President Barack Obama and his family will travel to Chicago, where they will spend the weekend. On Monday, the President will participate in a Memorial Day ceremony at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois.



Also on Monday, the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden will host a breakfast for Gold Star Families at the White House. Afterwards, the Vice President and Dr. Biden will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.



As American troops fight two wars, their commander in chief plans to use Memorial Day to have some fun in Chicago with his wife . This is nothing short of repulsive. Anne Kornblut of the WaPo supplies the official rationale for putting personal gratification before the duty of honoring those who gave all to protect us:

In 16 months at the White House, the Obamas have been back home just once -- in February of 2009. But they plan to make the trip over Memorial Day weekend, an official said. After arriving on Thursday night, they will visit with friends and participate in private events.

Poor babies! Just once! Of course, there have been date nights on Broadway, weekend getaways to North Carolina (complete with barbecue food - the sort of thing Michelle condemns in her role as National Food Scold), and the President's golf game, not to mention his practice of shooting hoops. The nation may face terror threats, a looming nuclear weapons crisis in Iran and/or North Korea, an economy that is not recovering, but our President knows how to have fun.

Memorial Day comes but once a year. Our troops deployed overseas suffer extreme deprivations deployed in places like Helmand Province in Afghanistan. So taking one day to honor them seems like a small sacrifice for a those of us who enjoy their protection.

It looks a lot to me as though the President is offering a single digit salute to the troops, a demoralizing gesture that weakens the resolve of those one whom we all depend.

With Obama, it is always all about him and his personal gratification. This pattern of behavior ios becoming obvious even to those who once may have voted for him.