Because shut up, that’s why. Gibbs happily ducks the question of cost — it was at least $24,000, which admittedly is just one grain of sand in the vast desert of Hopenchange spending — but see the second clip below for a more spirited defense from Captain Legthrill. As usual, he’s wrong. No one begrudges The One his right to conduct presidential business from Camp David or Chicago or wherever he pleases. What grates is the needless expense for pure recreation in another city when D.C. would have done just as well. A venial sin, to be sure, but a sin nonetheless given how the media would have demagogued the hell out of Bush for behaving similarly. If you want conservatives to lighten up, address your double standards first.

Oh, also, you’ll be pleased to know that one of America’s richest men has decided the annual presidential salary of $400,000 per year isn’t “much.”

Update: The Daily Mail estimates total cost to be $73,000.

“He better have liked the play,” one angry passenger supposedly said about Obama. When the ferry passed Pier 11 and people caught a glimpse of one of the presidential helicopters, another traveler was overheard saying, “There’s your tax dollars at work!”