CHILMARK, Massachusetts — US President Barack Obama has defied the mockery of Republicans and sought refuge from the troubles battering his White House on the well-heeled resort of Martha's Vineyard.
With the stock market tanking on new fears of a double-dip recession and with the unemployment rate at 9.1 percent, critics said the president should be staying in Washington rather than taking 10 days off.
But Obama aides said that Americans would not begrudge the president a few days of rest with his family, and two senior officials will brief him regularly on national security and economic threats.
"The president of the United States is the president of the United States, wherever he goes. That's the job he ran for. That is what the American people expect. And it's the job he's doing," said Obama spokesman Joshua Earnest....