Re: Soldiers Dying in Iraq: Where is Nancy Pelosi?

"Flash Bazbo" <djflsdkjf@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:v6qhb3d8mv1md9gliks2k3aggr0g7n6b3b@xxxxxxxxxx
On Tue, 7 Aug 2007 11:46:38 -0400, "Patriot Games"
<Patriot@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On a month-long VACATION.
She's just following the example set by The Decider. This article is
from 2005. I wonder how many more vacation days GWB has taken since
then while our troops were in harm's way patrolling the streets of
Baghdad?

Except Bush works from Crawford, as your article mentions, and Nancy has basically disappeared.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080201703_pf.html

Vacationing Bush Poised to Set a Record
With Long Sojourn at Ranch, President on His Way to Surpassing
Reagan's Total

By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 3, 2005; A04

WACO, Tex., Aug. 2 -- President Bush is getting the kind of break most
Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office,
loaded with vacation time.

The president departed Tuesday for his longest stretch yet away from
the White House, arriving at his Crawford ranch in the evening for a
stretch of clearing brush, visiting with family and friends, and
tending to some outside-the-Beltway politics. By historical standards,
it is the longest presidential retreat in at least 36 years.

The August getaway is Bush's 49th trip to his cherished ranch since
taking office and the 319th day that Bush has spent, entirely or
partially, in Crawford -- nearly 20 percent of his presidency to date,
according to Mark Knoller, a CBS Radio reporter known for keeping
better records of the president's travel than the White House itself.
Weekends and holidays at Camp David or at his parents' compound in
Kennebunkport, Maine, bump up the proportion of Bush's time away from
Washington even further.

Bush's long vacations are more than a curiosity: They play into
diametrically opposite arguments about this leadership style. To
critics and late-night comics, they symbolize a lackadaisical approach
to the world's most important day job, an impression bolstered by
Bush's two-hour midday exercise sessions and his disinclination to
work nights or weekends. The more vociferous among Bush's foes have
noted that he spent a month at the ranch shortly before the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks, when critics assert he should have been more attentive
to warning signs.

To Bush and his advisers, that criticism fundamentally misunderstands
his Texas sojourns. Those who think he does not remain in command,
aides say, do not understand the modern presidency or Bush's own work
habits. At the ranch, White House officials say, Bush continues to
receive daily national security briefings, sign documents, hold
teleconferences with aides and military commanders, and even meet with
foreign leaders. And from the president's point of view, the long
Texas stints are the best way to clear his mind and reconnect with
everyday America.

"I'm looking forward to getting down there and just kind of settling
in," Bush told reporters from Texas newspapers during a roundtable
interview at the White House on Monday. "I'll be doing a lot of work.
On the other hand, I'll also be kind of making sure my Texas roots run
deep."

"Spending time outside of Washington always gives the president a
fresh perspective of what's on the minds of the American people,"
White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters Friday.
"It's a time, really, for him to shed the coat and tie and meet with
folks out in the heartland and hear what's on their minds."

Just as Bush has made these August trips a regular feature of his
presidency, so, too, have Democrats made a tradition of needling him
about them. This year, opposition politicians are tying his departure
from Washington to the CIA leak case that has swept up his top
adviser, Karl Rove.

"The White House stonewalling operation is moving to Crawford for the
dog days of summer, but they can't hide from the legitimate questions
dogging the president and his refusal to keep his promise and fire
Karl Rove," said Josh Earnest, a spokesman for the Democratic National
Committee.

Presidents have often sought refuge from the pressures of Washington
and from life in the White House, which Harry S. Truman called the
crown jewel of the American prison system. Richard M. Nixon favored
Key Biscayne, Fla. Bush's father preferred Maine. Bill Clinton,
lacking a home of his own, borrowed a house on Martha's Vineyard,
except for two years when political adviser *** Morris nudged him
into going to Jackson, Wyo., before his reelection because it polled
better.

Until now, probably no modern president was a more famous vacationer
than Ronald Reagan, who loved spending time at his ranch in Santa
Barbara, Calif. According to an Associated Press count, Reagan spent
all or part of 335 days in Santa Barbara over his eight-year
presidency -- a total that Bush will surpass this month in Crawford
with 3 1/2 years left in his second term.

"The Oval Office is wherever the president of the United States is,"
said Kenneth M. Duberstein, who was Reagan's last White House chief of
staff. "With the communications being what they are, the president can
communicate instantly with whomever he wants anywhere in the world."

Bush will not return to the White House until after Labor Day, but his
staff has peppered his schedule with events to dispel any impression
that he is not on duty. He will visit at least seven states, mostly
with quick day trips, including New Mexico, where he plans to sign
energy legislation into law. He gets off to a quick start this week,
with a speech Wednesday in nearby Grapevine, Tex., then he plays host
to President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia at the ranch Thursday. His
schedule is clear Friday through Sunday.

At some point, Bush told reporters Monday, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will visit
for consultations. "I have a busy couple of weeks down there," Bush
said.

But he will make time for fun, or at least his idea of it. Bush rarely
takes the type of vacation one would consider exotic -- or, to some,
even appealing. His notion of relaxation is chopping cedar on his
ranch or mountain biking through rough terrain, all in 100-degree-plus
temperatures in dusty Texas where crickets are known to roast on the
summer pavement. He seems to relish the idea of exposing aides and
reporters to the hothouse environment.

"I just checked in with the house -- it's about 100 degrees," he told
reporters Monday. "But no matter how hot it gets, I enjoy spending
time in Texas."

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