And you are absolutely certain his wife did not know where he was by what means exactly? Has his wife held a news briefing to tell the press she was not aware that he was in Argentina? Has she said he did not call her to let her know where he was or was going?
His wife probably knew, but was covering for him so he COULD get away. Don't blame them for that -- being the governor of a state is a BIG responsibility. If he was on a cruise by himself, and he or his staff pre-announced it, he'd have paparazzis from the Globe and Examiner shadowing his EVERY MOVE, waiting to see if he might commit some impropriety they could plaster on the front page to hurt his chances for 2012.
He could have handle his disappearance better, IMO. The staff could have covered for him better...
But in all fairness, you have to admit ... if Mr. Obama had "disappeared" for a few days, we'd be on that story like stink on sh!t.