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Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah)
Those who are currently on a break from work should not complain about those who are not.
Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said Wednesday that President Obama has shown he is fully capable of relaxing on vacation, but has yet to demonstrate the kind of leadership needed to avoid the March sequester.
"As commander-in-chief, the President is responsible for ensuring the health and viability of our national defense capabilities -- yet he appears unengaged," Bishop said. "With only a few days left until sequestration, the President is reported to have been playing golf in Florida. He has certainly proven capable of leisure, now it's time to prove that he's capable of leadership."
It's true that President Obama took a three-day weekend, which included Monday's holiday. Since it was Presidents Day, he probably deserves a little slack. In fact, on Tuesday, Obama was in Washington, taking the lead in presenting an approach that would avoid the sequester.
In contrast, Rob Bishop and his congressional colleagues aren't even in session. With a looming deadline, Congress took the week off, which is one of many vacation days GOP leaders have scheduled for this Congress. Who's "unengaged" -- the one in Washington looking for a compromise or the folks who left town who aren't interested in a compromise?
What's more, I really hope there isn't a racial subtext to Bishop's whining. Obama "has certainly proven capable of leisure"? George W. Bush took more time off than any sitting president ever, and I don't recall members of Congress complaining about Bush proving himself "capable of leisure."
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My cats are capable of leisure, and I am jealous...
The difference between Obama and your cats, is that your cats don't require the state pay for transportation, greens fees, clubs, golf togs, and luxurious accommodations.
@Shooter
Yeah, I remember how much this bothered you with Bush II, the prez who has the record for most vacation time.
Or President Regan, who spent so much time at his California ranch that NASA built a shuttle launch site within view so he would support the program.
Hmmm, a weekend of golf versus a shuttle launch complex that was never used...
Annie Oakley: The POTUS has his own golf clubs, and never pays a green fee. If the subject is golf, I will not let you be so brazenly dishonest like you are about the rest of life. Go ahead and spew out nonsense, I will leave you alone unless you lie about golf again.
As usual, Shooter is demonstating the Kochs-Rove distort and distract strategy. Hannity is a master at it and Shooter is no slouch. What Bishop was doing is what the Kochs-Rove are so good at: playing to the media captive Utah audience to convince them to blame Obama for something the Republicans did.
Another strategy the Kochs have is delay. Notice how they delayed for two years any increase in the Bush tax cuts. Notice how they have delayed through "smaller" government enforcement of environmental laws.
Another strategy that the Kochs have found useful is the sneak attack: act after having not saying that they were going to act. Notice what they did in Wisconsin after Walker became governor in 2011. Notice what they did in Michigan on the "right to work" law that came days after the election in 2012. They dearly love the sneak attack. Notice what they have done in state after state after the 2010 elections.
Another strategy the Kochs love is brinkmanship. They engineered the debt ceiling crisis in 2011 that produced disastrous results for the country and they are engineering the sequester crisis now. Maybe they want to use this crisis as leverage to get approval for their Keystone Pipeline.
Remember, Shooter, you are pretty good, but you have a ways to go to be able to compete with the Kochs--Rove-FoxNews-Hannity power machine.
Also Blankman, you do realize that it is Congress' job to er, write the legislation for all bills don't you?! Kind of hard to do when you're on vacation every other week.....
hooter (because you're only one boob)
Criticizing President Obama for taking Presidents Day weekend of? Presidents Day, a day meant to celebrate all Presidents. Really?! And Congress has still has not come back from their recess. Really?!
A Mormon is racist? Who'd a guessed???
Nailed it...I'm suprised he didn't say lazy. Nice to see he took of the white robe and hood for the pic.
Or shiftless. I guess one can find signs of progress in the most unlikely places.
I'm sort of wondering what would have happened if we didn't have an African American president yet in our history, what these racists coming out of the woodwork would have done to express themselves so succinctly.
It's like, as the Civil Rights Movement fades into our rearview mirrors, before the election of Barack Obama, were we really lulled into the idea that this was a "post-racial" America? That he could even deign to be a "post-racial president"?
What an absurd idea that was. As absurd as postmodern feminists deconstructing gender and claiming "no need" for identity politics either, while the backlash of racial and gender stereotypes roar back with a vengeance.
Or rather, had never gone away in the first place. Because this isn't just a little bit of roaring back. We aren't just talking pre-bra-burning mad housewives and pre-sit-ins Jim Crow. Some of this stuff REALLY hearkens back. Like pre-Suffragette and pre-Civil War.
Some of it, to me, sounds positively colonialist. I mean, forget post-colonialism altogether, y'all. This sounds like the kinds of assertions of power and control that came over in the holds and cabins of rough ships of cholera and sickness. Indentured indebtedness. Male societies wanting women and servants the way evil people who find themselves oppressed by terrible bureaucracies and bosses want to come home and hit their children or beat their dogs.
How far back does such baggage go? Could we ever even dream of eradicating it, the way Charlotte Perkins Gilman dreamed of "Herland"?
#2.3
The only people that actually believed this was a "post racial" society are the one's that claim a) they don't SEE color and b) those that "pulled themselves up by their bootstraps" - as if Massa ain't have a favorite growing up during the Jim Crow south....
What? Do they need him to hold their hands, if their not up for the job, then they should resign. How old are these boys? He's not playing tag anymore. Why not take a look in their closets, those who would cast stones.
Talk about yelling squirrel! -Kevo
Sloth is the white man's burden.
And the only animal named after a deadly sin. Poor little sloths.
