how about venango, nebraska?

Cokie Roberts convinced me on the ABC that he went to some exotic spot for vacation.

George Will convinced me that Obama's first reaction to the Georgia-Russia conflict, asking both sides to cool it, proves that he is not fit to be the C-in-C.

Matt Bai convinced me that George McCain knows this stuff extremely well, like he knows about Social Security, the Shia-Sunni antagonism, and Iran-Al Queda connection.

Now I know who to vote for in November.

Hawaiians are clearly not real hard-working Americans. Just like black people, apparently! Obama's grandmother's elitist inability to travel off the island due to medical reasons should be a winning issue for McCain.

You have obviously never had your picture taken with the giant jackalope at Wall Drug. Pure depression era fun.

Obama grew up in Hawaii. There's nothing elitist about going home for your vacation.

B: I didn't have my picture taken with the jackalope, but I've been to Wall Drug! Had a free cup of ice water and everything.

How many absurdities can you pack into one short para-gaffe?

“For somebody who has been called ‘elitist,’ going to Hawaii is not exactly going against type,� [Douglas Schoen, a pollster for Clinton’s reelection campaign] said. “I would rather have him going to national parks.�

1. As noted, Hawaii is not elitist, unless spending time among people who don't have lily-white skin is elitist.
2. Going to national parks? Barack and Michelle should rent a camper and hang out in Yosemite with their kids for eight days? Besides being completely impractical in terms of security, and besides the fact that it's probably not their taste, what major American politician does this? I would file this suggestion under the "proving that you're white enough" test.
3. A pollster for the Clintons: yes, I think I know why Hillary lost now.

Aaahhh. . . We were suckered in for the ice water and ended up losing a fair number of pennies paying for grandma's coffee. The bobblehead jackalope we picked up was fun for about a thousand miles but lost it's head on a rough road in Michigan.

It depends on where in Hawaii. It appears that Obama is spending his time on Oahu. That is as non-elitist as Hawaii gets outside of vacationing in the Hilo area.

Hawaii gets about seven and a half million visitors a year. Where are all these jet-set elitists coming from???

Oh. Most of them are middle class Americans??? Never mind.

Cokie may not know that Hawaii is a state now. Really.

How exotic is it to travel within one's nation for a vacation?

I grew up in a failing timber town in the Pacific Northwest, and everybody went to Hawaii. Everybody. People on unemployment went to Hawaii. If you were rich you'd go to Florida or Europe.

This is so f%$#ing stupid it burns.

Real Americans vacation in Lubbock, TX. There's nothing like the smell of oil and livestock in the morning. Smells like profit.

Who says Obama isn't going to a national park on his vacation? Hawaii is part of the U.S., Shoen.

You all are missing the point. It's "elitist" to take any vacation at all right now, what with the price of gas and airline tickets. All "regular Americans" are taking staycations! Didn't you get the memo?

Hawaii is elitist? I hope the Republicans try to run with that. McCain has 8 homes, including one in La Jolla, CA, one of the most expensive areas of CA.

Didn't Bush's parents take him to Scottland for a month or something when he was a young teenager? That's a nifty vacation. Hawaii is almost a tourist-trap.

All vacations are elitist, unless they are to Dollywood or Branson, MO.

Hawaii is almost a tourist-trap.

Well, for all I know, anyway (I'v never been there).

I seem to recall some story of a young Bush wandering around by himself through the Scottish countryside. That's a lot different vacation for a kid than getting taken by car to see the Grand Canyon and Mt. Rushmore.

It's Obama's vacation spot. That's the key. If he'd gone to Myrtle Beach as Cokie Roberts suggested on This Week he'd be accused of pandering. If he stayed in Illinois he'd be written about that lazy Obama, taking a week's vacation.

They would write about how bad this is because right now, everything Barack Obama chooses to do is a mistake that feeds some irrational right wing meme that the reporters feel compelled to repeat even if they themseleves find it ridiculous.

Tapper pisses me off the most with this bullshit.

Obama is probably going there to meet with his al Qaeda handlers. In other words the only vacation he can afford is a working one. Hardly elitist.

This may be the first time in our history that the press has paid attention to an African-American male going away on vacation.

Just be glad they didn't ask which prison he was being sent to.

I knew he should have gone to Dollywood.

If I wanted to fly from my city (Houston) to Hawaii next week, the cheapest airfare is $1100 round trip (flying during the week). Airfare next month would be around $450 round trip (per person).

That's not exactly elitist, but I'm not sure that's affordable for any household that's concerned about energy, food, or education prices when we are dipping into a recession.

