Freedom Line Blog

Here they go again.  After a week’s worth of media beatings for taking an expensive vacation to Spain that is costing American taxpayers $75,000 a day (for the security detail), the folks running the Obama Administration still haven’t learned how to avoid self-inflicted PR nightmares.

Here’s a brief reminder:

• Gifts of incompatible DVDs given to the British Prime Minister
• Gift of an IPOD to the Queen of England filled with President Obama’s speeches
• Conflicting directives from the White House Social Secretary that enabled the Salahis to gate crash a state dinner
• Excruciatingly slow response to the Gulf Oil Disaster that made the president look impotent
• Haphazard action plan thereafter that made him look incompetent
• Continuing to host a series of expensive private parties at the White House during a severe economic downturn

All of these can be chalked up to a group of people who were not – and so far, are not – ready for prime time.  According to columnist Kirsten Powers, if this keeps up the limelight may not be shining much longer:

Some argue that Michelle should be able to travel wherever she wants if she’s paying for it herself. This is naive. She is the first lady at a time when Americans are experiencing great economic pain. There are endless great locations here at home that she could put on the map with a visit — American hotels and restaurants that would be grateful for the business generated by such a high-profile visitor.

If it’s a huge sacrifice for her, so be it. Sacrifice is actually a noble trait, last I checked.

Plus, if she keeps this up, she will be able to vacation anywhere she wants in about two years.