The Western Whitehouse???!!!

[Sava]

yeah good point Japher... let's give the troops in Iraq a vacation... they are the ones with REAL stressful jobs. But let's let Bush take vacations as he cuts veteran's benefits.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

How bout he spends less time vacationing and more time giving PRESS CONFERENCES so that we know that he IS doing his job.

His father gave 60+ in his first 30 months in the job. Clinton gave 30+. Thus far Bush has given a grand total of 9.

[Japher]

Hey, I am fine with him taking a vacation, I am just mad at how long it is... Especially since he told us that we won't be seeing our brother, father, son, husband, what-have-you for at least a year. One year, no vacation, one day off out of 10... Yeah, so Bush will take a whole month off when there is already a lot of bad moral spreading over there!

[JohnT]

Well, I want to find out from Sava what he thinks Bush's schedule should be... how many hours a day does Sava want Bush to "be on the job"?

There's also the fact that there are some people in this world whose time is considered so valuable that there is an entire infrastructure designed towards meeting their needs... and there's nobody who is as catered to in this regards as the President. Limo's, helicopters, airplanes, bodyguards, and top-notch communications are just some of the perks you get for the hardest job on the planet.

[Sava]

and top-notch communications are just some of the perks you get for the hardest job on the planet.

Hardest job my ass... tell that to the 19 year old kid on patrol in Baghdad...

[Japher]

Or to Colin Powell who hasen't had two seconds to sit that huge ass down as he tromps all over the world explaining to people what "dang" and "right back atcha" means.

[JohnT]

I will. The president more of a target for Islamic terrorists than any one randomly picked 19 year old kid, and, barring that either of them serve out their terms without getting shot*, the decisions that have to be made by the President will age the man far more than the decisions made by a 19 year old grunt.

And before people start whining about how I'm minimizing the Army soldier, I'm not. You're the one who minimizes the amount of work that has to be done to be President (and an executive in general, but that's another thread).

* As far as physical danger is concerned, at least 8 out of 42 presidents have had assassination attempts against them some time within their political lives, plus don't forget about the number of Presidents who served on the battlefield including Tyler, Jackson, Grant, Eisenhower, Truman, and Washington, and a number who lived for a time with death sentences over their heads, Monroe, Jefferson, J & JQ Adams. That is 18 out of 44(?): I don't think 41% of the 19 year olds in Iraq are going to get shot or have a bounty placed on their names.

[Sava]

NEWSFLASH JOHNT: The security protocols of 2003 are much greater than 1883 or whenever... even since JFK they have changed so much. I think the president is probably one of the safest people on the planet.

[JohnT]

For a reason, Sava. And still, despite the increased security, people still target the President specifically. Unlike GI Joe in Iraq, where death is slightly more random (they're just taking out your position, it's your bad luck that it happens to be your position. ) With the President, it's different.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I bet the security protocols were pretty good in 1981 as well...

The President is also one of the most demanding and stressful jobs on the planet as well.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

The President is also one of the most demanding and stressful jobs on the planet as well.

Don't tell things that Sava does not want to hear.

[Kaak]

Hardest job my ass... tell that to the 19 year old kid on patrol in Baghdad...

Ummm...as far as hard goes, those guys don't have to make decisions, they do what they are told. Not to mention the fact that I would venture to say statistics could show that being home is just as dangerous, with car wrecks, and all the other domestic hazards. Thousands of people die every day in the US, and we are only losing 1 soldier a day over there? Besides, Those kids signed up for the MILITARY. MILITARIES ARE FOR FIGHTING AND WARS. They did not get drafted, they chose to join. Their job is not to make decisions, it is to follow orders. That is what they signed up for. Dubya signed up for a job that consisted of making decisions. He can make decisions just as well in crawford as he can in DC. Your argument is foolish and holds no water.

[Sava]

you guys are hilarious... sure the president has a tough job, nobody is saying it's easy. My original point was that his job is in DC, not Texas. And personally, I think the average grunt in Iraq has a more demanding and stressful job. 4 hours of sleep, if that, and your friends dying around you... no, that's much easier than sitting in an office with your buddies, running the country.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Sava
you guys are hilarious... sure the president has a tough job, nobody is saying it's easy. My original point was that his job is in DC, not Texas.

** cough **

lap tops, cell phones, pagers

** cough **

[JohnT]

Let's not forget the fact that

Congress is out of session!

and that the people whom he'd be working with in Washington are, well, not in Washington either.