How Obama (and the Paparazzi) Spent His Christmas Vacation
Obama attended a private memorial service for the grandmother who helped raise him, Madelyn Dunham, in Hawaii. He and family members scattered her ashes in the Pacific. They weren't alone: the trusty paparazzi came along, too!
It was the same cliffs from where he scattered his mother's ashes after her death in 1995, reported Fox News. His grandma died two days before he won the presidency, and had "little patience for foolishness."
With that in mind, Obama's on vacation, during which "paparazzi have come away with more intimate pictures of the future president than the photographers who follow him day in and day out," notes Politico. Naturally, they snapped pics of him scattering the ashes, while the press photogs left him alone for privacy. Where the traditional press fears to tread, a hundred paparazzi will bloom—isn't that an ancient Hawaiian proverb?
But hey, at least hanging out in Hawaii's been fun for the press corps! They've been hanging out in board shorts and such:
"No offense to the people of Crawford, Texas, but taking the presidential retreat from Crawford to Honolulu is change anyone can believe in," [CNN's Ed] Henry says. [WaPo]
O. also visited some troops stationed in Hawaii on Christmas. No word yet on whether or not he'll be celebrating Kwanzaa, which starts today.
