Thread: Obama’s vacation plans in jeopardy because of Ukraniana crisis

Politico
By EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE
3/5/14 7:51 PM EST

“The president had planned to stay in South Florida with his family for the remainder of the weekend,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “However, it is possible the president may return to the White House on Friday as events unfold in Ukraine.”

Obama’s vacation plans in jeopardy

Vladimir Putin has put President Barack Obama’s vacation plans on hold.

Obama is headed to Coral Reef High School in the southern part of Miami, Fla., on Friday for an event about education and the economy that first lady Michelle Obama had been expected to attend as well. What hadn’t been known was that Obama’s daughters were planning to come with them, and that the four were going to extend the trip for a brief family getaway.

Now, the White House tells POLITICO that he’s reconsidering.

“The president had planned to stay in South Florida with his family for the remainder of the weekend,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “However, it is possible the president may return to the White House on Friday as events unfold in Ukraine.”

Obama isn’t expected to head to Kiev or anywhere else if the weekend in Florida gets scrapped, but more likely have a repeat of last weekend, which he spent in briefings and on the phone with foreign leaders after Putin began moving troops into Crimea.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/0...319.html?hp=l8

DC Trawler

Relax, America: Putin isn’t about to ruin Obama’s latest vacation

8:57 AM 03/07/2014
Jim Treacher

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, one question has loomed large from sea to shining sea: “How will this affect King Barry’s tee time?”

Not to worry, peasants. CNN:

The standoff between President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin isn’t preventing the U.S. leader from pressing forward with the ambitious domestic agenda he laid out in January’s State of the Union address…

The President also isn’t letting the incursion of Russian troops into Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula prevent him and his family from enjoying a weekend away from Washington, currently beset by cold temperatures and sloppy piles of melting snow.

While the White House signaled earlier in the week that a long-planned getaway in South Florida could be nixed due to overseas events, the official presidential schedule still shows the commander-in-chief and his wife remaining in Key Largo for the weekend…

Local media reports indicate the Obamas will stay at the Ocean Reef Club, a private compound that still enforces a dress code “designed to complement today’s more casual lifestyles while still respecting the Club’s longstanding traditions.” It boasts 36 holes of golf for the President to enjoy and spas and restaurants for his family.

And here I thought there might be a problem. Whew!

Once upon a time, it was considered very, very bad for the President of the United States to go golfing while important things were happening:



But that was back when criticizing the leader of the “free” world wasn’t racist.

In related news, Susan Crabtree of the Washington Examiner reports:

White House press secretary Jay Carney said he personally has no regrets that President Obama’s team poked fun at Mitt Romney for calling Russia America’s No. 1 geopolitical foe during the 2012 election despite this week’s Russian incursion into Ukraine.

Well, why would he? The point was to win, not to have the least idea what they were talking about.

You don’t go to Democrats for solutions to problems. You go to Democrats to be told what you desperately want to believe at any given moment. They’re awesome at that!

http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/07/re...test-vacation/

China applauds as Putin rebuffs Obama on Crimea




Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t budging from Crimea, the Chinese government is signaling support for him and President Barack Obama is taking a weekend vacation in the Florida Keys.

OH NO! Obama may have to cut third vacation THIS YEAR short because of Ukraine

The first family spent a sixth annual retreat on the Hawaiian island of Oahu—billed to American taxpayers at a cost of $4 million.

Michelle Obama spent an extra week there to celebrate her 50th birthday in style.

President Barack Obama, his wife and the first daughters may have to cut their latest vacation short because of Russia’s meddling in Ukraine.

The Obama family’s current plan for the weekend is to escape the cold, snowy doldrums of Washington, D.C. for some rest and relaxation in sunny Key Largo, Fla., reports the Daily Mail.

However, despite Obama’s earnest invocations of international law, pro-Russian forces and the Russian government are making swift military and political moves in Ukraine’s Crimea region. Consequently, the Key Largo holiday could be in peril.

“It is possible the president may return to the White House on Friday as events unfold in Ukraine,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Thursday, according to the Mail.

The excuse for this urgently needed break from the hurly-burly of the White House is that both Obamas are scheduled to speak about the value of education at Coral Reef High School in Miami.

