Angry Minute 8-10-01

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President Bush's month-long vacation retreat,
or as the White House wants you to believe "Home to The Heartland Tour"
has drawn some interrogation lately.

But the fact that he is doing business as usual from his home in Texas
isn't really what bugs me.
In fact, German chancellor Helmut Schmidt once took 64 days off in a single year.
Helmut Kohl never missed his annual 4 week Austrian furlough in 16 years!
In fact, keeping up with the Jonesbergers is all the rage in Europe these days,
since German law guarantees employees at least 24 days of vacation.

No, what irks my skirt, is the impression it leaves, and the possibility it exposes.
In the United States, Bureau of Labor statistics show it takes 20 years
before private sector workers get 20 days off.
And, here we have a newly elected-and "elected" the key word here ---
President of the United States gassing his load just 6 months into his job.

Slap in the face of America, number one.

Tell me what the impression is, of a president of a country that built its existence
on blue collar work, working from the porch of his Texas spread.
Go to the White House web page and the very first words are:
For two hundred years the white house has stood as a symbol of the presidency,
the United States government, and the American People.
Unfortunatley, Bush sees it as a hair clog in the sink of his cranium.


Slap in the face of America, number two.

It's not the fact he IS or ISN"T taking care of business-he is, that's obvious.
Stem Cell Debate, the middle East, Global Warming,
even the President of China expressed optimism over future correspondence with Bush---
and they haven't even met!?

In fact, that's exactly where I find favor.
In the back of my small mind all I can think of is "we're a lot better off,
with a Bush in a tree on a ranch" than a George in the White House in FULL view.