Posted on 08/17/2009 10:07:03 PM PDT by Sammy67
It looks like that dog has a tranquilizer dart in his butt.
I wonder if her dresser is a secret Republican.
I’m surprised they haven’t used the Grand Canyon visit as an opportunity to talk about erosion caused by Global Warming.
Them uppity First Ladies......
Well unless we see a huge shoe collection along the lines of what Imelda Marcos had, I guess it can’t get too bad (sarc)..
well, we don’t need to be giving Michelle Obama any ideas, either...
I am sorry that family picture does not spell "High on the Hog" to me. It spells casual family time. Yes I know the secret service is just out of view, but that is what we provide all first families.
When we complain about this petty stuff, it just diminishes us.
*Could* be?
LOL!
You always crack me up....:)
Right. The last time I was at the Grand Canyon I wore a tux and my wife wore a ball gown. /s
“Casual family time???”
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2009/08/15/20090815biz-obama0815.html
President Barack Obama will have a different view of Camelback Mountain on his second overnight trip to Phoenix this year.
The president and his family, arriving tonight for a two-night stay, are expected to stay at the Phoenician on Camelback Road at the base of the iconic mountain. In February, Obama stayed at the new InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa at Lincoln Drive and Tatum Boulevard, on the other side of the mountain.
(snip)
The Phoenician is one of a handful of resorts in metropolitan Phoenix to earn five-diamond status, the highest accolade from AAA. Canyon Suites, its even-more-exclusive hotel-within-a-hotel, also has five diamonds.
It’s unclear whether the Obamas will be staying in the main resort, Canyon Suites or the Phoenician Residences, an enclave of homes on the resort’s golf course.
Since it’s summer, regular room rates this weekend are low, starting at $177 a night, and government rates are likely lower. In good times, the resort routinely commands $500-$600 a night and up.
On Thursday, the hotel’s Web site had the presidential suite available this weekend at $1,600 a night. It was not available on the Web site on Friday. However, industry executives say the president doesn’t always stay in the presidential suite.
The 60-room Canyon Suites, also home to a presidential suite with a baby grand piano and full kitchen, shows no availability this weekend. A reservations agent said it is closed for the month of August for upkeep.
The first family won’t have much time to lounge by the Phoenician’s mother-of-pearl pool, Centre for Well-Being spa or check out its new restaurants, including J&G Steakhouse by celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. This is not an official vacation like the one planned in Martha’s Vineyard later this month, complete with a reported $25,000 vacation rental on a privately owned farm.
They arrive in Phoenix around dinner time today after a visit to Yellowstone National Park and a health-care town hall in Colorado.
If they arrive by dusk, the president’s daughters could head to the Oasis Pool for an Arizona summer tradition: dive-in movies. “Monsters vs. Aliens” is showing today, according to a resort concierge.
The family gets up early Sunday and heads to the Grand Canyon like many tourists, although the trip will be on Air Force One rather than a rental car or a tour bus. They return Sunday evening and will be in Phoenix on Monday morning. They head back to Washington on Monday after Obama’s speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in downtown Phoenix.
(snip)
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2009/08/18/news/20obama.txt
Local lips let loose on Obama visit
published on Monday, August 17, 2009 9:33 PM MDT
By AMANDA RICKER Chronicle Staff Writer
Apparently, Michelle Obama arms can move some water.
“Mrs. Obama was an incredible paddler,” said Jaye Gibb, raft guide with Gallatin Gateway-based Geyser Whitewater Expeditions and a kindergarten teacher at Heck/Quaw Elementary School in Belgrade. “She was even better than some of the Secret Service out there.”
While President Barack Obama held a town meeting in Belgrade on Friday, Michelle Obama and daughters Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8, along with some other relatives went whitewater rafting on the Gallatin River.
The group took four rafts in all, also accommodating Secret Service and other White House staff.
They put in at No Tel around 2 p.m. and took out about an hour and a half later at Storm Castle. It was rainy and chilly, but the Obama family still had a blast, said Gibb, who guided Michelle and the kids’ boat.
* Gibb said they named the raft “The Fighting Iguana” after Malia’s soccer team.
“Their favorite part was Prudential Rapids,” Gibb said. “I put them right up front. They got soaked. They thought that was the best part of the whole trip.”
To prepare for Friday’s rafting trip, Geyser Whitewater staff took Secret Service out to the site on Monday.
After the town hall meeting, Obama went fly fishing on the East Gallatin River with his Deputy Chief of Staff, Jim Messina, who attended the University of Montana.
The First Family stayed in one of the eight penthouses on the tenth floor of Big Sky Resort’s Summit Hotel on Friday night, said resort spokesman Dax Schieffer. The entire tenth and ninth floor were reserved for the Obamas and family as well as White House and Secret Service staff.
“All in all we had about 400 people as part of the group,” Schieffer said.
(snip)
While Obama was out fly fishing, his sister tried out the zip line and scenic lift at Big Sky Resort, Schieffer said. Her daughter, Obama’s niece, was heard referring to the President as her “Uncle Rocky.”
At the end of the day Friday, the family took dinner in their rooms before the kids cooked s’mores over a fire pit outside the Carabiner Lodge.
Before checking out on Saturday morning to head to Yellowstone National Park, Obama and Michelle exercised together. The president had specially requested an elliptical machine, Schieffer said.
“The President likes the elliptical,” he said.
There's no way any modern First Lady has only one staff member.
Of course 26 and 15 are both ridiculous.
The nerve of these people is incredible, and the hypocrisy is amazing. Those who were hoping for change, they sure got it in spades.
The list given by Texas Native may not be complete. I saw another list on which I counted 20.
I too was ready to jump on Obama for this, but the facts do not support the case.
Additionally, it is not the number of people which is as important as the total expenditure. A large low paid staff vs. a big higher paid staff could be a wash.
I think we have far better issues then this to focus on.
I stand corrected. However, in defense, I found another FR thread that said L.B. only had one assistant.
How many assistants does it take to “change” M.O.’s lightbulb?
1 to turn the bulb and 99 to stop her whining about not changing it fast enough.
True. See post 90.:)
“All in all we had about 400 people as part of the group,” Schieffer said.
400 people with obamas...please.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.