a:1:{s:15:"field_blog_body";a:1:{i:0;a:2:{s:5:"value";s:2529:"OK, that's not what the quote attributed to Marie Antoinette goes, but this is 21st century America. From the <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/in_blunderland_hKpNQkHfvpEWe4F51kI4dP">New York Post</a>:<br />
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<div>A White House &ldquo;Alice in Wonderland&rdquo; costume ball &mdash; put on by Johnny Depp and Hollywood director Tim Burton &mdash; proved to be a Mad-as-a-Hatter idea that was never made public for fear of a political backlash during hard economic times, according to a new tell-all.</div>
</blockquote>About ten years ago, I remember a scandal involving Tyco CEO <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Kozlowski">Dennis Kozlowski</a> throwing a huge Roman-style birthday party for his wife involving scantily clad servers and elaborate theming.&nbsp; The problem with this particular $2 million party (and how can you have a party for under $2 million?) was that half of it was paid for with company money. That was one of the piece of evidence against Kozlowski, who was eventually given prison time for his other misdeeds.<br />
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The relevance of that side trip? Those Tyco stockholders paid for Dennis' party, the American taxpayers paid for the Obama party. Had I owned Tyco stock, I may have been irritated at the thought of a company official blowing my cash on an ice sculpture of David. As a taxpayer, I'm definitely annoyed that the man treats taxpayers like serfs on his estate.<br />
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Perhaps I'm jealous. After all, I can't go to Hawaii or Europe and take an entourage of people with me. My family doesn't have the option of taking <a href="http://lonelyconservative.com/2011/08/michelle-obama-took-separate-jet-to-marthas-vineyard-to-squeeze-in-a-few-extra-hours-of-vacation-time/">separate jets</a> when my wife wants to leave for Martha's Vineyard a few hours before I want to go. But at least for her trip to Spain, renting 60 rooms at a hotel, Michelle will pay at least <a href="http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1008/flotus_will_split_hotel_bill.html">some of the money</a>. Maybe she understands what it's like to be a victim of her husband's policies. <br />
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Maybe not.<br />
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Though I complain about paying for the expensive parties and vacations he takes (and don't think we aren't paying for the jets to get them there and the Secret Service personnel to watch over them), I would actually like him to take more vacation. When he is on the golf course, it's harder for him to wreck the American economy.<br />";s:6:"format";s:1:"2";}}}