I suppose I’m asking for trouble by going here, but could someone explain to me the current controversy surrounding President Obama’s speech to American public school students on Tuesday? I’m serious. At first I thought the whole thing was just a minor stink, but as I’ve been reading posts on the Web and around the blogosphere, I’m realizing that this is major stuff. And as I look at some of the conversations happening among my friends and acquaintances on Facebook, I’m a little taken aback to find that some folks are actually afraid that their children will somehow be brainwashed or corrupted by whatever “hidden socialist messages” Obama will be delivering during his pep talk on the importance of education.
I know that there was initially concern about the wording of some classroom activities that the Obama administration was encouraging educators to use with their students during and after the speech, but my understanding is that the administration corrected the problem areas and that it will even post the speech at the White House website on Monday so parents and teachers can read it beforehand. Nevertheless, some parents and school districts are still making noise. The Valley View School District here in Illinois, where my two children are students, announced on Thursday that it would not allow its kids to watch the speech, and other districts are leaving it to individual teachers to make the call. Personally, I would’ve loved for this to be a part of my kids’ classroom activities next Tuesday, and I would’ve looked forward to chatting with them that evening about what they heard.
Again, can someone help me out here? I’d like to hear your thoughts on this latest installment in the ongoing Obama drama. I’ll hold back sharing some of my less-than-hopeful observations until I’ve heard from you.
I was very surprised when I heard about this story yesterday. I think its a great idea for the president of the United States to address school children at the start of the school year telling them to work hard (regardless of whether he is a Democrat or Republican). There is no getting around having the President of the United States being a role model for our children. I too would be disappointed if my kids weren’t even given an option of seeing this.
There are a number of things I find discouraging about this story, but perhaps what I’m having the most difficulty with is the idea that school children should not have the chance to hear directly from their president. Of course not everyone agrees with some (or even most) of President Obama’s policies, but wouldn’t this provide an opportunity for teachers and parents to have conversations with their students and children about our nation’s government and politics? Those calling for a boycott seem to only be exacerbating the notion that we should only listen to (and respect) those whose politics are identical to our own. As America’s pluralism increases, we need citizens who are willing and able to converse civilly with one another.
One last thought: It seems to me that Christians would be the least fearful people about this sort of thing. After all, we are aware that no political leader perfectly represents the Kingdom of God and so we ought to interact carefully with all politicians regardless of party or ideology. In the case of the president’s upcoming speech, Christians could demonstrate thoughtful interest devoid of fear.
Unfortunately Ed – I have no insight on this one. I am equally baffled.
Love your responses Becky and David – articulated some of the many thoughts I’ve had…
I will say this – as a kid – I LOVED the opportunity to hear from the President directly to me – didn’t happen a lot but I remember vividly when Reagan “spoke” to us after the Challenger accident and I can think of other times when I had exposure to GHWBush when he visited my high school and a similar reaction happened.
I am just disheartened at the tone of politics anymore – go figure. I’m an ELECTED official 🙂
By definition, paranoia is irrational.
Ed
I have begun to hear this foolishness. I am utterly disgusted with this situation. I know some folks are attaching this to the healthcare debate, which if I didn’t have a deep love for Jesus already, I wonder could I have one at this time.
For moment, let’s juxtapose Obama against Reagan or Bush, would the outcry be the same? No! I don’t believe it is a primarily a race issue, but I won’t delete it completely as a factor, but it is hard to identify all of the reasons why. Again, it is apparent that Obama ideas are conflicting with people’s paradigms of this nation. For Christians, it appears their faith is mirrored to their patriotism, so sad.
I am writing all of the principals of my sons school to see if the speech will be seen.
jimmy
what concerns me is our school’s option of pulling your child from the classroom during the address. what is that message sending? don’t listen to those who may hold a different opinion than you? don’t respect others while they are talking?
i have already written to the principal expressing my concern.
show it or don’t show it, but don’t give parents an opt out. because if left to our own devices, we rarely choose to listen to someone different than us. that’s exactly why we need to teach our children to. we don’t grow or become educated by only listening to people who agree with us, look like us or talk like us.
and that’s to say nothing of the actual content of the speech: encouraging our kids to work hard and own their education!
the whole thing is a bit disheartening.
