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No vacation from attacks on Michelle By: Kendra Marr and Amie Parnes August 16, 2010 02:37 PM EDT It’s been a long time since Michelle Obama has been attacked like this. The first lady’s lavish Spanish vacation was the lead story in the Drudge Report for days. Political columnists and commentators lampooned her as a 21st-century Marie Antoinette, unwinding at a luxury resort while unemployment lingers near 10 percent and President Barack Obama’s poll numbers fade. And headlines set off political sirens: Scandal! Tone deaf! Elitist! The attacks from right-wing commentators — and a handful of left-leaning pundits — produced...

While Newsweek's David Graham is hard at work defending President Obama's summertime leisure -- "A Short History of Presidential Vacation Outrage" -- by insisting that the press corps always complains about any president's vacation habits, it's instructive that he failed to indict his own magazine. "War on terrorism stalled, economy on precipice, time for a month on the Crawford ranch." Accompanied by a disapproving down arrow, that's how the August 5, 2002 Newsweek feature "Conventional Wisdom" derided President Bush's working vacation a mere three months before midterm elections in his first term.

As President Obama headed to the Florida Panhandle for a vacation with the family, he felt the need to drag his teleprompter along.

The White House today confirmed what many islanders have been anticipating for weeks: The first family will return to Martha's Vineyard for vacation next month. President Obama and his family are scheduled to vacation on the island from Aug. 19 to Aug. 29.

There’s a lot of talk about Michelle and Sasha Obama’s mother-daughter trip with 40 friends to a ritzy resort on the coast of Spain, and some of the commentary is a little harsh. Andrea Tantaros of the New York Daily News calls the first lady a “material girl” and a “modern-day Marie Antoinette”--but she also brings up a valid point about the cost to taxpayers of taking an estimated 70 Secret Service agents and Air Force Two on an overseas vacation. Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post writes that the attacks are unfair and that it’s not reasonable to expect...

This guy Obama is so out of touch -- he is so devoid of reality, living in such a self created fantasy world, so full of himself and his own lies -- that he's starting to believe all of his own BS. To go out and campaign at a Ford plant and take credit for their jobs? They didn't get any bailout money. Ford is surviving in spite of Obama, as is everybody else in this country who is succeeding. Whoever is enjoying success, whoever is making a go of it is doing so in spite of Obama. He's jetting...

Michelle Obama today faced a fresh wave of attacks over her lavish break in Spain with 40 friends which has cost U.S. taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds. The First Lady has been lambasted for her extravagance at a time when the economy is still struggling. One blogger went so far as to brand her a modern-day Marie Antoinette. The exact cost of the trip is unclear as Mrs Obama, 46, and her friends are footing personal expenses - including accommodation at Marbella's five-star Hotel Villa Padierna - themselves. But the taxpayer will have to pick up the tab for...

The First Lady is in Spain - and they adore her. It's a huge trip, at huge expense, but it's paying off in goodwill - at least over there. Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha, 9, were greeted by smiling crowds chanting "Obama" and "guapa," which means beautiful, as they spent the first full day of their adventure touring a cathedral in the city of Granada. They were cheered again when they tried to beat the Andalusian heat by hitting one of Granada's popular ice cream parlors. Mother and daughter - and their entourage of pals, aides and Secret Service...

ESTEPONA, Spain — Spanish police have cleared off a stretch of beach for U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha to relax by the Mediterranean after a busy day of sightseeing. Police used palm trees Friday to mark off the boundaries of a 100-meter (100-yard) expanse for the American delegation. On either side, onlookers gawked. As the first lady rested inside a canvas hut ...

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters yesterday, in answer to a query about First Lady Michelle Obama's Spanish vacation where she is protected by 70 Secret Service agents, 250 Spanish law enforcement officers, will meet with Spain's king and queen and is staying at a luxury hotel where she has reserved 60 rooms, that it is none of the American people's business because she is a "private citizen."Lynn Sweet reported at the Chicago Sun-Times that Gibbs was asked about "the appearance" of Obama's vacation and that Gibbs blew it off by asserting Michelle Obama is a "private citizen":"The...