So, why not spend the rest of the weekend basking on the sandy beaches and two golf courses of the Ocean Reef Club—a private, five-star paradise on 2,500 lush, tropical acres?

Unless pesky world events get in the way, the Key Largo romp will be Obama’s third taxpayer-funded getaway this year.

Just last month, Obama flew to Southern California over Presidents Day weekend to meet with King Abdullah II of Jordan and play some golf on the posh Sunnylands estate. The trip also included a round of golf on a private, 19-hole course owned by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, one of his billionaire supporters.

The first family spent a sixth annual retreat on the Hawaiian island of Oahu—billed to American taxpayers at a cost of $4 million. Michelle Obama spent an extra week there to celebrate her 50th birthday in style.

Later this month, the globetrotting first lady and her daughters will jet off to China for over a week of much-needed sightseeing. The president won’t be making the trip but his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, will be tagging along on the federal dime.

The first couple racked up an $11 million tab on travel to South Africa to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral in December 2013. Amazingly, the presidential pair was on the ground for fewer than 13 hours.

In June, Michelle Obama felt compelled to go to Ireland for two days. She stayed at a $3,300-per-night hotel in Dublin. The total cost of her taxpayer-funded trip was $5 million.

Other vacations the jet-setting Obamas took in 2013 included a multimillion-dollar trip to Martha’s Vineyard.

Obama also took an August trip to California to meet with Democratic mega-fundraiser Jeffrey Katzenberg and appear on “The Tonight Show.” That jaunt cost Americans $2 million.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/07/oh...#ixzz2vIctkaoh

Obama vacation plans in doubt because of Ukraine

By Associated Press

PUBLISHED: 21:47 EST, 6 March 2014 | UPDATED: 21:47 EST, 6 March 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was supposed be a weekend getaway to Florida for President Barack Obama and his wife and daughters, an escape from the frigid weather and lingering piles of snow around Washington. But Russia's intervention in Ukraine has put Obama's plans in doubt, making it possible the family could end up at the White House.

The White House said late Thursday that Obama would spend the weekend in Key Largo, Fla., although that still could change.

"It is possible the president may return to the White House on Friday as events unfold in Ukraine," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said earlier in the day.


The weekend stay was tacked onto a visit Friday afternoon by Obama and his wife, Michelle, to Coral Reef High School in Miami, where they are to address students on the importance of education.

This vacation would come on the heels of the holiday Obama spent at the Sunnylands estate in Southern California during Presidents Day weekend last month, where he teed off on the desert property's 9-hole golf course as well as on a private, 19-hole course owned by supporter Larry Ellison, co-founder of the Oracle software company and one of the richest men in America.

Obama had gone to Sunnylands for meetings with King Abdullah II of Jordan

The White House has not said where Obama will stay, but local media reports said it was the Ocean Reef Club, a private property set on 2,500 tropical acres in the Florida Keys. Obama is an avid golfer and the property boasts two 18-hole golf courses. There's also a swimming lagoon, tennis courts, a spa and fitness center, a private airport and more than a dozen restaurants among the club's varied offerings.

Every president gets criticized for the amount of time spent away from the White House, and Obama is no different. The Florida vacation, if it happens, would be his third for the year.

Besides Sunnylands, Obama and his family continued their tradition of spending Christmas and New Year's in his birthplace of Hawaii. The president and his daughters returned to the White House on Jan. 5, but Mrs. Obama stayed behind for another week to begin celebrating her 50th birthday later that month.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/...#ixzz2vIe2IdAk
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March 08, 2014, 02:57 pm Obama links up with celebrities for golf game

President Obama golfed on Saturday with former NBA player Alonzo Mourning and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad after discussing the military tensions in Ukraine with foreign leaders.

The commander-in-chief skipped out of Washington this weekend to vacation with his family in Key Largo, Fla. The White House said Obama placed calls to leaders in countries such as Britain, France, Italy, Lithuania, Latvian and Estonia before he hit the links.

Obama and the sports figures were joined by Cyrus Walker, who is the cousin of White House adviser Valerie Jarrett.

The president has teamed up with Mourning during several recent trips to Florida. They golfed together last November and Obama will host a democratic fundraiser at Mourning's Miami home later this month.

The former Heat player is also helping the administration promote the Affordable Care Act.


http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...g-ahmad-rashad