Oh there's plenty I don't like about Obama. My point was that the OP said no President had ever been to India which was false.
He questioned the objective, which has been talked about in plenty of articles all over the world - though I grant you the *domestic* news agencies don't normally like to get into silly little things like actual *news*.
He questioned the cost - and I didn't go anywhere with that because I wasn't about to go trying to find out how big the entourages were for the previous trips. Quite frankly it *always* seems to get bigger with each successive President.
The difference between myself and some posters here is that I have a deep respect for the office of the President. I defended Bush from comments like "trained monkey" when he was in office (pointing out that trained monkeys can't fly military jets). I didn't like Clinton and became disenchanted with Bush but I never resorted to name-calling. Anytime I got a burr in my butt about something the President would do, I wanted to see if it was out of the ordinary - in other words, was I applying a double-standard.
Remember, Bush Sr. was *excoriated* for his speedboat vacations while we were in a recession, just as Obama get pilloried for HIS vacations even though most people know the President never really gets what you and I would call "a vacation". Bush Jr. got it for the number of "days off" he took. Reagan got grilled for napping in cabinet meetings - and we only find out after the fact that it never happened.
But here's some interesting information form 10 years ago when the "Presidential Fleet" was detailed about a trip to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Oman, and Switzerland:
Quote:
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The article also identifies the numbers and types of aircraft dedicated to the trip: 14 C-17 Globemaster IIIs; 12 C-5 Galaxys, 3 C-141 Starlifters; and 2 C-130 Hercules. In addition, 7 KC-10 Extenders and 39 KC-135 Stratotankers were to deploy. The return mission was to require the same types and numbers of assets with some exceptions, but to include an additional 10 Galaxys and 3 more Stratotankers.
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That's 48 aircraft with 46 more being deployed to other areas for support. I don't care WHAT your political affiliation is, those are mind-boggling numbers.
...and George Washington rode home in a horse and carriage.