This White House does what it wants

  The Malia Obama Spring Break fling to Mexico along with 12 of her friends and several teachers kerfuffle has exploded around the web, despite the White House's efforts to squelch it. 
  What was the purpose of squelching this story, as the White House has now admitted it did? First they called it non-news, until the earthquake hit Mexico and everyone wondered about Malia's safety, which apparently automatically made it "news," as "news" is determined by the "government." 
  (Malia's mother was too busy to go with her because she had an appearance on the David Letterman show, where Obama's Republican opponents would be mocked heartily.)
  The best synopsis of this kerfuffle/explosion is written by Claudia Rosett over at PJ Media. It's excellent, insightful and jarring.
 The problems Rosett sets forward are these 1) the whole 1% hypocrisy thing 2) White House control of the media  3)  cost  4)  risk  5) State Dept warning 
  And last she draws this conclusion:

One need not quarrel over whether the White House, or anyone in it, is entitled to organize holiday trips to just about anywhere on the planet. But being entitled to do something does not necessarily mean it’s a good idea to do it. Where’s the sense of responsibility to those who serve? Where’s the judgment?

  This is an excellent read and well worth your time. It synopsizes perfectly the problems this White House presents to the American public.
  This is no small story; it represents the disease that possesses the people running the country. It's all about them and no one else.
  And if they want to go on vacation someplace dangerous, it'll be the Secret Service's job to lay down their lives for them in the event of an attack.
  If they want to drive and fly gas guzzlers non stop around the country, it's their business and you'd just better pay up. You'd also better curtail your own travel in the name of "sacrifice."
  If they want to mouth platitudes about how much they care about the "middle class" and the "99%," then dammit, you'd better not question their numbers or their promises.
  If they want to send their kids to a phenomenally expensive school, while cutting the funding for impoverished inner city students to that same school, you'd better not ask why. You'd better just believe them when they say they support education and inner city students, regardless their policies.
  Background here and here.