Posted on 12/28/2009 2:55:20 PM PST by My Favorite Headache
Ambulance Rushes To Obama Compound In Hawaii First Family Spends Christmas Vacation In President's Birthplace HONOLULU (CBS) ―
President Barack Obama abruptly ended a round of golf Monday and sped toward his family's vacation home for what was described as a "personal matter."
An administration official said that the incident related to a child of an Obama family friend who was injured on vacation.
White House aides said the speedy departure and return to the president's home was not a matter of national security or because of a threat to Obama's safety.
Obama was playing golf when reporters who travel with him were quickly assembled for a return to the first family's neighborhood. Journalists saw an ambulance speed past with its lights on, heading toward the end of Obama's street.
Before he left Washington, White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that the president wanted to spend his holiday in his birthplace away from the news-of-the-moment distractions that have dominated his first year in office.
No such luck as Obama has been hounded almost non-stop by news of a bomb plot on board a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day. Monday, he made his statement on Northwest bomb incident from the Kaneoho Marine Base.
Then again, this is a refrain that preceded the Obamas' summer vacation on Massachusetts' Martha's Vineyard that saw the renomination of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the death of Senate lion Edward M. Kennedy.
"I asked the president if he had any special message for you guys," Burton told reporters aboard the presidential aircraft during the nine-hour flight from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington to Hawaii. "He would like for you to relax and to not anticipate any public announcements or news-making events."
Reporters laughed. It was almost the exact phrase Burton uttered on the way to the Obamas' summer vacation; the touch wasn't lost on the deputy press secretary as the entire White House apparatus headed toward Christmas Day on Oahu.
The president, a first-year chief executive who has inherited — and tackled — an economic crisis worse than anything the United States has experienced in decades, doesn't really get vacation amid two wars. Even his departure was delayed because his top advisers wanted him in Washington to witness — or baby-sit, depending on the official — the U.S. Senate pass its piece of a massive government overhaul of health care coverage.
Much in the final legislation remains to be decided, but his top advisers — and the president himself, later — decided it best not to chance an on-time departure to his vacation.
You know, just in case.
"He's been involved throughout this process working with members of the House and the Senate; White House staff has been working with their staffs, and you can imagine we're going to continue to work with those folks as we go forward to ensure that we get this historic health care reform done for the American people," Burton told reporters in what he said he hoped would be the final White House briefing — at 32,000 feet — of the year.
But while Burton suggested there wouldn't be news during the next week or so — the White House won't detail when the president's vacation officially ends — it's clear the White House isn't shutting down. On the flight, top national security officials walked around with their children, and the presidential jet was full, either with military personnel ready to help the commander in chief or with members of the first family with their luggage.
For his part, Obama has urged aides to keep him out of the public eye. He spent last Christmas and New Years on the island awaiting his Inauguration in Windward Oahu at a house that rents for about $4,000 a night. He played basketball at his high school, ate shave (never shaved, as the mainland says) ice, toured a zoo and aquatic park, and spread the ashes of his grandmother, who died just days before his historic election.
Early this Christmas Day, Barack and Michelle Obama — and their motorcade — visited a nearby Marine Corps base for a morning workout. Reporters accompanying the first couple didn't see the fit duo.
Later in the morning, the first couple exchanged gifts with their daughters, the president's half-sister and her family. White House aides said Barack and Michelle Obama did not exchange gifts with each other.
For dinner, the Obamas planned to dine on roast beef, potatoes and other traditional dishes, the White House said.
This year, his sister, brother-in-law and their daughters waited on the tarmac as the Obamas arrived at what is the closest homeland the president knows. His grandmother and mother, both deceased, called this their base while raising him. And first lady Michelle Obama — a South Side of Chicago native whose mother lives with them at the White House but didn't make the trip here — has repeatedly said this is where her husband is from.
Even so, the White House machine doesn't let its chief take a few days to fly kites or body surf. It has the president at the ready to deal with any crisis, foreign or domestic. Red phones are wired, emergency binders are on the shelves. The president is ready to govern, even from a golf course.
Poor thing had to interrupt his golf game just like he was annoyed at being asked a question when he just wanted to finish his waffle that time. If he couldn’t handle the stress of the job maybe he should not have sought it.
Imagine if Bush took 3 DAYS to respond to ANY terrorist attack!
I was more noticing that the posting is really an unlabeled vanity. Notice that the title is not the title of the article, which is not kosher.
alancarp wrote:
“the president wanted to spend his holiday in his birthplace”
As if there were no doubt about that...lol he missed by a few thousands miles to Kenya? you betcha><>
The reporters used to hate going to Bush's ranch in the middle of nowhere. Now that Obama is going to more choice locations, they don't want things like real news disturbing their [the reporters] vacations. I also notice no church attendance on the schedule for Obama on Christmas.
My thoughts exactly
Another biased keyword that pissed me off...tackled...tackled WHAT?!?!
Asspress just released another steaming pile congratulating the government for the new flying restrictions. Only quotes from those approving are allowed. No byline from the imbecile who wrote it.
Who the heck talks about visiting their birthplace but refuses to release a long form birth certificate? The Obama Administration never misses a chance to insert "born in Hawaii" into just about anything they can, regardless of relevancy.
Who?
Obama apparently...
Again, fit duo...all of these adoring words have NO PLACE in a news piece never mind in a news piece having ZERO to do with the subject of the headline.
Oh, for crying out freakin' loud.
Would you have clicked on it if it were just another golf course ambulance story? Probably not..hence why the title of the FR article.
“...continually on its knees...”
Ahh. No.
True prostrate, in quivering, sobbing mass of humanity...trembling (and tingling if an employee of MSNBC) before the Almighty.
Well, common FR protocol is to include the title of the article first, and commentary afterward, thereby allowing other posters to search for the article prior to posting, avoiding duplicates.
If he wants to spend a vacation in his birth place...then he needs a passport to get to Kenya.
"And first lady Michelle Obama . . . has repeatedly said this is where her husband is from."
Seems like this article has a not-so-hidden agenda.
Birthplace.Birthplace.Birthplace indeed.
Did anyone mention which church the family worshiped at on Christmas?
Well, if he wants a passport, he will have to submit a certified copy of his long form birth certificate since the U.S. Passport Office doesn't accept the certification of live birth from the State of Hawaii as proof of citizenship and birth in the state of Hawaii. Or at least it didn't before the election. I wonder if he's issued a policy change since then.
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