Jay Carney, meet Jay Carney.
In 2001, the then-Time magazine reporter wrote a snarky piece criticizing President George W. Bush's month-long vacation that was billed as a "Home to the Heartland" tour. But almost exactly 10 years later Carney, now the Obama White House's press secretary, is defending President Barack Obama's Midwest job-creation tour and vacation at Martha's Vineyard.
"I don't think Americans out there would begrudge that notion that the President would spend some time with his family," claimed Carney at a recent press briefing.
But that's exactly what he, as a private citizen working for Time, did in 2001 with a Republican in the White House, even though the unemployment rate the month before Obama's vacation (9.1 percent) was almost double what it was the month before Bush's (4.6 percent.)
Fast forward to August 2011, when Carney complained "the air of cynicism is quite thick" in the briefing room after reporters questioned Obama's upcoming road trip, adding, "The idea that the President of the United States should not venture forth into the country is ridiculous."
Never mind that years earlier the former Time reporter lamented Bush's "cynical attempt" to shape public opinion with a cross-country bus tour.
Obama recently promised he "will not rest" until the jobs issue is solved – right before announcing his month-long vacation to Martha's Vineyard.
Tisk tisk, Mr. President. 2001 Jay Carney would not be pleased.
(H/T Mark Levin Show)
--Alex Fitzsimmons is a News Analysis intern at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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