I do think it's a somewhat unreasonable argument if you are visiting family, tho. Especially family that can't travel often due to age/health concerns.

Obama is probably going there to meet with his al Qaeda handlers. In other words the only vacation he can afford is a working one. Hardly elitist.

Wins the internet.

John McCain's annual visit to an exotic locale always begins with the words, "Try not to move so much this time, Cindy."

NanInBoston's on the wrong coast. As a Mainer it took some getting used to -- 'Boy, that's a trip-and-a-half' -- but my decidedly middle-class cognates on the West Coast do Hawaii every other year or so, with kids.

According to this website, it looks like a week in Hawaii a little over $1,000. So what? If you can spend a lot more than that on a wedding ring, you can spend $1,000 to go to Hawaii.

If I remember correctly, with the exception of last year, don't the Obama's ALWAYS go to Hawai'i?

Might be different in the winter, but visiting the tropics in August is as prole/undergraduate as it gets (like going to Cancun or Jamaica in the middle of the summer).

Tuna, that price difference you are looking at has as much to do with booking in advance as the particular days/weeks in question. Ordinary people vacation in Hawaii, but they don't generally say, "gee, let's blow off work and fly to Hawaii tomorrow". Most likely the Obamas didn't either.

two words: Brady Bunch

As someone who lives on Oahu, I can safely say that we're not elitist. Elite spots don't have the traffic problems we have.

He would have to go to the Big Island to find a national park, though.

Well, if ordering Orange Juice in a diner is elitist, how can a vacation in Hawaii not qualify?

If I wanted to fly from my city (Houston) to Hawaii next week, the cheapest airfare is $1100 round trip (flying during the week). Airfare next month would be around $450 round trip (per person).

That's not exactly elitist, but I'm not sure that's affordable for any household that's concerned about energy, food, or education prices when we are dipping into a recession.

Of course, when a household's annual income is $165,200 (PDF), "affordable" is a relative term.

“I would rather have him going to national parks.�

A black family of four living in a tent is considered homeless, it is only camping if the occupants are white.

Long vacations in a vanity 'ranch' (i.e. converted pig farm)? Down-home. Two weeks in Nantucket with your journo friends? Par for the course. Trip to Hawaii where your family lives? Elitist.

We're going to hear about Obama's elitist Spam sushi soon.

does this mean we can discuss mccain celebrating America's Birthday in South America?

You guys are all missing the point. Obama has made Hawaii elitist. You have the cause and effect backward.

If Obama does something it is by definition an elitist thing to do because Obama is an elitist and therefore only does elitist things.

As someone who lived on the North Shore of Oahu for three years, I WISH Hawai'i was more elitist.

I lived there when airfares were so cheap every frickin' haole from the mainland was stumbling all over the place, whining about the lack of McDonalds and struggling to figure out what a plate lunch was.

I say that it would be nice if it cost about 9 thousand dollars to get to The Islands, that would make it a LOT more livable.

Walk around the 70's era shopping centers along Waikiki Beach. Slightly depressing. (The beach and rest of the island of Oahu, outside of Honolulu, are really nice too. I've heard the other islands are freakin idyllic).

The crowd walking along the avenue at Waikiki are about 50% Japanese tourists and 50% middle-of-America folks, replete with sleeveless Harley Davidson t-shirts and carrying Igloo coolers full of beer. (The Americans average 2X the size of the Japanese tourists, occasionally 3X, as if they might have just eaten a Japanese tourist).

Mr. Drum's right, the mainland Americans visiting Honolulu are the same demographic you'd find sunning themselves July 4th weekend around any lake in the Midwest.

Wonder If we'll see pictures of him visiting his maternal grandmother. Might put better spin on his vacation to let people know it was a visit to grandma.

I found a picture of him getting on the elevator to go up to her apartment. But I don't think the Keep Out -- Private Property sign will help his image much
link:
http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/09/news/story04.html

It seems like the middle-class twerps who do the yeoman's work of writing a lot of this propaganda for the Karl Roves (and apparently get paid shit to do it, and never wonder about why they're not getting much compensation from their "glamorous" jobs) are pretty out-of-touch. My guess is that their ultra-racist dads refused to take them to Hawaii growing up without explaining why, so the Republican kids assumed it was too expensive-- when in fact their fathers just didn't want to go there because it's full of non-white people.

Anyway, why weren't all these people raising their voices when Bush went and took one vacation after another as the President? He's acting as if his family owns the White House, and he inherited his position there. That's about as elitist as you can get.

He's been to see his grandmother a couple of times, not to worry. I teach at the UH (which is about to suffer huge budget cuts) and most of my students have 1-3 jobs. The economy is bad here. Obama spoke effectively to that at the Keehi Lagoon speech.

