As you begin to get older, like I am - or you get past your 21st birthday - tearing off the days of your daily calendar get a little less fun, even if it’s a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit calendar. But my “Countdown to when Bush leaves Office” calendar offers me some small pleasure when ripping off the days.
The good new is there are only 201 days left until the national nightmare is over and Barrack Obama is sworn in as president. With just 201 days to endure, it got me to thinking about the Bush legacy. For that we have the worst attack on U.S. soil that occurred on his watch, Bush lied us into what will become the longest war/occupation in U.S. history, the person for planning the attack has not been brought to justice after almost seven years, the war in Afghanistan is falling apart, the economy is in sad shape, home values are plummeting, incomes are declining, home foreclosures are at an all-time historic high, the dollar is declining against all foreign currency, energy costs are skyrocketing and our national debt is skyrocketing. He has trashed the Constitution and our image and standing around the world has been badly tainted and we actually torture people.
But what Bush’s legacy, at better yet, the record, he will leave office with is what my daily calendar revealed today: Bush is the most vacationing president ever.
The record for most consecutive vacation days away from the White House was formally held by another president from the Grand Oil Party who had almost as much scandal as the Bush White House, Richard Nixon with 30 straight days. That record belonged to Bush just six months after taking office.
But Bush holds the all-time record for most total vacation days that may never be broken, and his record will most likely stand as long as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. The previous record was 335 days set by another Republican president, who was also the oldest U.S. president, Ronald Reagan. However it took eight years for Reagan to rack up that number, but Bush shattered the record in just four-and-a-half-years. According to the Washington Post, as of January 15, 2007, Bush has racked up a whopping total of 770 vacation days. He will continue to pad that record for another 201 days. When you compare that to the normal American worker, if they have any benefits left any more, who only gets 14 days a year, it’s obscene.
The good news is Bush will go on a permanent vacation in just 201 days.
