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hesnothere · 09-04-2009, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krisharry

My son will miss math to watch this speech. I would rather have him in math. Nothing against him watching the speech just don't want him to miss the class time, ya know. Anyway, the kids have all heard the stayinschool, work hard speech before. I don't think it will make one lick of difference coming from obama. The kids are happy though bec. they will miss math. LOL

Now your pov I can definitely understand and agree with. It's the washing of the braims stuff that has me wonky.

krisharry · 09-04-2009, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hesnothere

Now your pov I can definitely understand and agree with. It's the washing of the braims stuff that has me wonky.

I don't think obama could brainwash my son anymore than all the rest of the junk he watches, etc. LMAO

Jolie Rouge · 09-04-2009, 06:54 PM

Gibbs: Furor over Obama's speech 'silly season'
Ben Feller, Associated Press Writer
47 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The White House on Friday dismissed as pointless the furor over President Barack Obama's plan to deliver a televised back-to-school speech to the nation's students. "I think we've reached a little bit of the silly season when the president of the United States can't tell kids in school to study hard and stay in school," presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. "I think both political parties agree that the dropout rate is something that threatens our long-term economic success."

Obama's planned address to students has prompted a surprising push-back from some quarters over what the White House sees as an important but innocuous topic.

Some conservative critics say Obama is trying to promote a political agenda and overstepping his bounds, taking the federal government too far into public school business.

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a potential presidential contender in 2012, said Obama's speech is "uninvited" and that the president's move raises questions of content and motive.

Many school districts have decided not to show Obama's speech, to be delivered at 12 noon EDT Tuesday, partly in response to concerns from parents.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, on Friday defended Obama's plan to address students.

"The bottom line is we need the president of the United States of America to use his bully pulpit to talk to kids about the importance of education and to help inspire kids," she said on "The John Gambling Show" on radio station WOR NewsTalk Radio 710 in New York.

Gibbs said former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush delivered similar speeches to students. He said Obama's speech will not be partisan but rather a chance for children to get "a little encouragement as they start the school year."

The White House spokesman said he couldn't speak to the motivations of some school districts.

"Look, there are some school districts that won't let you read 'Huckleberry Finn,' " Gibbs said.

He said the administration understands that some districts have logistical concerns with the timing of Obama's speech.

The White House plans to release the speech online Monday so parents can read it. Obama will deliver the speech at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090904/..._schools/print

If you are trying to tell kids how important school is ... why waste school time to tell them this ? Why not on one of the many televised prime time broadcasts we have been treated to over the last few months ? Oh - kids in school + captive audience.

Jolie Rouge · 09-05-2009, 11:06 PM

Why parents don’t trust the Educator-in-Chief and his comrades
By Michelle Malkin
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/09/04...-his-comrades/

They think we’re crazy. “They” are the sneering defenders of Barack Obama who can’t fathom the backlash against the president’s nationwide speech to schoolchildren next Tuesday. “We” are parents with eyes wide open to the potential for politicized abuse in America’s classrooms.

Ask moms and dads in Farmington, Utah, who discovered this week that their grammar school children sat through a Hollywood propaganda video promoting Obama. In the clip, a parade of entertainers vow to flush their toilets less, buy hybrid vehicles, end poverty and world hunger, and commit to “service” for “change.” Actress Demi Moore leads the glitterati in a collective promise “to be a servant to our president.” Musician Anthony Kiedis pledges “to be of service to Barack Obama.”

The campaign commercial crescendos with the stars and starlets asking their audience: “What’s your pledge?”

This same “Do Something” ethos infected the U.S. Department of Education teachers’ guides accompanying the announcement of Obama’s speech – until late Wednesday, that is, when the White House removed some of the activist language exhorting students to come up with ways to “help the president.” Education Secretary Arne Duncan had disseminated the material directly to principals across the country – circumventing elected school board members and superintendents now facing neighborhood revolts.

O’s bureaucrats can whitewash offending language from the Sept. 8 speech-related documents, but they can’t remove the taint of left-wing radicalism that informs Obama and his education mentors. A spokesman maintained that the speech is “about the value of education and the importance of staying in school as part of his effort to dramatically cut the dropout rate.” But the historical subtext is far less innocent.

Obama served with Weather Underground terrorist and neighbor Bill Ayers on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge education initiative. Downplaying academic achievement in favor of left-wing radical activism in the public schools is rooted in Bill Ayers’ pedagogical philosophy. Obama served as the program’s first chairman of the board, while Ayers steered its curricular policy. The two oversaw grants to welfare rights enterprise ACORN and to avowed communist Michael Klonsky – a close pal of Ayers and member of the militant Students for a Democratic Society. SDS served as a precursor to the violent Weather Underground organization.

As investigative journalist Stanley Kurtz reported, Klonsky and Ayers teamed up on the so-called “small schools movement” to steer schoolchildren away from core academics to left-wing politicking on issues of “inequity, war, and violence.”

A cadre of like-minded educators and national service administrators across the country share the same core commitment to transforming themselves from imparters of knowledge to transformers of society. The “change” agenda trains students to think only about what they should do for Obama – and rarely to contemplate how his powers and ambitions should be limited and restrained.

