# President fiddles while soldiers burn **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 7, 2005, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978 "2005-08-07T10:05:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/1 "2005-08-07T10:05:56Z")
According to an [LP press release](http://www.lp.org/media/article_169.shtml), President Bush has begun a five week — _five week_ — vacation at his Crawford Ranch in Texas. This is our Commander-in-Chief, the War President, frolicking in the meadows while the flesh of people who serve him is ripped apart by shrapnel and flung onto the streets and sidewalks in foreign lands. According to the LP, 14 Marines from Ohio were blown to smithereens by a roadside bomb on the day Bush began his rest and relaxation, the longest such vacation since Richard Nixon 36 years ago. In the article, you can see Bush’s vacations in the context of time served by people in his command. It is no wonder the son of a bitch is tanking in the polls. He has just concluded fighting for an extension on the abridgment of our liberties, and now is enjoying five weeks of leisure time while American boys and girls endure minute-by-minute risk of death and disability. Why the hell doesn’t he fly in his fucking fighter jet to Iraq and relieve a pilot so _he_ can have a vacation? I swear, this fucker is on the fast track to becoming the second worst president, after Jackson, that we’ve ever had — a war-mongering, draft-dodging, pansy-ass hypocrite and liar who has made us the enemy of the whole world, spent our treasury like Paris Hilton in Milan, turned “freedom” into a meaningless buzzword, and turned back social progess a half a century. And all with a fucking perma-smirk. Damn. Just plain damn. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/2 "2005-08-07T12:09:19Z")
Well, Yes, **Liberal** , damn indeed — but whether the President is in the backwoods of Texas or in D.C. doesn’t really make much difference. Bad policy remains bad policy no matter where the erstwhile commander in chief is making his headquarters. One might as well condemn FDR for spending so much time at Campabello or Warm Springs. The casualties in the Marine Reserve battalion from Ohio, however, dramatizes much of what has gone wrong, and has predictably gone wrong, with the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The problem is not where the President is located, it is with an ill conceived and ill advised policy. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/3 "2005-08-07T12:15:08Z")
I realize that it is **Liberal** ’s intention to pit the President in this Thread, but I would rather discuss the entertainment aspects of the President’s vacation and perhaps critique the proficiency of his fiddle playing. Could we please have this Thread moved to **Cafe Society**??? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/4 "2005-08-07T12:22:04Z")
The UK Parliament have just started an 11 week holiday. Recently our Prime Minister assured us that a) he had no reason to apologise for taking the UK into Iraq and b) there was simply no connection between Iraq and the London bombings. On behalf of the UK, can I assure you that we still like Americans in general. We just despise Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/5 "2005-08-07T13:06:16Z")
I thought the president was allowed to telecommute. All of Capitol Hill packed-up and left last Friday, the bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/6 "2005-08-07T13:28:31Z")
You’re losing it, Liberal. The President’s vacation is a far cry different than your vacation is. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/7 "2005-08-07T13:29:59Z")
What I meant in my posting above, Liberal, is that the president’s vacation is always a working vacation. It’s not time away from all the cares and tasks of his day job. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/8 "2005-08-07T13:30:25Z")
Hey, a lot of brush must have accumulated that he needs to clear in front of a camera. The more he’s seen doing stuff like that, the more the “good 'ole boy I’d like to have a beer with” image is portrayed that got his previous high approval numbers. I’m sure that is exactly his plan to try and reverse his recent low poll numbers. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/9 "2005-08-07T13:31:18Z")
perhaps there will be another comatose brain dead woman emergency bill for him to sign. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/10 "2005-08-07T13:36:26Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > According to an [LP press release](http://www.lp.org/media/article_169.shtml), President Bush has begun a five week — _five week_ — vacation at his Crawford Ranch in Texas. Since when is spending 5 weeks at home a vacation? Do you honestly believe that the president won’t even be working during this time? Sheesh ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/11 "2005-08-07T13:38:55Z")
> [@wring](#): > > perhaps there will be another comatose brain dead woman emergency bill for him to sign. One of your best! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/12 "2005-08-07T13:48:12Z")
> [@wring](#): > > perhaps there will be another comatose brain dead woman emergency bill for him to sign. Don’t worry if there is a tsunami which kills thousands of people. That won’t be enough to get him out of Crawford. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/13 "2005-08-07T13:55:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Hey, a lot of brush must have accumulated that he needs to clear in front of a camera. How much damn brush can one ranch have on it? I’m convinced that they go down there between Bush’s visits and cultivate more brush. It’s not quite fair to compare Bush’s vacation and everybody else’s, but if the WH doesn’t want the press to do so, they shouldn’t refer to it as a “vacation”. It just breeds resentment in the vast majority of Americans who will never take a five-week vacation in their entire lives. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/14 "2005-08-07T14:00:13Z")
I thought Reeder was banned. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/15 "2005-08-07T14:02:03Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Hey, a lot of brush must have accumulated that he needs to clear in front of a camera. The more he’s seen doing stuff like that, the more the “good 'ole boy I’d like to have a beer with” image is portrayed that got his previous high approval numbers. I’m sure that is exactly his plan to try and reverse his recent low poll numbers. That would make sense if he were running for re-election. He isn’t. I don’t think the poll numbers matter to him much these days. His legacy is being written in that he’ll start bring the troops back home in the last year of his presidency to give the illusion that he started, won and ended the war, all within his term. Consequences be damned. Besides, the barn could really use painting, the fences need mending, the roof thatching and the fields tending. A cowboy’s work is never done. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/16 "2005-08-07T14:06:13Z")
I’m sure there are elements of rest and relaxation at Crawford for Bush. I’m equally sure that he works at his job every day. That said, _five_ fucking weeks? A bit much. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/17 "2005-08-07T14:10:35Z")
How critical is it that the President be in Washington, anyway? If Congress is out of session, there won’t be any bills for him to sign or veto, and naturally his home is loaded up with so much comm equipment that he can be talking to any member of the Cabinet or the Chairman of the the Joint Chiefs within minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/18 "2005-08-07T14:15:08Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > How much damn brush can one ranch have on it? I’m convinced that they go down there between Bush’s visits and cultivate more brush. What kills me is that even if the guy owned a fucking _brush farm_ he has more then enough money to buy a big ag tractor with one of those 20’+ [batwing mowers](http://www.bushhog.com/specbook/2720.html) and knock it all down in like… a day. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/19 "2005-08-07T14:45:38Z")
> [@grienspace](#): > > Since when is spending 5 weeks at home a vacation? Sign me up. As to whether or not Bush works when he’s in Crawford, I think everyone knows he does. Politics aside, a leader should be mindful of the symbolism of his actions. I’m sure my manager can work from home, but if he left every day at 4 while asking everyone else to stay at work until 6, we would all rightly conclude that he was an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978/20 "2005-08-07T14:47:27Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > What kills me is that even if the guy owned a fucking _brush farm_ he has more then enough money to buy a big ag tractor with one of those 20’+ [batwing mowers](http://www.bushhog.com/specbook/2720.html) and knock it all down in like… a day. Is that what he used to knock down the Iraqi Resistance in a day? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-fiddles-while-soldiers-burn/315978.md?page=2)