Doesn't his sister also live in Hawai'i?

Let's see--the Republicans like to tout themselves as the party of family values.
Barack Obama visits his family who live in Hawaii, and that is elitist?

John McCain wears a $520.00 pair of leather shoes, but that isn't elitist?

I agree with analyst David Gergen that the McCain Campaign is using coded messages to present Obama as 'uppity.' >>To reach the base>>
They can't remind their racist base that Obama is not white, so this is clearly what they are resorting to.

Wait til the JUDGMENT issue gets out front when the Obama-McCain debates take place.
Ha--the judgment issue: there's McCain making ridiculously unfunny "jokes" about bombing another Mideast country, joking about rape, supporting Bush's torture policy despite personally being tortured, accepting in his campaign Bush and Rove's Steven Schmidt--that smearmeister--despite Schmidt's below the belt, highly negative attacks on and rumor-mongering about McCain and his wife in past campaigns to elect Bush. That says a lot about McCain's impaired judgment.

McCain, graduating 894 of 899 people at the Naval Academy. How low is that!
What is that? a D student?

Tuna wrote:

That's not exactly elitist, but I'm not sure that's affordable for any household that's concerned about energy, food, or education prices when we are dipping into a recession.

Well, that's the issue-- they said it was elitist, but it's not.

Anyway, you didn't find a good deal. If you check out the link in my 1:55 comment, you can find several trips (including airfare and hotel stays) that are a lot cheaper (by hundreds of dollars) than what you quoted.

We need to take this country back from the morons who are turning it upside down.

Lying to America, accepting bribes, and extorting public money? Totally normal.

Going on a trip to Hawaii? Abnormal.

OT

Check out how Joe Klein opens up his blog post today: "I never much liked John Edwards as a politician...and I guess we now know that he's a heel as a human being, too. But that doesn't mean his tawdry personal life is any of my concern."

(the ellipsis is in the original, apparently included just to give Joe's post a propaganda-conducive "tone of voice")

Way to sound like you're being paid by the Republicans, Joe. Objective and non-partisan media: Goodbye.

i think everybody knows the japanese chose pearl harbor based solely on hawaii's elitism. likewise, pro surfers choose hawaii not for its massive waves, but for its elitism.

Cokie may not know that Hawaii is a state now. Really.

Spit take. Thanks for the laugh.

He would have to go to the Big Island to find a national park, though.

Or Maui--Haleakala National Park. I think Molokai has one, too, on the peninsula where the leper colony was.

The point isn't whether Hawaii is an elitist vacation spot or not. Most of the posts here have shown that it's not. This is more dog whistling to small minded angry Americans. It says: "why does a nigger deserve a Hawaii vacation that I can't afford right now."

shortstop, I couldn't remember whether Haleakala was an NP or not, so I left it out. You're right, it is (It's been about 20 years since I went over there). Kalaupapa on Molokai is a National Historic Park, but it is run by the NPS, so I suppose you're right there too.

shortstop, I couldn't remember whether Haleakala was an NP or not, so I left it out. You're right, it is (It's been about 20 years since I went over there)

That's because you're too elitist to breathe thin 10,000-foot air with the great unwashed. Just messing witcha, of course.

Wow! It's great to live in an elitist place. That's what goes through my mind every morning when I drop my daughter off at work in Waikiki where she spends all day selling coffee drinks to jet setters from exclusive, affluent communities, like Lincoln, Nebraska and Lawton, Oklahoma.

I lived there when airfares were so cheap every frickin' haole from the mainland was stumbling all over the place, whining about the lack of McDonalds and struggling to figure out what a plate lunch was.

I remember visiting Hawaii as a sheltered 16-year-old from the Midwest back in the mid-80s and being amazed that they sold fish and rice for breakfast at McDonalds. Talk about culture shock -- it was so great that it forced me to move to Los Angeles and become a West Coast elitist.

Cokie Roberts is a lying, right-wing shill, and if we don't get this country out of the hands of people like her, we're through. In truth, there is NOTHING Obama could have done that she would not criticize him for--NOTHING. BTW, I live in Hawaii and I take her loathsome remarks as a slap in the face.

I guess Obama should have gone to one of his eight vacation homes instead--oh, that's right, I forgot, it's McCain that owns all those. You know, the "regular American" who married an heiress and is worth over $100,000,000.

Somewhere in America (or maybe Dubai), Margaret Carlson is weeping.

Just eat the waffle already, Obama!!!111!!!

Just in case anyone missed it, my comment above referred to the fact that Cokie Roberts used the same idiot argument about Hawaii on This Week.

