarding Obama’s upcoming vacation to Cape Cod. While presidents are likely to get criticism no matter where they vacation, Obama’s is even more acute because, well, the economy’s in the crapper, and it feels a tad tone-deaf. He should really consider what Bill Clinton did, according to journalist Ken Walsh, an expert on presidential retreats: “President Clinton, for instance, took polls to figure out where he should go on vacation when he ran for re-election. He took polls to figure out where Americans want the president to go. Well [it was] national parks, so President Clinton went to national parks.” So yeah, Obama, you should head to Montana, not send Michelle to Spain. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink