It’s no secret that President-elect Barack Obama and his family are spending the holidays in Hawaii. Since the election, I have stridently attempted to limit any input I get from the media to the absolute bare minimum. This is what I want from TV: I want to know how cold it is and how much snow we’re going to get and nothing else. I’m finding in this day and age, the only way to remove oneself from trappings of society is to build an igloo at the North Pole, because obviously finding a hole to crawl into in Alaska is not going far enough. I even get updates on the new royal family from on the Weather Channel, for heaven’s sake.
Sure, I might have a bad case of sour grapes or be in the throes of a SAD attack, but I really don’t want to hear “news” items on the Obama family’s grand trip to the tropics. You see, these days, times are so tough that I can’t afford to go across the state, much less anywhere warm for my holiday break. In a move that amazed even my spendthrift husband, I managed to cut down my holiday spending by 95%. I was just barely able to bring Child #2 home (because she wanted to), and that took weeks of manipulating air fares online. Unlucky friends and family on my "B" List received only a greeting card purchased at Sam’s Club. (In addition to the card, "A" Listers were recipients of handmade jewelry, crafted from my own two hands, and/or a DVD copy of my son’s performance of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto. Either way, the "A" Listers struck it big.)
No, instead of basking on the beach in the sun somewhere, I am relegated to wintering in Michigan, where one shovels and then shovels some more. Or, you can pray for a one-day respite of warm air from the Gulf, and dodge the neighbor’s lawn furniture in the ensuing tornadic windstorm that followed. (A helmet is strongly recommended.) No, my friends, those glory days of Christmas trips to Florida, the Bahamas, Vegas and California are sadly long gone. Well, at least I have the memories…
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
Joanne, for your titillation I offer these photos:
Reagan in a Bathing Suit
Ford in a Bathing Suit
Shirtless JFK
The first two were taken while they were in office. The JFK picture is much younger, but there are other later pictures of JFK which I couldn't dig up in 10 minutes of googling.
Dave
2 - Cindy D
Joanne,
Thanks for being there for me during an attack of insomnia. I really enjoyed this. Did you notice Miss teen America could talk without closing her lips? That was weird LOL.
Let me know when your book is on Amazon and I'll be your first customer.
3 - Cindy D
I don't know who this guy is, but i LOVE his bathing suit.
Hey Dave,
I was trying to find a photo of you to develop a practical joke. Before I gave up the idea, I discovered your wikipedia page. Very cool Dave. I love the Fairy Tale Font.
4 - Joanne Huspek
Dave: Eww, eww, and the shirtless JFK is what got him elected. My mother voted for him because he was more handsome than Nixon.
Cindy: TRIPLE EWW.
5 - Dr Dreadful
Perhaps now he's President he should go retro and don one of those full-length flannel bathing suits that the Victorians used to wear. The decorum of the office and all that.
But seriously, I don't know what all the fuss is about. Pics of Barack in Hawaii displaying his rippling pecs are old hat. Now if he were spending Christmas in Michigan and bathing topless, that would be news...
6 - Baronius
Assuming the pictures didn't get taken or released without Obama's people approving them, what was the strategy behind them? The only thing I can think of is that it casts him as a Hawaiian at a time he's trying to distance himself from Illinois.
7 - Dr Dreadful
Baronius, why does there have to be a strategy? I don't think the paparazzo's employer would necessarily have run the photos by Obama's people before publishing them. And even if they did, I would imagine they probably just decided they couldn't do any harm and gave them the nod. The Hawaii/Illinois thing and the happy family image were side benefits, of course, but probably no more than that.
8 - Ruvy
Why don't you Americans just dispense with elections altogether and have presidents chosen based on the size of their penises? That way, instead of spending billions on races and commercials, you can all just chip in on a $1.99 12 inch. At least you'll see what it is you are actually getting. And all those women who assert that "size does count" will be proven right.
[space here for penis size enhancer commercial]
Of course, if a woman wants to run, that may be small problem - maybe America's shemale population can be recruited to make sure the best of all "ends" are represented....
9 - Ruvy
Maybe $1.99 is lowballing the price of that 12 inch. It's been a while since I've bought one....
10 - Jet
We deserve a plausable explanation of how the secret service allowed someone who could've just as easily had a rifle with a telescopic scope to get that opportunity to take a shot at him.
11 - Baronius
Dread & Jet, we've seen enough faux-candid pictures of presidents that we can guess that these were, if not staged, then permitted.
12 - El Bicho
"a plausable explanation"
telephoto lens
13 - Clavos
"a plausable explanation"
telephoto lens
...doesn't even address, much less answer, Jet's question.
14 - Jet
Telephoto lens/telescopic site, there are military experts that can hit a target the size of a baseball from two miles away.
15 - El Bicho
"doesn't even address, much less answer, Jet's question."
I'll try not to lose any sleep over that, but it does address the question. Whether it's to anyone's satisfaction is their own personal issue. Considering I am not in the Secret Service nor was I in Hawaii at the time the pictures were taken, it's the best I can offer at this time.
16 - Jet
I already know that there's nothing I can intelligently add to any conversation, so don't fret El... What me worry?
17 - Arch Conservative
Ladies and gentlemen....................feast your eyes on this....
18 - Tommy Mack
After the inauguration the White House public relations factory will really kick in. This is just a test of the PR command-elect. You will note that there are no candid photos of Barry huffing a smoke.
Tommy
19 - Dr Dreadful
Tommy,
The Queen of England also smokes - or used to. I defy you to find a photo of her doing so. Yet pictures of members of the English royal family being indiscreet abound.
Her Maj simply does not (or did not) smoke anywhere there might be a camera pointing at her. I suspect that neither does (or did, if it's truly to be credited that he managed to give up at the height of an astronomically stressful presidential run) Bazza.
And Jet, much as it may seem otherwise sometimes, the outside world isn't teeming with people itching to take a potshot at the prez. Plenty hate him, but it's only the occasional nutcase that will (a) want to take it further and (b) manage to get close to him with a weapon.
20 - Ruvy
I guess you all couldn't handle my cheap method for choosing your president, huh? You know, even a 12 inch ruler that costs $10.99 when divided by 200 million taxpayers, is not a lot of money.
Talk about cheap....