I loved that Cokie's alternative, non-elitist vacation spot choice was Myrtle Beach. Does anyone not on the East Coast make a point of going to Myrtle Beach?

Personally I think it's real nice of him to go all that way to spend almost an hour with his white grandma in her exclusive high rise apartment. He shoulda took pictures. Maybe invited the press in for a little tea.

Having grown up as a member of the northeastern intellectual and cultural elite, I can say, with a certain amount of authority, that we don't vacation in Hawai'i. Where do members of "the elite" go for vacation? Europe, Martha's Vinyard, and the Hamptons.

Hawai'i is a decidedly middlebrow destination, and the sort of place that people who just threw the most tacky wedding you've ever attended chose for their honeymoon.

I've never been there and neither has anyone else in my extended family except my father, who was stationed at Pearl Harbor during WWII.

My parents went there when they were a decidedly middle-class family, with my dad in the military and my mom a lowly-grunt in a university laboratory. They lived on the west coast, and going to Hawai'i was "the sort of place you go on vacation to" when you're a middle class Californian (see also: 1970s-era tv series which featured "the vacation in Hawai'i episode," eg., The Jeffersons, The Brady Bunch, and Sesame St.) Most Americans aren't going to be shocked at the idea of a "Hawai'i vacation," because it's the sort of thing they would do if they had a decent amount of money. What the "elitist" tag means is not "having money" it's "doing weird stuff" with your money (eg, vacationing in Nantucket).

Taking any vacation anywhere is exotic these days.

We're in a lot of deep trouble if public resentment is going to whipped up by any public figure taking a vacation anywhere. I suspect that Obama is perhaps the only politician who would be pilloried for taking a vacation. "Lucky Sean Man" explains why.

If you're this hard up for column material, it's time to find a job in wingnut welfare.

Fixed.

Personally I think it's real nice of him to go all that way to spend almost an hour with his white grandma in her exclusive high rise apartment. He shoulda took pictures. Maybe invited the press in for a little tea.

Obama's grandmother lives in a one bedroom 1970's vintage condo in Maikiki (note not Waikiki). Condos like that typically sell for around $300K, just below the island average.

And he took the kids to see their grandmother [lowest right pic.]

I will say, $150/ barrel oil or higher (in 2008 dollars) will make Hawaii unaffordable to the people who visit now. The monthly visitor arrivals have been declining for a year, and this past month, the total spending also declined for the first time since 9/11.

They lived on the west coast, and going to Hawai'i was "the sort of place you go on vacation to" when you're a middle class Californian (see also: 1970s-era tv series which featured "the vacation in Hawai'i episode," eg., The Jeffersons, The Brady Bunch, and Sesame St.)

Well, neither George Jefferson nor Big Bird are middle class Californians, but I agree with your point. West Coasters went to the Channel Islands, BC, or Hawaii. Middle class East Coasters either drove to Maine or Florida (DC was generally the dividing line)

And Midwesterners go to work in some high rise
and vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico.

Everyone send Cokie a postcard from Hawaii.

From the Carpetbagger comments:

"The Brady Bunch vacationed in Hawaii, for christ’s sake! For three full episodes!!! Even Vincent Price was there, it was great!"

What more need be said? Vincent Price!

From the Carpetbagger comments:

"The Brady Bunch vacationed in Hawaii, for christ’s sake! For three full episodes!!! Even Vincent Price was there, it was great!"

What more need be said? Vincent Price!

I live in SF Bay area and hawaii is a relatively inexpensive chater flight away.
i spent more on my trip to New york for my last vacation than I would have if I had gone to Hawaii.

Most people I know (who have grown up here or lived here for a considerable amount of time) have gone to Hawaii; however not as many have gone to New york; and while I have no basis for this besides speculation, i wouldn't be surprised if more northern californians have been to Hawaii than La Jolla (an elitist vacation spot if you are not just driving through there)

I know people on the east coast who have been to the Caribbeans or talk regularly about going to the caribbeans...now that is elitist (it is even travel abroad)

Another elitist vacation spot in my mind: Scottsdale, AZ. I wonder if the senator from AZ has been there.

Oh, please, vacationing in Hawaii is not elitist. Vacationing in Maui is elitist.

I've been to Disneyland, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon, but I've never been to Hawaii. Therefore a Hawaiian vacation must be elitist! I've seen the light! (Thank you, Cokie. Hale and Lindy would be so proud.)

"Obama's grandmother lives in a one bedroom 1970's vintage condo in Maikiki (note not Waikiki). Condos like that typically sell for around $300K, just below the island average.