Elizabeth Palmer reports from CBS news desk: New York Tabloid Calls First Lady Marie Antoinette for Taking Daughter on Lavish Trip during Poor Economic Times; Michelle Obama's Spain vacation is drawing fire from some who say it was bad taste in these difficult economic times. Michelle Obama will meet with the King and Queen of Spain during her solo trip there but some eyebrows have been raised about the cost to taxpayers. CBS News Investigative Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports. When Michelle Obama visited the Gulf coast, she reminded us that many beaches were still open and suggested it was a...

Back then, Obama compared himself to a janitor, but he was cleaning up healthcare - not oil. No word on costs yet to attend the gala, but we doubt any BP discounts will be handed out. It cost about $15,000 to eat dinner with the president in October. Might we see a LeBron James and Chris Bosh siting when the Head Democrat in Charge comes to town? It's almost a lock D-Wade will be there. As for the politics, Obama's help is desperately needed to boost the U.S. Senate chances of Kendrick Meek, who is trailing both Gov. Charlie Crist...

The White House today confirmed what many islanders have been anticipating for weeks: The first family will return to Martha's Vineyard for vacation next month. President Obama and his family are scheduled to vacation on the island from Aug. 19 to Aug. 29. The White House did not provide details on the getaway, but the Globe reported earlier this month that a reservation company has been holding rooms across the Vineyard for the contingent of staff who travel with the president.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is taking his family back to Martha's Vineyard, Mass., for summer vacation next month. The White House announced the vacation plans on Friday, one day after disclosing that the Obamas would overnight somewhere along Florida's oil-threatened Gulf Coast on the weekend of Aug. 14.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and his family will vacation on Florida's Gulf Coast next month, the White House said Thursday. The Obamas are scheduled to travel to the coast on Aug. 14 and stay the weekend. More details about precisely where they would stay were to be released later, the White House said. Obama has made four trips to the Gulf region, including one overnight stay, since an underwater well began spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico in April. First lady Michelle Obama is making her second visit to the area on Friday.

The First Family's weekend getaway in Bar Harbor ended on Sunday as Air Force One took off a little after 10:00 in the morning. For the folks around the Bar Harbor area things have started to return to normal. Matthew Schneider, the General Manager at the Qarterdeck restaurant, says he's already looking ahead to the rest of the summer. "It's gonna be business as usual," he says. "We have a big cruise ship coming in tomorrow. 2200 people coming off that boat. Our normal everyday tourists are here, yeah it's back to business as usual." But for some of the...

President Barack Obama has played a remarkable 41 rounds of golf since becoming president, easily outpacing his predecessor and possibly damaging his ability to portray himself in 2012 as a populist advocate of average folks. With the excursions lasting on average at least five hours, the president has devoted a total of more than 200 hours to golf, not counting time spent on the White House putting green. That’s the equivalent of twenty five eight-hour work days, or five work weeks spent smacking golf balls. The former community organizer’s 41 trips around the links – a standard of recreational activity...

President Obama and his family leave Friday for a weekend getaway to Maine, but along with a little rest and relaxation comes criticism that the president is taking it easy with the Gulf of Mexico oil crisis in a critical phase. The Obamas plan to spend the weekend on Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. The trip marks the president's third vacation since the oil disaster began in April. The Republican National Convention launched a website blasting what it considers Obama's "leisure activities or missteps" during the oil disaster, like playing golf, attending concerts and vacationing in Asheville,...

Camp David's woodsy confines lure him to 10th visit WASHINGTON - -- Why hasn't President Barack Obama kept his pledge to make Chicago's South Side his "Kennebunkport"? Two words: Camp David. The ultra-private, presidential mountain retreat -- a half-hour from the White House by helicopter -- has quickly found fans within the First Family. Their stay for Labor Day weekend was Obama's 10th visit.... ...With Obama's return Sunday, he has logged all or part of 26 days at Camp David, White House officials say.

Have yourself a little getaway after 2 vacations, everyone needs it, I wonder what the carbon footprint on all this is?