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Barack Obama knows cool. No matter what the screaming hyenas of radical Republican defeatism might say, he’s a guy who enjoys living in his own skin and wants to survive the presidency with his sense of self, and his personality, in tact. Thus, Hawaii. Thus, a vacation while the worst security breach since 9-11 plays out in the droopy eyelid time of American lassitude, the so called holidays, those days of soda, pretzels, beer and bowl games. For what’s left of our attention, the terrorist bomber got it.
It is important to this man, Obama, to go to Hawaii, the place where he was born and, as Dylan said long ago, was partly raised. He should never go on vacation in Hawaii again, however, and the pants bomber case makes that very, very clear.
Now, keep in mind that presidents have wonderful means of keeping in touch and their aides can fly with them, or come to meet them, anywhere in the world. Even before the age of the Internet and fiber optics, the White House, when traveling, was a wonder of communications. I remember traveling with a president once many years ago walking in a desert landscape in Mexico and picking up a phone which was immediately answered by an operator: White House. Is that cool enough?
Communications, however, are not the issue. What would have happened had Obama been in Hawaii and the pants bomber had been successful? First, he would have stayed right there and made statements and issued orders, then he would have gotten on AF One and flown for many, many hours to get back to DC. Hawaii is just too damn far from the capital for a presidential vacation or “western White House” in these days of instant communications and symbolism. A nonstop flight, depending on upper level winds, would take something like 10 to 12 hours or even a little longer. On AF One, he’d be in good, constant contact with his Cabinet and aides, but out of touch with the American people. It would be as though he pulled a George W. Bush dis
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From the Washington Post:
“Senior administration officials said that Obama at no point considered cutting short his trip to attend to matters on the mainland, and they could not deny that Obama still had plenty of fun despite the unexpected crises.”
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appearing act on 9-11.
Trust me, Mr. President, there are many, many places you can go to that are almost as good as the lush beauty of Hawaii. The US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are two examples and people down there would love to have you. You’d be only a few hours from home and the powerful message that you, our president, is hard at work in the place we, the voters, have provided for you, the White House.
If Obama had been in the Virgin’s, he could have left his family and their guests there, jetted up to the White House for a day or a day and a half, made his presence known, knocked some heads together, then quickly rejoined his family on their vacation. Instead, we have seen a president coming out in a small room, looking down repeatedly at his script (no prompter?) and trying to convey his belief in the seriousness of the situation. Not nearly good enough.
Another way to look at this is this: what if the Detroit event had instead been a successful bombing of American aircraft flying over American soil? As far as we know, this has never happened in the modern era of jet aviation. What would Obama have done? He would have been faced with the prickly dilemma of staying or coming home. How he handled that problem could, in one stroke, ruin his presidency in the public eye less than one year into the job. If the people who run the White House, and the president, want to face the prospect of such a decision, and the potential consequences, then he should keep right on flying to Hawaii at Christmas time.
Obama deserves some consideration because he has two growing children whom both he and his wife want to have something like a “normal” life, but, to grow into the presidency, he might have to drop some of his cool and pick up on the 24/7 nature of the job. Right now, it looks like he’s missing in action and that is the wrong message at the wrong time. Maybe next year he will consider the wonders of visiting Buffalo, New York when the snow’s as high as an elephant’s eye.
Doug Terry, 1.1.2010
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