If you thought the world's most expensive night out on the town in New York was ridiculous, that was nothing. Seems Bo the dog, gets to fly on his own Gulf Stream to the 1st family's vacation. Is it just me or does the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. act more like a 3rd world dictator than he does a president?

"Arriving in a small jet before the Obamas was the first dog, Bo, a Portuguese water dog given as a present by the late U.S. Sen Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.; and the president's personal aide Reggie Love, who chatted with Baldacci."

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/white-house-wanderers-tour-acadia_2010-07-16.html

White House wanderers tour Acadia
By Rebekah Metzler [email protected]
Staff Writer, State House Bureau

BAR HARBOR -- Julia Freifeld, of Raleigh, N.C., was absolutely certain she knew where the Obamas would make a stop during their weekend getaway on Mount Desert Island.

She staked out Ben & Bill's Chocolate Emporium on Main Street in Bar Harbor.

"They are going to bring their daughters here," she said Friday afternoon.

Walking down the streets of the popular tourist town, everyone knew where the president, first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, 9, would be going -- or thought they did, anyway.

As it turns out, the first family was just down the street, having ice cream at Mount Desert Ice Cream, according to the White House pool report.

Freifeld, her husband, Mark, and his brother, Richard, were staying on the island through the weekend, the couple's second trip to Maine.

"It's charming, scenic and beautiful," Julia Freifeld said of why they chose to revisit the popular vacation spot.

Earlier Friday, the Obamas were greeted by Gov. John Baldacci and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-2nd District, when they arrived in Trenton about 12:25 p.m.

The president was the first to walk onto the tarmac, dressed casually in a pale blue Oxford shirt and khakis. A few minutes later, the first lady, dressed in black capris, a tank-top and sandals, walked onto the runway. Shortly afterward, Malia and Sasha joined their parents.

Baldacci and his wife, Karen, presented the family with gift bags full of Maine-made goodies, including baskets made by the Passamaquoddy Tribe, popcorn from Little Lad's Bakery in East Corinth, iconic L.L. Bean bags, University of Maine ice hockey hats, and an assortment of other Maine foods and books.

Karen Baldacci said the bags for Malia and Sasha contained one loon toy and one chickadee toy that sound their natural calls.

Arriving in a small jet before the Obamas was the first dog, Bo, a Portuguese water dog given as a present by the late U.S. Sen Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.; and the president's personal aide Reggie Love, who chatted with Baldacci.

"We're ready. We're going to do it all," Love said with a big smile.

Air traffic at the small Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport in Trenton was shut down for the presidential arrival. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter patrolled the air in anticipation of the first family's touchdown, and a pair of local fire and rescue trucks stood ready on an otherwise empty tarmac at the private air hangar.

The Obamas then traveled onto Mount Desert Island in a motorcade of at least 16 vehicles. It was led by two Maine State Police cruisers and included five black Chevrolet Suburbans.

The early-morning fog quickly burned off, and the sky was bright blue for the arrival of Air Force One, which in this case was a G3 Gulf Stream.

Technically, Air Force One is whatever aircraft the president is traveling on. It usually is a 747, but a plane of that size would be too large for the Trenton airport runway to accommodate.

Dozens of members of local and national news media were on the tarmac to capture the Obamas' arrival in Maine.

Within 40 minutes of arriving on the island, even before making a stop at their hotel -- the Bar Harbor Regency on Route 3 -- the first family went bicycling for more than an hour around Witch Hole Pond in Acadia National Park.

They proceeded straight up Cadillac Mountain, which at 1,532 feet is the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard.

At the summit, the Obamas were given a personal tour by Acadia Superintendent Sheridan Steele, and they chatted with several families who happened to be touring the mountain at the time.

The first family then took a leisurely stroll along a lower pathway offering stunning views of Frenchman's Bay. Walking by themselves as spectators and the news media watched from a distance, Barack and Michelle Obama held hands for a spell as they strolled along the path, with Sasha and Malia trailing closely behind.