This (contrived) controversy smells to me like other anti-Obama (supposed) outrage. A large portion of the political right (which, sadly, includes some Christians) are whipping up this (theoretically) moral indignation simply because they do not like Barack Obama and/or the Democratic majority and/or the fact that we have an African American in the White House. Yes, I do believe that a very sizeable hunk of it is good (?!) old-fashioned American racism. As a faithful follower of Jesus Christ I find it necessary to speak this truth to the powers-that-be and unmask it for the evil that it is.
I am not a supporter of many policies of President Obama.
That said, he is the elected President of the United States. His topic is an important message that many children need to hear.
Whatever one’s political opinions, I think we can all agree that as many adults as possible need to encourage our childrent to work hard in school and value education for the opportunities it opens.
When my daughter was at Elgin High School there was a teacher who had part of Oprah on every day during the class period. I really question the educational value of a constant stream of Oprah during valubale class time. I am convinced that that teacher was just lazy.
However, providing children with an opportunity to hear a message encouraging them to stay in school from the President of the United States is not something to get up in arms over.
I thought this was an interesting timeline of how this thing blew up like it did: http://atlanticwire.theatlantic.com/read-more.php?id=928.
I, too, am a Christian. I am 100% a Jesus follower and try to live my life as He wants me to, but I just want to say that I AGREE with Brent 100%!! That said, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why, even Christians, are doing everything and ANYTHING to discredit President Obama, to say EVIL things about him and most of all, to destroy him and his family. I read my bible every day, and all I can say, I have never seen anywhere where God approves of these actions. Instead of these people giving Christians such a bad name, (in my opinion they are not Christians), they should really be on their knees begging God for forgiveness
It seems there is a vocal minority in this country who think along these lines: “The president is a (black) liberal, socialist, radical, etc. Therefore everything he says and does is tainted. I can’t let my kid be exposed!”
Ok, that’s probably a bit over the top, but seriously, this president can do nothing right in the eyes of Beck, Limbaugh, et al. Obama could declare himself against abortion and these folks would find some way to turn it into a socialist plot!
I hear ya, Ed. I don’t get the controversy. Sometimes closed-minded conservatives drive nuts. Sometimes? Make that all the time.
No, Jesse, I don’t think you’re over the top at all. I live in a very conservative area, and your words are exactly what I’m hearing around me. I think it’s a big glob of xenophobia — a blend of cultural, political, racial, and religious fears of “the other.” But my question is, given that this country elected Barack Obama by a convincing majority just a few months ago, how has he come to be so loudly perceived as “other” in such a short time? It’s frightening, reminding me too much of the paranoia that surrounded me as a child during the Civil Rights Movement. My parents sounded just like the folks who are ranting now as they yanked me out of newly-integrated school activities … but for God’s sake, that was 40+ years ago in the Deep South. Haven’t we learned anything meanwhile???
I am with you. It is a sad day for our nation. We do our children and our nation an injustice when we fail to teach them how to respect others. We do our children and our God great violence when we train them to hate others. Our son has already been told by other “Christian” children (5yrs old) how evil President Obama is. Lord have mercy on us!
I always enjoy and appreciate what Ed has to say (well, what he writes – haven’t talked to him in a while). Kudos Ed, tons of respect for you and your work. I guess you could say I’m a part of the “right wing conspiracy.” But I try to keep an open mind and try to stay civil. So here’s my two cents worth on this topic. First, the “hatred” of Barak Obama from the right is the same kind of stuff the left through at George W. Bush for 8 years. It’s just that the tables are now turned (now you know what it feels like). Yes we get out of hand sometimes, just like the left gets out of hand. I personally don’t think either side is any better or any worse at throwing stones. But in terms of the classroom issue, I think absent the healthcare fiasco, people wouldn’t be so upset about it. This healthcare issue really blew-up. From my perspective I have not seen this much anger about an issue – ever. Lots of people are determined to do whatever they can to stop universal healthcare (me included). There’s kinda’ an all out “war” sort of mentality going on, if that makes sense. This classroom thing is like shrapnel in a much larger war. But I don’t think it’s racial. Conservatives would act just the same if it were Hillary Clinton pushing the public healthcare issue. At this point in his administration, I think our President needs to figure out a way to compromise, unify, mediate, and give hope rather than to push an agenda driven by liberals in Congress. But that’s just me.
Jesse is not over the top, rather is tremendously understating the fear, hatred and paranoia that have infected these fools. This isn’t about rational fears, this is about taking back “our country” from the “n*****’s who are determined to ruin it, because they’re not white males who claim to be Christians and claim to be concerned about the middle class. And yes, I’ve heard the claim that our Harvard-educated constitutional scholar president is a ni****.
Further, although it hasn’t really gotten a good start yet, you can expect to hear that if it takes killing, destroying and general terrorism to win their country back, so be it; it’s the fault of those “others” now in power who stole the country in the first place.
I don’t get it either. It is strange that a message on working hard from the president of the United States would generate all this heat. Lessons:
1. Partisan politics is everywhere.
2. There is a great mistrust of Obama on the “didn’t vote for Obama side”.
3. The socialism-taint to much of the administration’s policies are creating significant emotional drag on the President’s influence for a sizeable number of Americans, even when 99% of them agree with the general drift of his thought–like, “the work hard at school message.”
Many of those who are fueling the fire of anti-Obamaism use such descriptors as socialist, communist, facist. President Obama has been called Muslim, anti-Christ, and another Hitler. Well of course, Hitler had his youth organizations who were indoctrinated into allegiance to the leader and into the “superior race” theory. But wait…..that sounds like American “white supremacist” groups who indoctrinate their children into hating those of other ethnicities. Racial prejudice stems largely from a desire to have and maintain power and control. The person who lacks power and control over others, and subsequently has low self-esteem, will attempt to elevate himself, at least in his own mind, by pushing other folks down. So the last thing those folks want is for their children, over whom they have some control, to feel any allegiance or any positive connection, to President Obama.
The Southern Poverty Law Center recently published a report on the growth of hate groups since the presidential election. It’s an eye-opener. Whether it’s congressional contras, redneck rebel flag wavers, nervous nellies in the newsroom, KKK butt-kickers, or paranoid parents, they have no concept of the Great Commandment….to love God and love other people, which results in righteousness and justice.
I will try to stay calm here.
I as a conservative have no problem with a president encouraging children to work hard and stay in school.
However, the White House released a statement saying that there would also be content related to his federal education agenda in the speech. They also did send along questionable content that Ed mentioned regarding how they wanted the speech to be discussed in classrooms. If there was no backlash then nothing would have been done. The administration should still be held accountable for this content even if it was taken back or revised.
So… Staying in school Good! Big government federal education agenda, BAD.
Whether you agree or not, I do not trust this president. So I am wary of this speech. I’m not freaking out about it or anything but wary.
And the timing in the middle of the health care debate has a lot to do with the reaction. Tensions are very high in this country right now.
One last point. This thread has also exposed the prejudice towards conservatives that exists in the larger Christian community. We’re just a bunch of racist rednecks apparently. Most of the posts in this thread seem to say as much.
Judy:
I am a straight white guy and a Christian with lots of rednecks in my family but I am not a racist nor am I anti-conservative. (There are many ways I am conservative. There are other ways I am not. I think conservative and liberal are not accurate terms anymore. Anyway . . .) I am a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. And I truly believe that the vast majority of the outright racism is NOT coming from within the Christian community. But I do think the church is being manipulated by certain forces that are racist to try to muster up support for their broader political agenda. Tha’s all I am saying. Thank you, my sister in Christ, for your courage to speak your mind to all of us other threads!
Brent
In Santa Ana, Calif. on Tuesday 9/8 – 8 AM Orly Taitz’ case will be heard by the court.
Go bus there massively. Protest Obama outside courthouse.
Orly’ll be announcing on the steps afterwards that she demands immediate unsealing of all of Obama’s records.
Raise all hell, with signs, Obama has gained Potus post and power to kill us all in 1 single fucking second.
Arrest him, try him and send him to Death Row.
Obama’s the Antichrist for no other powerful man of the world has got the Beast’s Marks
I am going to try and be civil. What in the world are you talking about? The sign of the beast? What sign is that? Are you trying to be religious? Are you proving you are a racist? What? I am a nobody to you, I know, and this is a waste of my time, but I had to respond. Please, please, don’t hate so much that you have to lie. Have you sat back and asked yourself why you hate Obama so much?
Mr. Smith:
Are you for real?! I’m sorry but I just don’t get where you’re coming from. Believe me I was for years into all of the apocalyptic theology and I figure that if anyone could tell the marks of the beast it would be me. I sorry I just don’t see it when it comes to Obama. I can tell you are afraid and want to be protected. You must be afraid for you as a Christian to use the F-word. I will pray for you, brother, to be delivered from the demon of hatred that seems to be possessing you.
Brent
Again, I am saddened at the quickness that each “side” has to accuse the “other” side of being something bad or horrible.
I am on the side of Christ. Period. I am not perfect but I strive to keep a civil tone and TRY to understand all point of view before I come to my own conclusion. Even then, when I do come to a conclusion – I don’t automatically assume that those against my position are racist, stupid, socialist fill-in-the-blank with all the nastiness I’ve witnessed over the last few years.
Our country is polarized and it was polarized long before Obama. However – his browness absolutely plays a role in the extent of the polarization. Say what you want Tom, Judy and any others who believe that this is just a conservative vs. liberal conversation. Not once was Bill or Hillary Clinton called socialist when they were trying to do essentially the same thing our current president is doing. It is personal. It is vile and it pure paranoia of someone who thinks and more importantly LOOKS different than the majority of the power brokers of this country.
I will continue to pray that people recognize it for what it is and stop the madness. I will also continue to follow these blogs and remind people to grow up and be civil. We can disagree but we don’t have to be vile in the process. What in the world are we teaching the next generation when we behave this way?
I should mention that the Valley View district, where my kids are students, reversed its initial decision and will now be showing President Obama’s speech. Parents who are still suspicious of the president’s motives can request that their kids be given alternative activities during the speech. This is what I thought they should’ve done in the first place, so I’m thankful that they had the guts to change course.
By the way, thanks, Denise, for your honesty and boldness in just calling it as you see it. I didn’t want to introduce the race thing into the discussion, because I know many folks will disagree and accuse me of “playing the card.” However, like Denise suggests, I think Obama’s skin color and cultural background has brought another dimension of fear and resentment to the issue in the minds of some people. I agree, Denise; this current version of hostility and polarization feels different.
I think the outrage is ridiculous and a lot of people have bought into some unfounded rhetoric. I was thinking last night as I watched a repeat of SNL and laughed at the skit of Sarah Palin debating Joe Biden, that the media really has been the downfall of some people and we’ve allowed it. I am by no means a Palin fan and I think she hurt herself in a lot of ways, but the media scrutiny didn’t help. I feel as though if President Obama does not succeed, it will partly be due to the media. Just recently I’ve heard President Obama’s presidency questioned as though it’s close to being over. He just got started! How is it that some are so ready to throw the dirt on the coffin? We’ve really got to start thinking for ourselves and not be so easily led astray. But, when you’re a lazy thinker, it’s easy to let someone else do your thinking for you.
Possibly it “feels” different though because you have a stronger or closer affinity to this particular person because of his skin color? The more you support someone, the more you feel the pain when they are attacked.
Don’t forget how conservatives went to great lengths to actually impeach President Clinton. And if you google the words “Hillary Clinton” and “socialist” you’ll find hoards of links. Glen Beck even did a special last year calling her an “insane socialist.” Ronald Reagan used to call the Democratic Party the Democratic Socialist Party. These socialist accusations are nothing new at all. But if you’ve not been involved in conservative circles you might not know this. I think one of the differences now is that the mainstream media has caught ahold of this accusation and it makes for better ratings to heat things up.
All this being said I agree 100% that there are some people who are are saying and doing certain things out of their racial biases and bigotry. I can’t deny that.
Unfortunately, Ed, I think I agree with you that with the ridiculous controversy of this speech, that we have moved beyond politics at this point. This is truly an issue of fear and resentment. I have never seen people so charged about something that is really typical for a President to do. Speaking to our children only allows for conversation and gets our children interested in understanding and recognizing what the issues are that we not only face today but also gives hope to the future.
I really think this relates back to a fear of our children actually hearing what is being said and they might even feel like they want to “do something about it.” I beg someone to truly find the fault in that.
What is truly the tragedy in all of this is that kids are aware of more than we think and whether or not our children get to see/hear this speech is not as serious as their questions of why this is a controversy at all. We are sending a message loud and clear to our children.
I also agree with raisingCains…parents do not get an opt out option. The bottom line and what makes our country supposedly the model government is that regardless of whether you agree or not with all of the policies of our current government, you need to respect our leaders and especially our President. It is part of what makes us a civilized nation. He was voted in, even if not by everybody. As much as I couldn’t wait to see “change” in the White House after Bush, I still respected him as the President. You don’t have to like everything the government does…I sure don’t, but if we are so concerned with what our kids are exposed to and what they are learning, then why are we not teaching them fundamental respect and listening with an open mind?
One more comment and I’ll leave this alone (blogs can be so addictive!). President Clinton was quite popular before he and Hillary tried to push a universal healthcare plan. But during the healthcare debates of 1993, the Clinton’s lost much of their popularity and even control of Congress. Don’t forget Hillary could not even appear in public due to the massive demonstrations against her. There was a seismic shift in public sentiment toward the Democrats and toward liberals in general. Then as soon as Bill Clinton stopped pushing universal healthcare, everyone settled down and he won reelection. Not since then has anyone touched this issue. All we are seeing now is a repeat of what happened in 1993. I realize there are racial undertones and sadly, this comes into play here. But I think some of you just don’t realize how angry some Americans get when you mess around with their healthcare. Obama and the Democrats are the ones stirred this hornets nest. You can blame it on whatever you want to, but things weren’t so bad for Obama before the healthcare debate. And the classroom thing landed right smack-dab in the middle of the hottest, most contested public policy debate of the decade.
As usual, great conversation everyone. Thanks, also, to all the new folks who were kind enough to chime in.
Tom, I have to say, I hear what you’re saying, and I agree to an extent. I’ve said this before, so forgive me if it sounds redundant, but up until about 2003 or so, I identified more with the Republicans than Democrats (though then, as now, I am a registered Independent). So, I know a little of what it feels like to be on the “conservative” side, though, as Mike Huckabee said, I was never really angry about it. 🙂
I also must say that I do feel more of an affinity with Obama than many other presidents that I’ve voted for in the past, but it’s not because of skin color. I can think of countless other black politicians and leaders that I feel no affinity to, even though our skin is the same hue. Rather, any affinity that I feel with Obama has more to do with his message of reconciliation, civility, and understanding across our racial and cultural divisions. Unfortunately, that “hope” message doesn’t play as well when political interests and power are at stake.
Ed:
I am a white guy, a born-again Christian, some rednecks in the family closet. I have an affinity for the President and it has nothin’ to do with my skin color. I think it has to do with how he wants to transcend race as a political punching bag and at the same time celebrate race as part of God’s wondrous creation. I wonder what a lot of these folks do with the fact that the Lord Jesus was a Jew and a working class carpenter.
Brent
The healthcare issue … a large part of the debate about this plan, in my circles, was the speed at which it was moving without serious input from those whom it would affect–the people.
This speech-in-the-schools issue … another fast moving train that did not have input from those whom it would affect–the people.
I believe that the people are reacting to a disregard for their parental authority, to their individuality, to their rights as American parents have choices over what happens in their children’s educational environment.
Many parents have few choices financially in the question of where their children will be schooled. Does that mean they also have no say about the content? I don’t believe that public school should mean state school; which is precisely what a school that does not give an “opt out” option is.
I seem to understand that this speech was originally packaged with “curriculum” — which is an indication that it has been in the development stage for some time. However, it does not seem to have been important in the initial stages to explore the possibilities of getting some streetlevel input from a broad spectrum of political, social, and religious viewpoints.
If you’re inside the train, the speed doesn’t seem so bad; if you’ve found yourself tied to the tracks, the scenario changes entirely.
My boys will be participating with their classes watching what I expect and hope will be a non-partisan presidential speech that focuses on those things that 90% of American’s agree on.
Like others, I am disappointed that this has become such a lightning rod, but I’m not overly distraught. As noted, these are divisive times and there were plenty of occasions when Republican presidents didn’t get the respect and trust that they deserved either. I can very easily see the roles reversed.
While we are opting in today, I do think that parents should have the right to opt out for the extra-curriculars. Indeed, many have taken the ultimate opt-out by home-schooling in numbers that would have been unimaginable when most of us were kids.
Tom is right, as a quick trip to Google showed before reading his posts, socialism was very much a part of the Clinton era debate 15+ years ago. Fundamentally, many of the issues in contention today center around the role of government.
Finally, for me this is another example of team Obama learning how to re-calibrate from a campaign organization into a governing organization. When you campaign you focus on keeping your base and picking up enough of the non-committed independents to win. When you govern, you need to also consider the 48% of the population that didn’t vote for your candidate. “Accidentally” adding people to your email list, asking citizens to report “fishy” healthcare information they hear and putting out curriculum for the President’s speech that some interpret as more focused on promoting your boss than educational outcomes are all examples of messaging being off just enough to get some of the 48% people riled up.
Nothing egregious in any one case, but reminders that as hard as it is to get elected president, it is a LOT harder to govern well.
This entire debate could have been minimized if the material generated by the administration was written with a broader understanding of the audience.
peace
President Obama’s speech to the students is on the internet now. It’s something every student should hear and every parent should want their kids to hear.
Great discussion.
The public disrespect I see for the POTUS is awlful. Even though I did not like GWB, I still prayed that he would make the right decisions. I would have had no problem with GWB speaking to my children via classroom. Anyone who is President is smart enough to know to say the right things to children or he would put his position and/or party in jeopardy.
I wonder if too many conservatice Christians are used to getting what they want.
Getting what we want! Sir, are you joking? A million unborn children are slaughtered every year in this country, rates of premarital sex are sky-high among Christians as well as nonbelievers, scads of people who call themselves Christians can’t even define the term, and you think we’re getting what we want?
I should have been more specific. I was thinking about 8 years under GWB where some Christians grew comfortable with their access to power.
Ironically, the issues you highlight were also true under GWB.
(This is in answer to prophetiksoul below, because for some reason the system won’t let me respond directly to that post.)
They were true under GWB. But that only goes to prove the point I was trying to make, which I may have left a little unclear: No politician can EVER give us all we want. Doesn’t matter how much “access to power” we have.
And at least with Bush, we had a president who wasn’t completely fine with the dumpsters full of baby parts. That was SOMETHING.
I agree with the premise that no politician can gives us everything we want. But right now from the reactions I am seeing from many prominent Christians in the Republican party, they dont believe this. (I also believe that many prominent Christians in the Democratic Party would react the same way if they were mostly out of power).
I am not interested in the kind of Christianity where earthly power is at its core. It does not represent Jesus in the least bit.
I’m really glad that by the end of it the political bashing in this comments thread cooled down a bit… I do agree that this is a bit more of a lightening rod than it’s worth.
That said – personally, I think it’s a waste of tax dollars on something that will not have any real effect. Do you (anybody) really think that just because the President says “stay in school” on a special in-class video is actually going to make anybody stay in school? Come on, that’s like saying the D.A.R.E. program worked because Nancy Reagan said to “just say no”. How many people do you know that went through that program in grade school and tried drugs anyway?
It’s a waste of an already overly burdened deficit to blow tax money to do the closed-circuit thing. Pre-record it and slap it on YouTube.
Oh, and I DO agree with the ability to opt out – I don’t have any school aged kids so my opinion only goes so far, but I’d rather my kids were learning something of value during that time rather than watching a happy feel-good message of no real worth. I’d rather have the option to show them the video at home and not waste school time.
the data showed that drug use did go down during the “just say no” campaign. as one who grew up in that era, i felt empowered to say no. i think it was of value.
i’m also surprised that people still have a reaction even after reading the speech. a speech that emphasizes responsibility-you would think that would appeal to both right and left.
my point on the “opt out” is that we are essentially telling our children that we don’t have to listen to anyone we disagree with or respect authority. i think both are very dangerous lessons. i was adamantly against the war in iraq from day one and as much as i may have protested a talk to children about the war, if bush was speaking about education to school children, i wouldn’t pull my child out.
furthermore, if we can’t come together on things we agree on, then how can we expect to come together on anything else?
The “Just Say No” campaign came at the exact same time as Reagan fully ramped up his “drug war”, among other things. There’s no real data to show that the school campaign had any real effect on the change in those numbers. I realize that the D.A.R.E. program was separate, but in my youth they blurred together (which is why I mentioned them in the same sentence). Studies showed that the D.A.R.E. program, which was actually in school versus all over the news/tv as “Just Say No” was, showed no decrease in drug use, and some actually showed an INCREASE in use.
