Rehoboth Beach

Let them eat pineapple? President Joe Biden, who was approached by reporters while leaving the beach on Sunday, declined to comment on the deadly Maui wildfires that have thus far claimed ninety-six American lives. "No comment," Biden told the press as he trudged back over the sand dunes after a few hours catching some rays. Cockburn is shocked he didn't check his watch before bothering to offer those two words. The president's reaction has prompted disdain — even from apparent allies. “Not a great moment for Biden here,” tweeted former CNN political editor and current Substacker Chris Cillizza. Biden’s indifference to the death and utter destruction caused by the fires is quite perplexing, given his only job is beach.

Every president is criticized, sooner or later, for taking too many days off, for lounging around when we’ve hired him to work. Since the media hates Republicans, that criticism is usually directed at them, but even some liberal publications have noticed that — shock! — Democratic presidents play golf, too. That criticism, most recently in Amber Athey’s article in The Spectator, is wrong. It misses the bigger, more important issues — and not just because our country would be well served if most presidents did less, not more. It’s fun to compare the President with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but there are three problems with criticizing presidents for escaping to their beach house in Delaware or their ranch in Texas or California.

One of the most eye-popping coronavirus containment measures instituted anywhere in the country can currently be found in the small, oft-neglected state of Delaware. For most Americans, if they’re familiar with it at all, Delaware is experienced only as either a pass-through for travelers on I-95 or as a domestic tax haven referenced obliquely in the text of corporate fine-print. However, there are some hidden charms: quaint little beaches and such. A pandemic would not be the most advisable time to familiarize yourself with these subtle Delawarean glories, though, because you might get pulled over for having an out-of-state license plate. As of March 30, pursuant to an Emergency Order issued by Gov.