GOP Questions Obama's Vacation

Give Obama a break. Now that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is more or less plugged and Iraq has finally seen the last of American combat troops leave its borders, President Obama decided to kick back for ten days. But for some critics on the right, that's ten days too many. The president is currently vacationing for the second year in a row on Martha's Vineyard, reading, playing golf and spending time with his family. The Republican National Committee has called him "the Clark Griswold president," likening him to the National Lampoon 'Vacation' movie character played by Chevy Chase. According to CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, however, Obama has taken less vacation time—48 days—than his predecessor George W. Bush had at this point in his presidency (Bush had spent a total of 115 days vacationing at his ranch in Texas by this point).