I just got off the phone with my 2d born who is in [classified], [classified]. It was so good to hear her voice, even with all the static that made it hard to understand what she was saying.
We did catch that the DFAC had done a fantastic job, with decorations – including TWO Nativity sets (shh, don’t tell the Lefties the CINC put in charge of banning any mention of God at military funerals, as I’m sure they would NOT approve) – plus bouquets made of fruits and vegetables, turkey, prime rib and ham, beautifully decorated cakes and pies galore.
She was also really touched by a Navy priest who spent all last year in [classified], but returned this year for Christmas to make sure as many of the Catholic soldiers in [classified] could attend Christmas Mass as possible.
Also, could you please ask God to send one of His heavenly travel agent angels to help make her deployment leave dream come true?
She hasn’t seen her hubby since last summer. They got their leaves scheduled for the same time in [classified], but really, really want to figure out a way to meet up over there so they can sit together on the very same plane for the long flight home.
And speaking of loving couples having to spend time apart …
NOW: December 24, 2011 – First lady asked Santa to help get Obama to Hawaii – By Eric Risberg, AP
“We were all praying and praying, and asking Santa, and the tooth fairy, and every fairy they could think of,” the first lady said Saturday. She said their children prayed as well that the president “would be able to be with us.”
President Obama made it to Hawaii, about a week late, and only after Congress resolved its stalemate over extending expiring payroll tax cuts.
Obama’s first order of business when he arrived was dinner with Michelle and a few friends at one of their favorite dining spots.
The president has no public events planned in Hawaii. He skipped his normal early morning gym workout Saturday, opting to spend time at the multimillion-dollar vacation home his family rents in the Kailua Beach area, near Honolulu. He headed to the golf course later in the day.
The Obamas are expected to return to Washington shortly after New Year’s Day.
Read the rest at http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-12-24/obama-hawaii-holiday/52200896/1
THEN: August 11, 2010 – I should put myself in their shoes – By Kyle-Anne Shiver
The Golden Rule demands we summon our inner self-sacrificial doormat sides, lay down our weary burdens, and give a heaping spoonful of empathy to our first couple.
Oh, where to start? The back-breaking, mind-wrenching toil of our first couple is so ubiquitously evident every single day that it’s just nearly impossible to choose the entry site for efficient, surgical empathy.
Well, I’ll just pick something arbitrarily.
Did you selfish ingrates out there in the heartland know that the president had to spend his own birthday without the companionship of his wife and daughters who were in Marbella, Spain, beaching and sightseeing.
Perhaps the president could form a support group with soldiers in his war over there in Afghanistan and they could help each other come to grips with holiday-separation anxiety.
Let’s see now. What other surgical empathy might we commoners summon for our downtrodden first couple?
Well, there’s the president’s golf game. Knowing golfers as I do, I doubt seriously whether Barack is ever truly satisfied with his score, but he’s certainly getting plenty of oh-so-grueling practice time.
And, of course, back in April of ’09, Barack met with Tiger in the Oval, sharing golf tidbits no doubt. Then, Barack and Tiger took time out from their back-breaking party schedules to do a photoshoot for Golf Digest. The glossy-mag cover heralded the twosome’s friendship with the title: “Ten Tips Obama Can Take from Tiger.”
It was just downright horrible how the timing of that Golf Digest hit the newsstands.
There, our poor, pitiful president was hunched down over a challenging putting green with Tiger’s formidable manhood dwarfing Barack in the shot, while at the very same time, our president’s mouthpieces were selling the line that Barack was hard at thoughtful dithering over his Afghanistan troop surge, and as if that weren’t enough for White House discomfort, this cover also hit while Tiger’s adulterous affairs — too numerous to count — were breaking wide open.
Even the most beleaguered citizen just had to feel the president’s pain that awful week.
Read the rest at http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/why-can%E2%80%99t-you-selfish-ingrates-feel-the-first-couple%E2%80%99s-pain/
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