And he took the kids to see their grandmother [lowest right pic.]"

This says he didn't:

http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/09/news/story04.html

Note the private property keep out sign.
Does that exclude you and me?

If he didn't take the wife and kids I wonder why.

To Kevin Drum:
Let's be real, Hawaii is a very expensive destination. If you're vacationing in Hawaii, either you're rich, you've saved for a long time, or you've gotten help (honeymoon). I'm a new york attorney with an annual salary well above the national average and I've never been to Hawaii, and I don't see it happening in the near future. It is too expensive to fly there, but also, it is too expensive once you get there.
While on some level, I agree that attacking Obama for vacationing in Hawaii is petty and foolish (afterall it is an American state and it is a part of his childhood), let's not delude ourselves about what it takes to vacation in Hawaii, and how few Americans have ever had or will ever have that opportunity.

My god TruthPolitik, you must just be horrible to have to converse with in person.

When Ford was president, he used to vacation in the South of France. Back then, the GOP didn't care about that. However, the GOP now is all about white straight Christian male anger against various Others (Muslims, Mexicans, blacks, women, gays, lesbians, intellectuals, Jews, etc.).

Being president is the most elitist thing an American can do. Believing you should be president is a bit elitist. It goes with the territory. McCain, Bush, Dole, elder Bush, Reagen, Ford, Nixon, they were are all elitists in their own way. Arguing that politicians should jump through hoops to fool you into believing they are something they aren't is just masturbation.

When I went to Hawaii, most of the people I met weren't Ivy Leage-educated intellectuals, but guys drinking Bud Lite on the beach after coming back from Jack in the Box. Just because you've never been somewhere doesn't make it elitist to go there. I've never been to Ontario, yet I wouldn't call going to Toronto elitist. When I was in a New England prep school, you didn't flex your elitist bona fides by going to Hawaii, but going to Paris (mandatory) and places like Moscow, Tokyo, Shanghai, Cape Town, Bueons Aires, Milan, etc.

This says he didn't:

http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/09/news/story04.html

So there are conflicting reports.

Note the private property keep out sign.
Does that exclude you and me?

Yes. It's a goddamn private residence you fucking tool.

(Btw, you fucking moron, a open breezeway at a building entrance is generally the sign of a low-end development - high-end places have secure entrances)

Reality Man

McCain isn't pretending that he was poor and under privileged. Obama is. George Bush didn't have to hide his privileged life to become president.

let's not delude ourselves about what it takes to vacation in Hawaii, and how few Americans have ever had or will ever have that opportunity.

Yeah, only 130-150 thousand per week. or over 5 million a year.

To compare, Yellowstone has 3 million visitors, Yosemite 4 million
OTOH Disneyland has 14 million, Disneyworld 16 million

"Word is that he went to visit his grandmother by himself, without Michelle or the kids. Odd thing to do on a family vacation where granny is 84 years old and may not get to see the kids many more times in her life. But we all have different family values and maybe she is the old racist he made her out to be. Or maybe she just doesn't like Michelle. Or maybe they don't like her. Or maybe this has nothing to do with family and he just wanted to look for his birth certificate in the attic."

Or, maybe you are just pullimg shit out of your ass. "Word is" - like NaninBoston is all plugged in, instead of just copying stuff from Right Wing sites,

Oh and Eskwaya (so clevah), who said :If you're vacationing in Hawaii, either you're rich, you've saved for a long time, or you've gotten help (honeymoon). I'm a new york attorney with an annual salary well above the national average and I've never been to Hawaii, and I don't see it happening in the near future."

Yes, moron, its expensive because you live in New York. What part of geography is confusing you?

A little late to the conversation, but...

The funniest thing about a Hawaiian vacation is that non-elitists spend $80 per person to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center, $50 per person to go to the fake luau, purchase tons of crap at the ABC stores, spend $100 on windsurfing lessons with an instructor who leaves to flirt with the girls, and generally fall into every tourist trap, while the elite just lie on the beach.

Oh, and my Father was a teacher and we still vacationed in Hawaii...twice.

Eh, Kolohe. Thanks for setting the record straight. I live right down the street (Wilder Ave.). Most of the buildings in neighborhood or either low-rise walk-ups or vintage 1960s (not even 70s) high rises. Not much in Makiki sells for above the median condo price.

But, here's my question: How did the definition of elitist change from Mercedes-driving, yacht-owning country-club Republicans to middle class soccer moms who go to Starbucks?

