I did a double take when I saw this on Memeorandum this morning. The Seattle Times criticizing President Obama and the First Lady for their expensive tastes in vacations?
Critics portrayed the foreign getaway as tone deaf to the economic anxiety back home. Earlier in the week, the first lady was photographed walking through the streets of the Costa del Sol region wearing a one-shouldered Jean Paul Gaultier top.Every first family takes vacations. The criticism aimed at Michelle Obama is that she chose to visit a foreign country rather than remain in the United States and support its fragile economy.
Well, not quite. The criticism is that she is spending scads of taxpayer dollars just so that she can vacation in the lap of luxury. Why one of the most expensive resort cities in the world? The answer is simple; the Obama's like the idea of living high off the hog on someone else's dime.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to answer questions about the vacation, saying it is a "private trip."An unspecified number of Secret Service agents and aides are staying at government expense. Edwin Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service, declined to say how many agents are with the first lady in Spain.
An Obama administration official said the first lady is accompanied by "a handful of longtime family friends - it's moms and daughters - and it's minimal staff." One aide on the trip is the first lady's deputy chief of staff, Melissa Winter.
More than any presidential couple in recent memory, the Obamas are demonstrating that they see themselves not only better than everyone, but more privileged than the rest of us. They've made it to the penthouse and are determined to enjoy their status to the fullest.
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