Camp Obama

There's an article in this morning's NYT on the summer activities of the country's First Kids. My impression was that of a rich, varied and busy summer vacation. Given security constraints and the family's busy schedule, frankly, I was impressed.

But President Obama and his wife, Michelle, have also tried to ensure that this first summer in the White House is about more than lighthearted fare. They have incorporated history lessons, community service and healthy eating and exercise into their daughters’ time off, offering yet another glimpse of the parenting style behind the walls at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Obamas discussed the slave trade with their girls during a visit to a slave port in Ghana. They focused on volunteering at Fort McNair in Virginia, where the girls helped stuff backpacks with books and toys for the children of military families.

However, you just know what's coming...

Last month, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said the president had some “nerve” to be sightseeing in Paris while insisting that Congress should focus on overhauling health care.

John Baer, a columnist at The Philadelphia Daily News, recently pondered what parents who had lost their jobs and been forced to cancel their family vacations would make of the president’s plans to savor some family time on Martha’s Vineyard this month.

“Those who view Obama as an elitist will have new ammunition,” Mr. Baer wrote.

Yeah, perhaps so. Our last president did such a good job of providing a role model on how to do summer vacations in the midst of a crisis...

...and larnin' his daughters on proper behavior, like minor in possession and possession of a controlled substance. Why can't Obama be more like that? I miss having a president that spends a third of each year down on the ranch, clearing brush. It just makes me sick that every time I turn around, Obama is flying back to Washington, interfering with the unwinding disasters plagueing the country.