I wish I could wash the online reader comments from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser out of my brain. Complaints that traveling to his birthplace makes Obama an out-of-touch elitist. Complaints that Obama shouldn't let his grandmother live in a old condo in Makiki. Complaints that his wife and kids aren't visiting his tutu because she's haole. Complaints that he's an Indonesian national. And on. And on. A lot of people are looking hard for reasons to hate this man. Even here in the islands, there's some crazy, judgmental shit being typed into the tubes. We scrutinize every moment of a family's vacation for flaws and failings, then we wonder why our best citizens aren't running for office.

Kevin,

I'm too tired to read through the comments and see if this has been said already. Every one of those amazing places that you listed is within driving/flying distance of Southern California. Which has outrageous property values because... it is within driving/flying distance of all those amazing places. Until I moved to the San Francisco region in 1995, I had never been to *any* of those 'non-elitist' places that you list out. And to a hell of a lot of voters in Ohio, Texas, and other places that matter, yeah, those are fairly elitist vacation destinations.

I agree with you -- as a guy who left Ohio 13 years ago and lives in the Bay Area; as a guy who has been to one of those places this weekend and three of them this year; but I can still see that most of the rest of America is staring at the two of us, saying, "Elitists!!"

Until I moved to the San Francisco region in 1995, I had never been to *any* of those 'non-elitist' places that you list out. And to a hell of a lot of voters in Ohio, Texas, and other places that matter, yeah, those are fairly elitist vacation destinations.

You know what was an incredibly elitist place to vacation when I was a kid in Illinois? Mexico. Only really rich people would vacation in Mexico, unless they took the Love Boat to get there. And yet what's the place where people in Texas will go to get a beer or pick up some prescriptions cheap?

That's the point. People in New York or Florida might think of taking a Caribbean vacation as no big deal, but it's a huge chunk of money from the West Coast. Heck, we can't even take a Disney Cruise for a reasonable fare in California, but you can get half-price fares in the off-season on the exact same ship if you leave from Florida.

I'm also wondering if any voter exists who's so low-information that s/he has no idea that Obama grew up in Hawaii and still has family and friends there. I think that most normal people not looking for an excuse to hate on Obama understand the concept of going back to your hometown to visit, even if that hometown is "exotic" to them. Hell, my husband and I are getting ready to fly back to our hometown at the end of the week. Most of the people I work with have never been to Chicago, and yet they don't seem to think it's some exotic, unattainable destination.

TB: "every frickin' haole from the mainland"

You're just jealous of of all the rich American tourists flooding your economy with United States currency, you racist fucknut.

Just kidding about the first bit -- just messing with you. I know how you lazy Hawaiian assholes hate that.

"Haole". Fuck you too.

He coulda gone to Branson like a normal American. That Andy Williams puts on a hell of a show.

"McCain isn't pretending that he was poor and under privileged. Obama is. George Bush didn't have to hide his privileged life to become president.
Posted by: TruthPolitik on August 10, 2008 at 11:15 PM"

Please tell me your joking. Bush's regular guy shtick is an act. Nobody else in his family has that faux Texan accent. He's a Yale cheerleader who pretends to be a cowboy while clearing brush at an estate he decided to call a ranch to sound tougher.

From the west coast of Canada Hawai counts as a pretty ordinary destination, and a cheap honeymoon.

So from the West Coast of Canada (I'm including Calgary and Edmonton in this even though they are over the Rockies) Hawai is a middle class destination.

It's a sad state of affairs when a man goes on holiday to where he grew up, where his grandma still lives, and he is called 'an elitist'.

I've been to Kenya too. It's a long haul to take a family of 4. But away from the safari parks and the 5 star beach resorts, it is truly a rough trip. People are very poor and it can be quite dangerous.

If Obama took his kids to see their relatives there, too, it would be seen as 'elitist'. And yet all he would be doing would be showing his children their heritage, a trip millions of Americans from all over the world make with their children in their lifetimes, back to little villages in Poland or Italy or Portugal or Ireland or India or Taiwan.

'elitist'. Phaugh. It's about being an American.

It's also a very sad comment about how little holiday Americans get, and how parochial it makes them.

Unless you live in California or Florida, visiting a Disney resort is for most Americans a wildly expensive vacation option. Disneyland and Disneyworld ARE generally for the "elite." The fact that you don't know this once again reveals your incredible general cluelessness and ignorance about the lives of people not born into your smug, upper-middle-class milieu.

If Obama was taking the kids to visit relatives, why didn't they go with him to visit grandma? Only secret service and staffers went on that visit. Not Michelle, not the kids.

I think we can assume that on a weeklong visit, Obama will visit his granny more than once--as, in fact, he did the very next day with his wife and kids with him.

NanInBoston

Nan, by your criterion, there are almost no non-elitist places to go on holiday in America.

