It's December 23rd

Time to start my Christmas shopping.


Back in my bachelor days I usually waited until Christmas Eve to buy my yuletide gifts until one year I got stuck dealing with a minor crisis at the hotel I was General Manager at the time. When everything was finally under control it was after 9PM and went shopping to find that the stores had closed early. So I had to hide out for 2 days. I learned my lesson from that episode so now I start shopping on the 23rd because it's hard to hide from the wife for 48 hours. Not that I've got any better at gift buying.

So I will wander out today and do my best to stimulate the economy. After the black Friday thing starting at midnight on Thanksgiving I expect to see after Christmas sales to start at midnight on the 24th.







I'm not the only one doing some last minute shopping.

Obama, Bo sneak out of White House for shopping


Home alone at the White House, President Barack Obama headed on an impromptu Christmas shopping trip Wednesday with first dog Bo, searching for some holiday cheer despite the latest stalemate with Congress.



Of course the usual suspects objected to the President's shopping trip. Sometimes I think these people object to the fact that he is breathing the same air.

McCain to Obama: More work, less shopping with Bo

Cantor to Obama: First Dog Can Come to Negotiations


And The Corner drove way over the right wing cliff with this one. To their credit the commenter's shot it down.

Bo and B.O.

This may not be the biggest story of the year, and in all likelihood it probably isn’t even true. But did the president really order the first dog back from Hawaii to the White House to be a prop for a Petsmart photo op?

Just about every blogger with a knowledge of history compared this nonsense with the Fala idiocy of the 1940's. President Roosevelt may just have won the 1944 election with this speech:

"These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. [laughter] Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family don't resent attacks — but Fala does resent them. [laughter] You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I'd left him behind on an Aleutian island and had sent a destroyer back to find him — at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or 20 million dollars — his Scotch soul was furious. [laughter] He has not been the same dog since. [laughter] I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself — such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent, to object, to libelous statements about my dog! [laughter]"

Steve Bennen brings it up to date:

I recommend Obama go on TV and give the following speech:

Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Bo. Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family don't resent attacks — but Bo does resent them. You know, Bo is Portuguese, and being a Portuguese water dog, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I'd left him behind on a Hawaiian island and had sent a 747 back to find him — at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or 20 million dollars — his Iberian soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since. I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself — such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I'm constantly apologizing for America. But I think I have a right to resent, to object, to libelous statements about my dog!