Continuing their aggressive agenda, the Obamas checked into their hotel around 4 p.m. and, about an hour later, boarded a National Park Service boat at the hotel pier for a brief tour of the harbor.

Surrounded and trailed by five smaller, faster Coast Guard boats as well as other crafts, the president cruised around Bar Island and Sheep Porcupine Island but turned around to head back into downtown Bar Harbor as a thick fog began to roll in.

The presence of the presidential motorcade downtown and the approach of the small fleet surrounding Obama's boat drew a large crowd to the piers, many of whom greeted him with cheers.

With one arm around his eldest daughter, Malia, the president waved to the crowd.

The family then dined at Stewman's, a downtown restaurant, while onlookers clogged the sidewalks.

Kevin Miller of the Bangor Daily News, representing Maine in the White House Press Pool, contributed to this report.

Rebekah Metzler -- 620-7016

[email protected]

What an azzhole. There is no limit to the ways they can piss away money.

Ernie

I don't find it strange at all that he sends his dog out for a plane ride. Hell, one of the first things he did as pp-p-p-p-p p-p-pp-preees--i-d-d-d-d-ent (damn that was hard to say) was to send AF1 out flying around by itself over NYC!

Alan

would be front page news if he were a republican....will get little notice because he isn't

And here I thought 'BO' was the pet name he calls his bodacious booty wife Michelle.

Of course it would be front page news, but seriously, just what are the chances of Bo being a republican???

I don't know what's more pathetic,......making the dog fly on a separate plane or sending Reggie Love along to wipe its butt.

Hate to tell you this but most Presidents have engaged in behavior just as egregious. However I'm not sure I've ever heard of flying the presidential mutt in its own private jet.

It is NOT just you, mosby. More and more are becoming convinced that we have Kim Jong Il the 3rd, AND Hugo Chavez Jr in the White House.

Lord help us if he is also Pol Pot, Stalin and his namesake Hussein.

As long as they let Bo drink from the toilet, he'll be happy.

He is acting like the King of France right before the revolution.

What a bunch of schite......

maddog

But at whose cost. Got to shake you head about this crap. Next thing you know well be paying to fly his brats all over the world.

Apologies to Gordon Lightfoot.

The legend lives on from the Panthers on down
Of the big river they call Potomac
The River, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of manure - 26,000 tons more
Than the POTUS Throne weighed empty
That good chair and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The Throne was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some thrill near Augusta
As the big Throne goes it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Barry ill seasoned.

The economy is OK, this he did say
When they boarded two jets for vacation
And later that night when the big clock did chime
Knew it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.

The wind in the trees made a tattletale sound
And anger broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Barry did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came young Bo came on the porch
Saying fellows it's too rough to save ya
At 7PM a main screen door caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.

The Barry wired in he had schiet coming in
And the grand plans and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck in the headlines of the Herald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When politics turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made the Rose Garden
If they'd put fifteen more months behind them.

They might have split up or they might have screwed up
They may have broke faith and took on some liquor
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the Pols and the dogs and a few other queers.

Chesapeake rolls, Potomac sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Foggy Bottom steams like a young man's dreams,
The Malls and Halls are for Yes Men.

And farther below the great Beltway
Takes in what DC can send her
And the manure loads go as the spokesmen all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Georgetown they prayed
In the Manure Museum's Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man remembered by the Herald.

The legend lives on from the Panthers on down
Of the big river they call Potomac
The River, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.

At first I was all for pissed reading the headline. I don't like anything about Obama. Then I thought a bit. If they usually use a 747 and this trip was using a much smaller plane ..that meant to get all the people they wanted to Maine they had to use more than one plane anyway. The dog just grabbed a "hop" on a different plane. Even though Obama has no common sense.. a personal plane for his dog doesn't make any sense either.

The dog was just trying to save face by flying alone hoping nobody knew he was associated with the Obamas!!!