The Katrinafication of Obama continues via CNN: "Vacation brings rest, relaxation and rebuke"

Obama vacation brings rest, relaxation and rebuke
By Kristi Keck, CNN
July 17, 2010 6:50 p.m. EDT

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/16/obama.vacation/index.html?hpt=C1



(CNN) -- President Obama and his family arrived Friday for a weekend getaway in Maine, but along with a little rest and relaxation comes criticism that the president is taking it easy with the Gulf of Mexico oil crisis in a critical phase.

The Obamas plan to spend the weekend on Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. The trip marks the president's third weekend vacation since the oil disaster began in April.

The Republican National Committee launched a website blasting what it considers Obama's "leisure activities or missteps" during the oil disaster, like playing golf, attending concerts and vacationing in Asheville, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; and now Maine.

Obama has also faced criticism for scheduling a trip up north, instead of vacationing in the Gulf, as he advised other Americans to do.

"Presidents are certainly entitled to vacation, just like everybody else, but there is a fine line as to when presidents should do it, what they should and where they should do it," said Brad Blakeman, a former member of President George W. Bush's senior staff and the deputy assistant for appointments and scheduling.

"Presidents have to be cognizant of the fact that everything they do is going to be scrutinized," said Blakeman, who also is a professor for Georgetown University's Semester in Washington program.

Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons said the Republican criticism is "galling," considering Bush's frequent trips to Camp David and his home in Crawford, Texas.

"Barack Obama is working as hard as any president that we've had in recent history and certainly harder than the most immediate previous president," he said.