By Jeff Poor - The Daily Caller
http://dailycaller.com/2011/08/20/levin-calls-for-integration-of-obama-vacation-spot-marthas-vineyard/#ooid=9zc3dxMjqBJaUhOG8Yl4CUj8Qrp3Hc1L
Although a lot has been said about the timing of President Barack Obama’s vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, not much has been said about the spot itself, other than criticism about the tone deafness of a president vacationing at a haven for the well-to-do while so many Americans are struggling financially.
On his Friday radio program, radio talk show host Mark Levin took a look at the racial make-up of the Obama vacation spot and likened it to the left-leaning MSNBC cable news network.
“But what about on Martha’s Vineyard?” Levin said. “I’m just asking. Doesn’t Martha’s Vineyard kind of reflect the racial make-up of the host on MSNBC, or as we affectionately call them ‘MSLSD’ because they all seem like they’re on some kind of a drug kick? I’m not saying they are. I’m saying they seem like it.”
Levin criticized the spot because of the lack of economic diversity as well – a place where the rich go, but the average American can’t likely afford.
“How about the diversity on Martha’s Vineyard?” he continued. “There’s a reason people go to this island where there’s a lot of rich people. I’m not against islands with rich people but I thought you liberals were. This island with rich people, where the average Joe or Jane can’t get there, can’t afford it – there’s a reason why he finds that so attractive, where that’s where he wants to go for his vacation. The guy says one thing and he does another. He talks about how we should live and he lives a completely different way.”
The Levin proposal: The integration of Martha’s Vineyard – once he overcomes the logistical obstacles.
“We need to figure out how to integrate Martha’s Vineyard,” Levin said. “We can’t have busing obviously because buses don’t drive on water. How about these water taxis? Can we do that, Mr. Producer – back and forth every day? Why not? Maybe I’ll lead a movement – the movement to integrate the island of Martha’s Vineyard. There should be more than millionaires and billionaires of the Caucasian persuasion there. Maybe all the hosts there at the ‘MSLSD’ – maybe they’ll join this in this effort.”
One other conclusion Levin made was that the tea party, which is often maligned for its lack of racial diversity, is more diverse than Martha’s Vineyard.
“Do you realize there’s more minorities in the tea party movement than there are on Martha’s Vineyard?” he said. “It’s true – there’s more minorities in the tea party movement than there are among the hosts on ‘MSLSD.’ It’s true.”
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Obama keeps low profile on the Vineyard
EDGARTOWN -- If his comings and goings yesterday are any indication, President Barack Obama will be keeping a very low profile during his Martha’s Vineyard vacation.
On Day 1 of the first family’s nine-day stay on the island, Obama remained mostly out of sight, not emerging from Blue Heron Farm until 12:15 p.m., when his motorcade headed into Vineyard Haven and a visit to Bunch of Grapes Book Store. (Daughters Sasha and Malia walked out with a bag containing, among other books, David Gessner’s “My Green Manifesto: Down the Charles River in Pursuit of a New Environmentalism,” which we recommended Obama read in our column this week.)
But it was later, at the Vineyard Golf Course in Edgartown, where the president’s recalcitrance was most evident. Approaching the eighth tee in a golf cart with friend and frequent golfing buddy Eric Whitaker, the president noticed three TV cameras and a Globe photographer across the street. Rather than stop and be photographed teeing off, the president skipped the hole.
Nor did the president show up at “Voices for Obama,” a fundraiser for his re-election campaign held the night before. The commander in chief was, in fact, just arriving at his deluxe Chilmark digs as 300 supporters - each of whom paid $100 - were filing into Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. The event, organized by Northampton attorney Tom Lesser with an assist from Art Buchwald’s daughter-in-law Tamara, included talks by Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Geraldine Brooks, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, and former White House counsel Greg Craig, among others.
Brooks, a longtime islander, acknowledged that she’s been disappointed with the president at times, but nonetheless supports him. She recalled knocking on doors for Obama in sub-zero temperatures - on her wedding anniversary, no less - before the New Hampshire primary in 2008. On at least one occasion, Brooks said, a Granite State resident answered the door and she could see an assault rifle lying on the couch.
Craig tried to strike a conciliatory tone, saying he didn’t wish to be “mean-spirited” by pointing out what a Republican administration would do in the White House, but he pointed out what a Republican adminstration would do in the White House.
Afterward, it was off to the Oak Bluffs abode of Ron and Judy Davenport, founders of Pittsburgh-based Sheridan Broadcasting, where 170 guests, each of whom contributed between $500 and $2,500, wined and dined. While Democrats like to call themselves the big-tent party, they could have used a larger awning on this night.
“We were sold out,” Lesser said afterward. “There was a huge buzz and rush for tickets.”
Vineyard wedding planner Patrie Grace handled the arrangements, and the party was catered by Jaime Hamlin of Vineyard Haven, who’s done menus for former President Bill Clinton’s birthday parties on the island. (For this event, she served grilled chicken, rice, local greens from Tabor House Farm, and desserts by Barbara Weniger, owner of Lexington-based Lakota Bakery.)
Guest included Joel Buchwald and Tamara, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” director Wes Craven, John Hancock’s Carol Fulp, philanthropist Barbara Lee, former Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston CEO Linda Whitlock, GenNx360 Capital Partners’s Lloyd Trotter, Wheelock president Jackie Jenkins-Scott, attorney Gordon Litwin, Levi-Strauss chairwoman Mimi Haas, and Harvard professor Bob Mnookin.
Organizers held out hope that Obama might make an appearance, but it was not to be.
“My personal belief was that he wasn’t going to make it,” said Lesser. “It might have been different if it was his second, third, or fourth night on the Vineyard.”
Asked about the optics of Obama vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard while the economy is reeling, Lesser said the president is never on vacation.
“And we all do a better job when we have time to some think,” said Lesser, “and this is his time to think.”
The president’s visit is definitely snarling traffic on the island, but it does not seem not be interrupting people’s vacations: David Letterman looked mighty relaxed as he exited the Katama General Store with a newspaper. The “Late Show” host waved to passersby, jumped into his Jeep, and drove off.
Amid all the henna tattoos, tempura, and maple-sweetened lemonade at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair, it was the blazing heat - not the president - people were talking about yesterday. His shirt drenched with sweat as he stood next to a wood-burning stove cooking pizzas, Eric Hutchinson, managing partner of Flatbreads, said he emptied a keg of root beer by midday. “We’re getting beat up, to be honest,” said Hutchinson, “but it’s all good.”
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