"Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing."
– Albert Schweitzer
Back in January, President-elect Obama conceded that, in light of the economic situation which the nation faced, "not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able do on the pace we had hoped.'' He added that there will be some “sacrifice” ahead and “everybody’s going to have some skin in the game.”
In February, Obama scolded corporate executives (while also costing Las Vegas some $130 million) when he said: "You can't get corporate jets. You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas, or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime."
Last Saturday night, May 30, the president and his wife showed they have “some skin in the game,” when they sacrificed the use of Air Force One and flew on a Gulfstream 500 corporate jet to New York for dinner and a Broadway show. It is next to impossible to arrive at an accurate figure of what that trip, complete with Marine helicopters, Secret Service personnel and limousines, and local police protection in NYC, cost taxpayers. It could have been more, though, had they decided to fly up there on the Boeing 747 that serves as Air Force One, as Obama did when he traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia to address a gathering of Democrats some months ago. Williamsburg is 152 miles from Washington, D.C., about a 2½ hour drive.
On June 1, in his speech announcing the bankruptcy filing of General Motors, he admonished all of us that we had to make “a sacrifice for the next generation -- a sacrifice you may not have chose to make, but a sacrifice you were nevertheless called to make so that your children and all of our children can grow up in an America that still makes things; that still builds cars; that still strives for a better future.”
"Not the cry but the flight of the wild duck leads the flock to fly and to follow."
– Chinese Proverb