Guess what, Vermont and Maine are therefore 'elitist'. Not to mention upstate Michigan.

I mean, come on. For 50 million Americans along the West Coast, Hawaii is just a short hop away.

This is *an American state* for chrissakes. Not everyone has been to Alaska, is going there 'elitist'? How about New Mexico? And Obama's grandmother *lives there*. He should go on holiday in Maine like the Bush family, 2 of the last 3 presidents-- were they elitists then?

Just because only 2% of Americans visit Hawaii doesn't mean it is an 'elitist' holiday.

Ditch the right-coast view of the world, howzabout?

I think we can assume that on a weeklong visit, Obama will visit his granny more than once--as, in fact, he did the very next day with his wife and kids with him.

I guess we're dealing with sad, sad people who can't comprehend that you might see your elderly grandmother more than once in a week-long trip.

As far as I can gather, Hawaii is not very elitist as a tourist destination if you are already on the west coast, but it gets more "exotic" the farther away you get from the west coast. This is true in terms of culture, distance, and cost. I grew up in Honolulu and live in Philadelphia. Every couple of years we pack ourselves and the kids on a plane to see my folks, my high school friends, etc, but to my co-workers, it does seem a bit like an exotic vacation--I try to explain that it's a warmer, more scenic version of say, going to Cleveland to visit the folks if that's where I grew up. That doesn't seem to convince anyone...

I'm trying to imagine the secret service going up to my parents' condo--that image is pretty hilarious, actually...

Oh, and in case you are wondering where people who live in Hawaii go on vacation--Las Vegas is the destination of choice.

Let's be real, Hawaii is a very expensive destination.

No, it's not.

If you're vacationing in Hawaii, either you're rich, you've saved for a long time, or you've gotten help (honeymoon).

Or you live on or near the West Coast.

I'm a new york attorney with an annual salary well above the national average and I've never been to Hawaii, and I don't see it happening in the near future.

Odd -- I'm a New York attorney with an annual salary well above the national average, and it wouldn't be much of a problem for me. So either you're lying, or you don't actually make that much. (The reason I wouldn't go to Hawaii, though, isn't the cost, but the time difference and length of the flight).

It is too expensive to fly there, but also, it is too expensive once you get there.

I know, what with the terrible exchange rate with the Hawaiian dollar.....

While on some level, I agree that attacking Obama for vacationing in Hawaii is petty and foolish (afterall it is an American state and it is a part of his childhood), let's not delude ourselves about what it takes to vacation in Hawaii, and how few Americans have ever had or will ever have that opportunity.

Yes, relatively few Americans except the tens of millions of Americans who have, and the millions of Americans who already live there. Jesus, I bet more Americans have been to Hawaii than have been to, say, Nebraska and North and South Dakota combined.

(assuming your figure of 5 million is right).

Look at the link, you twit. It's a pdf from a local govt source that shows the annual # of domestic arrivals for the past 20 frickin years.

I know, what with the terrible exchange rate with the Hawaiian dollar.....

Not to give any ammunition to the determined-to-ding-Obama NotNanNotfromBoston, etc., but actually food, gas and other niceties are quite a bit more expensive in Hawaii than on the mainland, what with it being an island nation (wink to Cokie) and all. Doesn't make Hawaii exotic, though. It makes it a bit pricy the way large mainland cities, none of which are generally identified as "elitist," are pricy. Millions still visit them every year, too.

"Let's see, 5 million divided by 270 million is what? Less than 2% of the population goes to Hawaii on vacation (assuming your figure of 5 million is right). That sounds elitist to me."

So what percentage of Americans have to travel to a place for it to be non-elitist? I think we can all agree visiting the Grand Canyon is non-elitist and less expensive than Disneyworld or Disneyland. According to Wikipedia, the number of people who visit the Grand Canyon every year is... 5 million. I guess if you've been to the Grand Canyon, you're an elitist.

Might be different in the winter, but visiting the tropics in August is as prole/undergraduate as it gets (like going to Cancun or Jamaica in the middle of the summer). Posted by: kth

Fat lot you know. I guess you've never heard of Kona weather. Remember, Hawaii is just north of the tropics and well off the Equator.

Many of Hawaii's best beaches (particularly on the N. Shore of Kauai) spend the winter months getting hammered by winter storms. The best month to visit Hawaii is September. Most of the tourists with kids are gone, the surf is calmer (which is, of course, a negative if you are a surfer), the beaches have "grown" back, and the weather is warmer. I was on Kauai last April and it never got above 75 for the week and a few beaches had surf a bit higher than one wants, unless of course one is into undertow.

