“Let Them Eat Cake”

Ma Belle In Spain

Recall Michelle Obama’s immortal words, “This is the first time I can say I am proud of my country.” And let us not forget “This is a mean spirited country.” One could easily add now, “Let them eat cake.” But we all know those were the infamous words of Marie Antoinette and her reward was a quick trip to the guillotine. Fortunately for Ma Belle, she can get away with anything here, the good old US taxpayer foots the bill and never complains. But I have had it up to here with the elitist ness of the Obama’s holier than thou attitude, their flagrant disrespect for the office of the presidency and their downright callous and irreverent behavior.

And, I am not alone. Below are the words of Andrea Tantaros who writes op-ed for the New York Daily news. Give it a look.

Sacrifice is something that many Americans are becoming all too familiar with during this economic downturn. It was a key theme in President Obama‘s inaugural address to the nation, and he’s referenced it numerous times when lecturing the country on how to get back on its feet.

But while most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing  summer sojourns – or forgoing them altogether – the Obamas don’t seem to be heeding their own advice. While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in southern Spain with 40 of her “closest friends.” According to CNN, the group is expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms, more than a third of the lodgings at the 160-room resort. Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times.

Reports are calling the lodgings of  Obama’s Spanish fiesta, the Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella, “luxurious,” “posh” and “a millionaires’ playground.” Estimated room rate per night? Up to a staggering $2,500. Method of transportation? Air Force Two.

To be clear, what the Obamas do with their money is one thing; what they do with ours is another. Transporting and housing the estimated 70 Secret Service agents who will flank the material girl will cost the taxpayers a pretty penny.

Perhaps it could be that the Obamas, who seem to fancy themselves more along the lines of international celebrities than actual leaders, espouse a different view of sacrifice. When Michelle Obama accompanied her husband to Copenhagen along with best buddy Oprah Winfrey, she billed the trip – an ultimately unsuccessful bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago – as follows: “As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or Oprah or the President to come for these few days, so many of you in this room have been working for years to bring this bid home.”

A quick jaunt to Denmark is a sacrifice? What portraits in courage!

The Obama modus operandi is becoming clear. From lavish trips to Spain to reportedly flying Bo, the President’s Portuguese water dog, on a separate aircraft to vacation with them in Maine, to a date night in New York City that perhaps cost nearly $100,000, their idea of austerity is really just the lap of luxury, at least for ordinary folks.

Incredibly, the Obamas have long portrayed themselves as precisely such commoners. Just this month, Obama told ABC the First Couple is “not that far removed from what most Americans are going through.” And that “it was just a few years ago that we had high credit card balances, we had two kids, thinking about college. We had our own retirement accounts, wondering if we were going to be able to get enough assets in there.”

If that’s true, why not select a more appropriate destination like the California coast? The scenery is just as gorgeous as that of Spain, and instead of patronizing a foreign country they would be pumping money into an American economy that desperately needs it. Camp David wouldn’t exactly be slumming it, either. A long weekend there would really send a message of responsibility, leadership and compassion. For a couple that has sharply criticized former President George W. Bush so widely, they could stand to follow his example for once and select a more low-key locale, as Bush regularly did in his Texas vacations.

Instead, Michelle Obama seems more like a modern-day Marie Antoinette – the French queen who spent extravagantly on clothes and jewels without a thought for her subjects’ plight – than an average mother of two. While she’s spent her time in the White House telling parents they should relieve their chubby kids’ dependency on sugar and stressing the importance of an organic veggie garden, hopping a jet to Europe to meet with Spanish royalty isn’t the visual the White House probably wants to project. Perhaps they’ve forgotten the damning image of John Kerry, on the eve of the 2004 election, windsurfing off the coast of Nantucket?

I don’t begrudge anyone rest and relaxation when they work hard. We all need downtime – the First Family included. It’s the extravagance of Michelle Obama’s trip and glitzy destination contrasted with President Obama’s demonization of the rich that smacks of hypocrisy and perpetuates a disconnect between the country and its leaders. Toning down the flash would humanize the Obamas and signify that they sympathize with the setbacks of the people they were elected to serve.

In January, President Obama insisted that “everybody in the country is going to have to sacrifice something, accept change for the greater good. Everybody is going to have to give. Everybody is going to have to have some skin in the game.”

If sacrifice is the precursor to change, what will the family that ran on change offer up? Elitist doublespeak won’t cut it.

Tantaros (andrea@andreatantaros.com) is a weekly contributor to the New York Daily News opinion section. She is a corporate communications professional who was formerly a Republican campaign strategist.

White House Staff: The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

Obama Greets Gate Crasher

We are a nation at war. Yes, I know we have not formally declared war on anyone but we are engaged in two armed conflicts and have had war decalred on us  publicly and loudly.  The objective of Islamic Fundamentalism is to murder every American who opposes their warped view of Islam. If you do not accept this fact, then read no further.

Every city in America is prepared for attack. We don’t know when or where it will come from, but it is certain it will come. So, one would think that our nation’s capital, Washington D.C., would be one of the most heavily protected areas of America and especially around our president and commander in chief.

Well it seems that the white house administrative staff doesn’t see it this way. Take the case of Desiree Rogers whose official title in the administration is White House Social Secretary.  Her sole job is to plan parties, maintain guest lists, send out invitations, and make sure the calligraphy on the seating cards are spelled correctly and at the correct place setting. She has no other responsibility. In essence, she is a high paid party planner.  One of the most important parts of her job is to provide the Secret Service with approved guest lists and to assist the SS at the entrance to the every planned event to prevent any embarrassing moments and handle any difficult situations with arriving guests. She is paid over $100K per year for this position.

Suffice it to say, this is TOO MUCH! Ms. Rogers not only shirked her high paid responsibilities that night, she brazenly put her name on the guest list and attended the dinner. No other social secretary has EVER done this under any administration. There sole purpose is to ensure things run smoothly and without incident, not rub elbows with the rich and famous. Huh?

Now congress wants to interview Ms. Rogers but the white house has issued a statement that presidential staff advisors do not answer to congress. Now she’s an ADVISOR to the president! Give me a break! This is Obama cronyism at its worst. Rogers and Obama’s wife are close friends.

Someone, and I bet its Rahm Emanuel, has decreed that the SS is at fault. And, the SS being the up front organization that it is, is accepting full responsibility. What a load of crap. They are there to take a bullet for the president. Not some high paid flunky who doesn’t even know what her job is. Three SS agents have been put on administrative leave and I will bet you dinner they will be fired , their lives ruined, by this political appointee who is the person directly responsible for the entire incident. SHE FAILED TO DO HER JOB.  And, in true Obama fashion, will be protected and let someone else take the fall.

I am incensed over the situation but it could have been much worse. Suppose the party crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi were actually there to create murder and mayhem? They had free access to the president and vice president and even had their photos taken with them. But we should not be surprised at that. Whenever there is a camera, there is Obama.