“[fill-in-the-blanks] deserve better” is one of those phrases that’s become so hackneyed, it should be banned from political press releases. It was on display again from the Vermont GOP lamenting the fact that Governor Shumlin has gone on vacation to an “undisclosed location.” Apparently, “Vermonters deserve better” than to not know where there Governor is…at… any given moment…?
What-ever. It’s the “Vermont GOP,” which is sort of like being the “McDonald’s vegan director” these days, so I can’t begrudge them going for something. All Vermonters-deserve-better silliness aside, though, it does make one wonder. Why would Shumlin withhold details of where he’s going on vacation? Not even Presidents, Kings and Prime Ministers feel the need to do that, after all. I mean, what – he’s afraid of roving bands of nomadic woodchuck paparazzi?
All I can figure is that there must be something he finds embarrassing about the destination, so he preferred to keep it to himself… and if that’s true, the mind just boggles, don’t it? Hmmmm…
A Star Trek convention, perhaps? Nah, I don’t see it (sadly). Maybe Pete’s a high roller and is hittin’ the tables in Vegas? Maybe he’s vacationing in Iowa (and we all know what that means)? On the other hand, maybe he’s going to pop up visiting the troops in Iraq or Afghanistan with no warning, as his predecessor did. What do you think? What destination would our Chief Executive like to keep to himself?
…it’s just too damn easy. I’m surprised the Republicans didn’t bring it up themselves.
Shumlin ought to know better, unless it’s something truly embarrassing. Mall of America! Getting a nose job? Undercover assignment along our vulnerable border?
My guess is he’s somewhere warm, sunny, maybe that sounds exotic (Tuscany, the French Riviera, I dunno) and he wants to avoid looking like the overly-privileged rich guy (that he is) to the general public; “Gee, must be nice to have the kinda money to go there this time-a year” the electorate moans. Rolling high in Vegas is a good guess, Iowa is an intriguing suggestion but highly unlikely (is he gonna run against Obama in a primary as the wealthier, whiter version of the same kinda centrist Dem?).
But, agreed, the McDonald’s vegan directors are trying to make something out of nothing- but unless he does suddenly pop-up in the middle of a war zone, the “secret location” thing just seems extremely odd, but is probably not much more.
in Putney.
…why anyone cares. The people who need to know, know. The people who need to make decisions in his absence make them. And we’d probably all be better off if more pols got out of the bunker during overheated legislative sessions.
The attempt is probably futile, but I’m glad someone in public office is trying to uphold the right to a modest degree of privacy. There is seldom a reason why any of us needs to know where our presidents, senators, governors, kings, queens, prime ministers, etc., are when they’re vacationing. (Yeah, I know — there ARE some exceptions.) At the very least, can’t we wait for details after they’ve returned? The best revenge would be to make all the commenters and critics sit through a good, old-fashioned slide show — the kind with shots of the travel labels on the luggage, the unusual street foods, the menu from the restaurant, and the ticket stubs. All poorly composed and ever-so-slightly out of focus.
quote from my interview: “I’m a Star Wars guy”
… it can’t do the Governor any good (especially this early in his term) to make himself a target for easy jokes. On WDEV the other day, they were casually joking about “Where’s Waldo?” and stuff like that. Nothing destructive, but Shumlin left an obvious opening.
Smart politicians don’t do that. Especially when the last Governor who went to an undisclosed location was Mark Sanford. So either he’s got good reason for not disclosing his vacation destination, or he’s just pulled a political boner.
And now that it is a topic of conversation, and Sue Allen is hemming and hawing on his behalf, it’s probably not going to go away until he tells us where he went. You don’t think that’ll be the first question at his next presser?
that he has to deal with this year, he will indeed be a lucky guy. I don’t care where he’s gone to; nor do I care who cares where he’s gone to. This is apparently what we discuss here in Vermont when there are two-feet of snow on the ground.
VT makes the front page of The Huffington Post
Shumlin explains a practical vacation hint given during training for new governors from one term Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado