I always hated it when liberals took cheap shots at President Bush and his family for enjoying the luxuries of life they can afford by nature of good fortune. I hate cheap shots at President Obama and his family for the same reason.

Come Jan. 1, I will be among the 10 percent of unemployed Americans. Our family has been tightening our belt all year knowing this day was coming. Even in better times, we never could have dreamed of renting a secluded and ritzy Hawaiian mansion for $4,000 a night.

But I don’t begrudge the president and his family doing it, in good times for the nation or in bad, when they have been so richly blessed.

The fact that taxpayers must foot part of the bill for presidential vacations does give me pause. But presidents make personal sacrifices for their country — the loss of privacy, the always-on-call nature of the job, the constant and often vicious criticism — and the reality is that they couldn’t vacation like the average Joe if they wanted.

Don’t give them grief over embracing the luxuries of the job, I say. Every American would do the same given the opportunity.

So enjoy your vacation, Mr. President. Consider it the fruits of this great country you serve. But when you get back to Washington, just please remember how blessed you are and don’t destroy with your policies the opportunities the rest of us have to feast on those fruits someday, too.