Whoa! Just because Congress is not in session does not mean that Congressmen are not working. There are all kinds of things to do when not in D.C. For example:
--there are donors to suck up to.
--there is the requisite scrubbing to do after sucking up to the donors (to be address that 'dirty' feeling).
--there are local politicians in your own party to placate (they have donors needing favors as well).
--there are potential primary rivals that need kneecapping.
--there are wingnuts to pander to.
--and yet more scrubbing in the hot shower after pandering to wingnuts.
etc.
These guys work hard! Show some ... respect?
This asshat can find the respect he's worthy of marinating in my septic tank.
good one John
Great idea, grumpy.
In order to have a ‘dirty’ feeling there needs to be shame. The actions taken to date do not indicate any capability of shame.
Typical hypocrisy from Republicans in Congress, they are in recess for 10 days? Why isn't he in Washington trying to work with Democrats to resolve the "sequester" problem? They have not earned their salary let alone earned "time off". Rob Bishop and the rest of them should get their butts back to Washington and do their job.
They are doing their "job". Their job is only to obstruct and not actually do anything else.
["...I really hope there isn't a racial subtext to Bishop's whining."]
There's a racial subtext to *all* the GOP whining about the President (and, regrettably, to a lot of the Democratic whining as well). The reality is that we are not living in a post-racial society. The idea that a black man could be the boss of a whole bunch of white folks is a serious burn to a lot of people in this country.
Pretty much.
And they're really personalizing their attacks on him. Wander over to your preferred RWNJ intertubz emporium and you'll see that it's become even worse than it has been.
Today's polls are sure to further inflame their hatred of him.
And of course, they lack even the smallest degree of self awareness so they don't understand why their personalized and racialized attacks on him fall flat with an ever growing majority of the country.
I am beginning the think we should send the entire Congress on a cruise, on a Carnival cruise ship. When they get out into the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, we will turn off the engines and the power so that there is no air conditioning, no running water, no working toilets, no hot food or food of any kind that has to be refrigerated, and tell them that they do not get these civilized conveniences back until they reach a budget resolution that is inline with the November election results and will thus be something the people can approve.
Let them deal with the realities of life for a few days. There are people out here in the real world who are already having to do without some of these things because of the Republican's insistance on cutting government to the bone.
Send them on the POOP BOAT! What a great idea!
Fantastic idea! And I bet they would come up with some laws to regulate those cruise ships, too!
This nonsense needs to go to bed forever....The President whoever he/she is has an extremely stressful job that they work for $400k a year (plus extraordinary benefits ) each and every one of them (certainly most)has been qualified to make 10 million a year plus in the private sector(adjust for whatever lincoln or washington would have earned) To boot theyre vacations promote golf or california or ranches in texas or whatever and set the example that all Americans should be entitled to paid vacation(like everywhere else)
The POTUS salary went up to 200K in 1969, that would be like 1.25 mil in today's dollars.
1909 - $75K= 1.9 mil in 2012
Plus, you can bet that even though the President is on the golf course, or hanging out at Camp David, or whatever other example you'd like to cite, there are people within hailing distance who are constantly connected to the government and quite capable of running up to the President with a phone. I'm pretty confident in saying that being President is a job with no real vacation.
rollo the salary thing is another issue entirely as the President's salary should be at least a million as that would allow other workers in the govt(the president is the highest paid) to make more as well, now for what its worth specific to the President his chef, security, pilot and gosh knows who/what else cost less as well 50 years ago. but the grandstanding of not raising congressional /presidential/salaries what have you creates a whole separate issue.
Congress gets and automatic cost of living adjustment every year unless they feel stupid for not giving Social Security one, and the excuse that they need to raise pay is to get qualified people shows that it doesn't work. Just look at what we've been saddled with for the past 20 years. The average American would love to get the pay they get for working less than two days a week and have all the perks that go with it. And most of them would probably be more qualified than the people holding office right now.
Alex123-7193051:
Did i miss something here?
Alex, you said:
The facts that I provided were to further illustrate the point you made.
on point yes the President works at a "bargain" Theres a larger(er different) issue of federal salaries that I wasnt really trying to attack here.. an ATF agent or maybe bridge analyst level 2 (or whatever they call it) may deserve more money as well but they're probably not working at a 90% discount to the private sector either
They know they can't use words like lazy and uppity anymore. But, they're doing a terrible job of hiding their prejudices.
Newt Gingrich:
Republicans tend to be pretty lazy. At least when they're in public office. This do-nothing Congress is on path to out lazy the last do-nothing Congress. Even at the state level, Republicans are lazy. In my home state of Virginia, they've made representing our state into a part-time job. Seriously. The Virginia House of Delegates spend more time not in session than they spend in session.
Mommy, why aren't you cleaning the house while I watch cartoons?
That pretty much sums it up.
Why doesn't the Democratic Party make an ad buy in Leisure Suit Larry's (er Rob Bishop's) district. I am sure his fine Mormon friends would like to know what his team is doing about sequester.
Could somebody buy him a better hairpiece? That one looks like something from the bowels of a cat.
That must be a Trump starter kit.
This criticism comes right from Fox News. This was Hannity's lead story on Monday or Tuesday, Obama Golfing while Sequester Looms. Nevermind it was a holiday, or that he took one day off, or that Bush took months off (August 2001, for instance), or that the House is off all week.
Bishop does however have what is clearly the worst toupee of any member of Congress, and that's saying a lot.
If Ben Bernake (who makes what about 250k?) managed the same amount of money in the private sector(or much less) he would make what 20-100 mil/yr?
Gee, Bob projects!
I'm so surprised that I may have a heart attack and die!