Let's see, 5 million divided by 270 million is what? Less than 2% of the population goes to Hawaii on vacation (assuming your figure of 5 million is right). That sounds elitist to me.

Alaska has only about 1.7 million visitors annually, only a third as many as Hawaii. And yet I bet you if Obama had gone to Hawaii there wouldn't have been the same fuss about Alaska's "elitist" status. Why?

Simple. Alaska is full of white Republicans. Hawaii is full of non-white Democrats. That's really all it comes down to.

Anchorage Daily New
Alaska tourism numbers rise

The tourist season brought about 1.7 million visitors, up from 1.6 million in 2006, the Alaska Travel Industry Association said.

Published: November 14th, 2007 01:07 AM

http://www.adn.com/money/industries/tourism/story/81884.html

As far as I can gather, Hawaii is not very elitist as a tourist destination if you are already on the west coast, but it gets more "exotic" the farther away you get from the west coast. This is true in terms of culture, distance, and cost.

It's even "exotic" to us folks on the West Coast. Even sunny Southern California's beach culture is completely different than Hawaii's.

I try to explain that it's a warmer, more scenic version of say, going to Cleveland to visit the folks if that's where I grew up. That doesn't seem to convince anyone...

Gee, I wonder why?

I'm trying to imagine the secret service going up to my parents' condo--that image is pretty hilarious, actually... Posted by: JMS

Pasty guys in matching Aloha shirts and dark socks and sandals.

As far as I can gather, Hawaii is not very elitist as a tourist destination if you are already on the west coast, but it gets more "exotic" the farther away you get from the west coast.

Again, it's the same reason that someone in Seattle or Los Angeles who goes to the Caribbean is seen as taking an "exotic" vacation. It's the geography.

It's funny to see East Coast elites like Cokie Roberts sneering that a Hawaii vacation to visit family is just too, too exotic and then name a place that 95% of Americans have never and will never visit as a better choice. Seriously, blinders much?

It's funny to see East Coast elites like Cokie Roberts sneering that a Hawaii vacation to visit family is just too, too exotic and then name a place that 95% of Americans have never and will never visit as a better choice.

Oh come now, Mnemosyne, Myrtle Beach is Yourrtyle Beach. Hee hee.

I want to know whether McCain agrees that negotiations with Hawaii are futile and when he plans on invading Hawaii.

From Reality Man in response to TruthPolitik above:
"Please tell me you're joking. Bush's regular guy shtick is an act. Nobody else in his family has that faux Texan accent. He's a Yale cheerleader who pretends to be a cowboy while clearing brush at an estate he decided to call a ranch to sound tougher."
WELL SAID!!

Consider this:
One of the best letters to the editor that reference this cowboy fakery I ever read follows:

Back to the Ranch
"The same local and national corporate media offering faux mea culpas over their obsequious and disgraceful role as pre-Iraq war White House press-release conveyor belts now attempt to ressurrect and revise the reactionary presidency of Ronald Reagan."
"Reaganomics, Star Wars, AIDS, Salvadorean death squads, PATCO union-busting, welfare queens and ketchup as vegetable, among countless others, still make one wince in recalling them."

"In retrospect, it appears that Reaganism marked the first society-wide assault on everything decent and progressive from the New Deal/Great Society covenant between government and citizens by extreme right-wing economic and social forces.

In that regard, one can understand why Reagan and Bush share both highly values by a certain straight, white male sensibility seeking leaders who ride into Washington from their respective ranches to make America a man again."

"Happily, though, both sagas end when the "hero" is forced out of town after discovery of ideological cliques running secret operations out of the basement and against democratic processes. Iran-Contra gave us Bush 41, Negroponte, Abrams and North.
Iraq/Abu Grahib gives us Bush 43, Negroponte, Abrams and Fox-based North."

"In case this gang didn't get it back then, come November, Americans will let the world know that we're fed up with government on horseback. Power to the people."

for the record, mrs. skippy and i spent three lovely days and nights in volcanoes national park on the big island, in the rustic volanco inn...quite fun, beautiful and exciting! and, a national park!

How is that inn, skip? Vulcanologist mr. shortstop and I love the trails in HVNP. Volcano Village is a hoot, but we've never stayed there.

I get a kick out of the right wingers trying to make something nefarious out of a man visiting his grandmother on vacation. To hear them tell it, it's as if Obama had sunk so low as to thrown his family under the bus in order to hook up with some rich heiress.

George W Bush's family owns a vacation compound in Maine. John McCain owns vacation property up the wazoo. yet Obama's elitist for going to visit grandma and family and friends in Hawaii. right-o.