Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Tough time for vacation

Tuesday, July 30, 2002 | 8:46 a.m.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N, we're going to have a ball.

Taking a vacation, especially during the lazy days of summer, is as American as apple pie. It is a time-honored tradition that probably started when the school calendars and the harvest schedules matched up and Mom and Dad saw an opportunity to get away from the daily grind.

If that doesn't work for you, it does for me. I am a big proponent of vacations. Just ask Mike O'Callaghan or my mother, both of whom think I am on a permanent one. And you will learn that you preach to the converted if you talk to me about the mental and physical health benefits that accrue from a little time off now and then.

Having exposed my sensitive underbelly to the competition, I must now come to the defense of President George W. Bush, a man who seems to be far ahead of me in his knowledge of and participation in this time-honored American tradition.

I have noticed not a lot but, nevertheless, an unreasonable bit of criticism from ranks outside the White House about the President's vacation plans this summer. According to all knowledgeable sources, President Bush plans to head to his Crawford, Texas, ranch on Aug. 6 and stay there until after Labor Day. That's about a monthlong respite from the rigors of Washington, D.C. But it is not unreasonable relative to the vacation packages of many of the country's top corporate CEOs.

To be fair, I have to mention politics before we go too far. When Bill Clinton was the president, his two week sojourns to the homes of his friends for a summer respite were criticized relentlessly by his detractors. For him, the criticism centered on the fact that he didn't have a home to go to so he spent the time with wealthier friends who had nice homes that could accomodate the mobile White House. That, and the fact that some people just didn't like him, was the basis for the baseless criticism. The fact that Clinton's vacation consisted of 14 days of work during that two weeks seemed lost on those who picked on him just for the sport of it all.

With this president, the situation is different. He has his own place deep in the heart of Texas which, I am told, can match the toniest of vacation spots of Clinton's friends -- if you like cows and dust and barbecues and pickup trucks and such -- so there is no need to mingle with the power elite. George W. Bush is the power elite all by himself.

However, owning your own multimillion-dollar ranch to which you can run every once in awhile to rest and recharge doesn't allow an escape from those who like to criticize. Hence, this defense of the chief executive of the United States.

He is only human, after all, and human beings need some space from their jobs, their routines and their familiar surroundings so that they can regroup their lives and refocus their attention on the things that matter most. That's what our president aims to do in Crawford. He also, just like his predecessors, travels with a cast of hundreds who handle his security, arrange for his every need and prepare him for each day's events as if he were still in Washington. The only difference, I suspect, is that they have to reach him in his pickup somewhere out on the range if they want to talk to him. Sounds good to me, so far.

The president on vacation is nothing like you and I trying to do the same thing. First of all, whether he is at the White House or clearing brush in Crawford he is as much in charge in one place as another, not to worry. Second, he has an airplane, a helicopter and every other means of travel at his disposal so he can venture out during his monthlong stay in Texas to other parts of the country as he is needed or as he needs. So, to the regular American, there is little difference whether our commander in chief is in Washington or anywhere else. What matters is that he can do his job from anyplace.

As a personal aside, I find that all the folks at my place of business seem to work much better while I am gone. Whether it is the opportunity to make decisions for themselves or, as in my case, the fact that they are more capable of making those decisions without me, the result is the same. For the most part, life goes on with or without me. And, except for the fact that he is the president, I suspect things pretty much work the same at his place.

So, Mr. President, my advice to you is to go ahead with your plans to skip out on Washington for the month. You deserve the rest. As for those who like to criticize, pay them no mind, the public doesn't care.

If I may caution you in just one regard, though, Mr. President: when President Bill Clinton took off the few days a year that he did, he did so while the economy was growing, new jobs were being created daily and the stock market was soaring. In your case, sir, things aren't quite the same.

While you are taking off for a month, the economy remains in the toilet, people are losing jobs by the thousands and the stock market, well, we all know what is happening there. Actually, none of us know what is happening on Wall Street, which is causing a significant amount of anxiety across the country, just in case you hadn't noticed.

But, don't let that bother you. That fellow who has lost his job because of the economic downturn or an unhealthy dose of corporate greed, he'll not hold it against you that you are on vacation while he tries to make ends meet on welfare. And that fellow who lost his vacation time as well as his life savings, don't worry about him, he's happy you will be able to enjoy yourself for four weeks. And the couples who planned their retirements years ago only to find out that there is nothing on their middle age horizons but more work and no play, you need not worry about them, either. They do not hold you responsible and they are delighted you can play while they figure out how to work a few years longer.

They, Mr. President, are the only people you should worry about as you pack your bags. But, sir, those people are growing in numbers. So, the very least you should do down in Crawford is figure out a way to stop the economic bloodshed. That would be a vacation well spent.

So have a good time and remember, it's the economy, Mr. President.

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