Rose Cottage Ltd

Here he goes again – off to Hawaii for several weeks with his family for the holidays. If the cost to the citizenry is what we’ve paid before, this year’s vacation will cost taxpayers somewhere between $3 million and $5 million dollars. And let’s not forget that a huge chunk of that will go to pay the salaries of all the armed security the Tsar has with him.

Did I say Tsar? I meant President Obama.

Tsar Nicholas Romanov II of Russia led a charmed life – very similar to a US President. He lived in opulent homes, traveled to opulent vacation lodges and villas like Peterhof and Livadia, and drank from cups of pure gold and silver (okay, maybe Obama doesn’t do this!) But there were other important differences. The Tsar, as ruler, owned EVERYTHING. Also, the Tsar was supposed to be ordained by God and he took his right to be the autocrat of all the Russias as a divine mission. In the Romanov line of 300 years, this worked in a hit-or-miss fashion for the country – some winners and some losers as Tsar, and then along would come another.

But Tsar Nicholas ruled in a very difficult and fast-changing time for Russia. He was also ill-equipped by both temperament and experience for the job. By 1917 – 23 years into his reign, he was forced to abdicate. The Bolsheviks – who took over almost immediately after Nicholas’ fall, absorbed all the tsarist properties into the “state” and by July 1918, Nicholas and his entire family had been murdered – in secret so they thought, by the Bolsheviks.

Any research at all on this subject quickly shows that in addition to lack of decisiveness and judgment, Nicholas lived in a small, simple little world 18 miles from St. Petersburg with his wife and children. Months would go by without anyone really seeing either Nicholas or, the royal family. He saw only who he wanted to see and heard only what he wanted to hear. He made attempts at allowing a Duma – similar to UK’s Parliament, but he (and his somewhat psychotic wife,) manipulated the Duma membership and when that didn’t work, he disbanded it. When his palace military fired on peaceful protesters killing hundreds, Nicholas wept privately, but did nothing to show to his subjects his outrage or his willingness to make any changes.

And then he went on vacation.

So here we come to present day and another world leader with a plate full of issues and he’s off on vacation. Let’s not forget that the main difference between Obama and the tsar for purpose of this discussion is that the tsar became the tsar because he was the oldest son and heir. He DREADED the day he would rule because he didn’t want the job and suspected he would fail – and he did. Obama, on the other hand, campaigned hard for his position. He spoke as if his planned “transformation” of the country was going to be a good thing. I, like many others, suspected not.

Obama has made a mess of pretty much everything. On his watch our deficit is out-of-control, unemployment is much higher than the government-stated percentages, we’re over-regulated and under-served, we’ve had terrorist attacks on US soil – again on his watch and where is Obama going? To Hawaii! I don’t have a problem with the man taking a vacation but I’d like it if he at least TRIED to do his job first and second, he didn’t have to constantly pick an expensive destination. This is a basic “screw you” to American citizens who are unemployed or underemployed and who no longer can afford vacations, or extras, or food, or heat! Obama seems to either not notice or not care. I’d have a hard time sleeping at night by this point if I were him.

But like Tsar Nicholas, Obama feels he can do whatever he wants while not listening to either his advisers or US citizens. If it doesn’t suit what he thinks, Obama, just like Tsar Nicholas, doesn’t want to hear it. He is living above us – not part of us. This mentality brought down the House Romanov. But that won’t happen here.

We are blocked at every attempt to stop Obama’s horrendous policies by a checks-and-balances system that no longer works. There are a few valiant souls in the Congress and the Senate who are trying to expose the incompetence, corruption, waste, and threats to our national security, but few listen – and certainly not Obama. I can’t figure out why nearly half the US population doesn’t see what a game this makes of our politics and our country. I doubt I will still be alive when people finally realize what they’ve lost but I doubt it will be that much different than Russia 1917. And if anyone then is looking for Obama, check out the $3500 a day villa in Hawaii…the one with the high walls and the armed guards…