My own experience with people I went to school with also tells me it didn’t work so well…
For me, the desire to have an opt-out has nothing to do with President Obama himself whatsoever. I think it’s a waste of money and time. It’s the parents’ job to keep the kids in school – it doesn’t matter what the President says on a TV screen in the classroom, the deciding factor as to whether the child will stay in school or drop out is ultimately parental involvement. So like I said, put the video on YouTube and urge parents to watch it with their kids and talk about it afterwards. Keep classtime for learning.
Ok – I rarely do this but I cannot help myself. I was just exposed to an article that articulates so eloquently what I try to say in these “debates” between liberals and conservatives. It is on point and down right “brick between the eyes” on moralism which is something I see quite often on these blogs.
Take a peek if you dare…
http://www.crosswalk.com/11608224/
Thanks for the link Denise. It is one of the reasons why I work hard not to be beholden to any particular political party.
I have Christian brothers and sisters who dont understand that. Last I checked, the group that exhibited this behavior in the Bible was the Pharisees and Sadducees and Jesus often had harsh words for them.
I am striving to be more Christ-centered instead of more Democrat or Reublican or whatever.
I’m always a little hesitant to comment here, because it’s such a tough crowd. Today I had the opportunity to watch the Obama speech with my 4th grade students. As I expected, during the speech they looked as if they were not paying attention at all. Eyes were glazed and wandering.
However, after the speech we asked the kids about what they had just heard. Surprisingly, most of them had something about the speech that impacted them personally. Whether it was that they could succeed after failure like both Michael Jordan and J.K. Rowling were able to do, or that Obama was raised by a single parent like they are. But by far the most important part of the speech that made an impression on many of my students is when Obama said you are not stupid you just may need to try harder.
One speech may not make a difference, but for one child it might.
It’s easy to say that a child’s education is a parent’s responsibility, but every child doesn’t have great parents. It takes everyone working together to make a difference in a child’s life. So if one speech from Obama can make the difference for one of my students, then go ahead and take it out of my taxes, because they are the future of this nation.
I think it is some toxic combo of racism and partisanship gone mad.
I am appalled by how many of my fellow-churchgoers, who heretofore I have thought very intelligent and kind, flat are against anything Obama is for; are suspicious of all sorts of stuff (I tried to get my prayer group to pray for the President and was met with stiff resistance, because they disagree with his policies – pointing out that scripture tells us to pray for our leaders didn’t help).
The “School Speech” rehash is summed up along the lines of, “It wasn’t partisan but now he even wants to parent our children”.
Most appalling to me is how many of these “good Christian folks” smirkingly refer to the president as “our boy”. Being raised in the South during the 1950s, “boy” smacks of anything but a friendly term.
First of all, I’m sick and tired of being called racist for opposing this president’s policies. I’ve always been against the policies of the Democratic party since I was old enough to know what they were. ALWAYS. I cried when Clinton was elected, and last time I checked, he wasn’t black.
So those of you who are pulling that race card on conservatives as a whole, you can put it away, thanks very much.
Second of all, this is not new. Look what Democrats did when Bush 41 spoke to schoolchildren. There were hearings, for crying out loud!
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/When-Bush-spoke-to-students-Democrats-investigated-held-hearings-57694347.html
There are parents who believe it is a waste of time for any President to speak to their children during the school day, in general. Even if I disagree, atleast they are consistent. My guess is that this group is small.
The Obama administration, in my opinion, tossed gasoline on the fire with the lesson plan but, beyond that, there are political elements who keep the fire burning with extreme exaggerations (Glen Beck’s playing the race card, etc). That is worrisome to me.
But considering the President is supposed to represent all of us and gave a pep talk, Im not sure what the issue still is at this point.
Disagreeing with any President’s policies is an American way of life. It’s the exaggerations and racially tinged stuff that bother me most about Obama considering he hasnt even been in office for a year. It just goes to show you that racism isn’t dead (like many think it is).
I dont agree with all of Obama’s policies either and I felt the same way about GWB.
Whether when GWB spoke or Obama, the accusations that came before their education speeches is still trivial and adolescent , at best.