Why does Bush going home so offend

This has to be one of the most picayune, small-minded headlines I’ve ever read:

Bush plans 50th ranch trip in five years

Yeah? So what?

The man has a house that he and his wife designed, built and paid for and he likes to go there to get away from the White House and Washington D.C. – to get a change of pace and scenery and maybe not have to wear a suit and tie as he works.

Why is that so awful? It’s not like he is not still confering, still phoning, meeting, talking, getting advice, monitoring, etc. He’s just doing it on his own comfortable grounds. What could be offensive about that to anyone but perhaps the WH press corps who hate going to Crawford.

To me, this is just extreme pettiness. The man wants a change of scenery. He goes HOME. He doesn’t poll to see where he should vacation. He doesn’t decide he needs to go out of town for a while, so he’ll take a trip to India with a 712 person entourage, or to Africa, or to Malibu or Martha’s Vineyard, and he doesn’t put his getaway on the taxpayer dime.

The man goes home ten times a year – sometimes just for a weekend. Include holidays like Christmas and Easter, Thanksgiving and his August vacation, and you’re talking about 6 little stopovers a year. What’s the big freaking deal? Why that is sooooooo terrible?

President Clinton did not have a home to go to when he was in office. This president does, and he chooses to go there.

You have to really, really hate a man to begrudge him time in his own home. You have to be a very small, niggling sort of person to do that.