Interesting, right? Every time Rush Limbaugh opens his yap to start sarcastically blathering on about Obama's latest vacation plans, I am reminded of an interesting statistic: George W. Bush spent more time on vacation than any contemporary president.

 

In his first year in office, Obama spent 26 days on vacation. In their first years as president, Ronald Reagan spent 42 days on vacation. George W. Bush spent a whopping 69 days on vacation during his first year.

Mid-2011, Obama had spent 61 days on vacation. By that point in their terms, Ronald Reagan had spent 112 days on vacation, and George W. Bush had spent 180 days on vacation. Three times as much vacation time as Obama! Meanwhile, Bill Clinton had only spent a paltry 28 days on leave.

 

But hey, Rush Limbaugh has never been a man to let the facts get in his way. If his conservative heroes spent two to three times as many days on vacation as Obama, that still means that he's going to make snarky comments whenever Obama announces a new vacation. 

 

I remember that when Bush was in the White House, Limbaugh spent a lot of time defending his vacation days from the "liberal Lamestream Media." According to Rush Limbaugh, the President was never really on vacation. He might not have been physically at the White House, but he was constantly in touch with his advisors. The wheels continued to grind. Policies continued to be put in place. 

 

In fact, I seem to remember that at one point according to Rush, Bush probably got more work done at the ranch. Because he didn't have all those distractions that the White House affords. He could think better in Texas! Where it was quiet and peaceful! And he didn't have all those mean old liberals yapping at his heels!

 

Does Rush Limbaugh trot out the same arguments for a liberal President? No he does not. Rush Limbaugh is the master of the double standard. In fact, I would honestly be surprised if there is anything on which he holds everyone to the same (single) standard. Nothing you do is wrong if you are a conservative, and nothing you do is right if you are a liberal. 

 

Limbaugh also gets a lot of mileage out of toting up the imaginary cost of these vacations. He paints Obama as throwing the taxpayers' money around, while George W. Bush was frugal because he would go vacation in a "shack" in Texas. (It's not a shack, by the way, it's a 4,000 square foot mansion on a $1.3 million property.)