Ayers preached his education-as-“social justice” agenda to his “comrades” at the World Economic Forum in Caracas, Venezuela three years ago:

Quote:

“This is my fourth visit to Venezuela, each time at the invitation of my comrade and friend Luis Bonilla, a brilliant educator and inspiring fighter for justice. Luis has taught me a great deal about the Bolivarian Revolution and about the profound educational reforms underway here in Venezuela under the leadership of President [Hugo] Chavez. We share the belief that education is the motor-force of revolution, and I’ve come to appreciate Luis as a major asset in both the Venezuelan and the international struggle—I look forward to seeing how he and all of you continue to overcome the failings of capitalist education as you seek to create something truly new and deeply humane.”

Ayers continued:

Quote:

“I walked out of jail and into my first teaching position—and from that day until this I’ve thought of myself as a teacher, but I’ve also understood teaching as a project intimately connected with social justice. After all, the fundamental message of the teacher is this: you can change your life—whoever you are, wherever you’ve been, whatever you’ve done, another world is possible. As students and teachers begin to see themselves as linked to one another, as tied to history and capable of collective action, the fundamental message of teaching shifts slightly, and becomes broader, more generous: we must change ourselves as we come together to change the world. Teaching invites transformations, it urges revolutions small and large. La educacion es revolucion!”

This is why informed parents do not trust the Educator-in-Chief and his “comrades.” You can take Obama from the radicals in Chicago. But you can’t take the Chicago radicalism out of Obama.

:

:

Here is a link to the notice on the Broward County FL school district site, which informs parents that they cannot opt their kids out of the president’s speech on Tuesday because the administrators are committed to “encouraging civics education in the broadest sense.” http://www.browardschools.com/info/obama.htm

Who controls your kids?

Quote:

On Tuesday, September 8, 2009, Broward County Public Schools students will have the opportunity to watch an online national address from President Obama on the importance of education. The Web address can be seen locally in Broward County at 12 noon on the White House Web site (www.whitehouse.gov/live), and broadcast live on BECON Channel 24.

According to Superintendent James F. Notter, there have been several calls into the Superintendent’s Office suggesting and/or requesting that alternative space and activities be provided for those students wishing to “opt out” of this activity.

“As one of the premier major school systems in America, we have consistently encouraged civics education in the broadest sense, e.g., Kids Voting, elected officials participating in Career Days, countywide broadcast of Inaugural address, etc.,” said Notter. “Therefore, providing for a separation from this Address does not align with our practices and responsibility to provide a well rounded, quality education for all students. This is the first time an American President has spoken directly to students on the importance of education and the challenge to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for one’s learning.”

Schools will have the option to record or obtain a copy of the Address for later educational use, due to individual school needs, such as, tests at that time, field trips, prior scheduled events, and other reasonable conflicts.

hblueeyes · 09-06-2009, 06:23 AM

If the message was only about working hard and staying in school I would not have a problem. It is everything else that will be spewed that has me concerned. Just like the 2 male penguins raising a child. It is supposed to alleviate bullying, yet the book that is now required reading for the young ones and doesn't address that issue. I will teach my children, I will give them both sides of the issue(s) and teach them how to think out of the box but also how to question? That to me is most important.

GOVERNMENT should LEAVE OUR KIDS ALONE.

Me

Jolie Rouge · 09-08-2009, 12:37 AM

Obama's back-to-school speech
no political content but plenty of self-references
September 7, 2009 Posted by Paul at 5:01 PM

The White House has released the prepared text of President Obama's "back to school" speech. The speech exhorts students to study hard and aim to achieve big things. It is devoid of any controversial content. As such, it is unobjectionable.

One might have hoped for less discussion of Obama himself, particularly the things he's tried to accomplish in the area of education. But that hope would have been unrealistic with this president.

The speech does, of course, offer a potential springboard for teachers or administrators who wish to promote Obama and/or his agenda. This concern became particularly acute after the Department of Education produced its infamous "how can you help Obama" package. But with that particular package now inoperative, there is no good reason for Obama not to give his speech. Perhaps it will inspire a few students to perform better or accomplish more than they otherwise would have.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archive.../09/024462.php

See : http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResou...SchoolRemarks/

Had Rightosphere Not Raised such a Ruckus
Would Obama’s Speech to Schoolkids have been so unobjectionable?
by B. Daniel Blatt at 8:18 pm - September 7, 2009.

And I wonder if I would have seen the uproar in the rightosphere as nothing more than a tempest in a teapot were it not for the preparatory materials the Department of Education provided exhorting teachers to have students, “Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.” http://hotair.com/archives/2009/09/0...rep-materials/

Ed Morrissey offers a similar view:

Quote:

In fact, had the White House skipped the study guide and simply released the speech from the beginning, it seems unlikely that this would have created much controversy at all. Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush both gave similar speeches in similar circumstances to students without creating a lot of hard feelings. That isn’t to say that their political opponents all yawned.

In the end, the remarks seem remarkably banal, but I wonder if they would have been more pointed (and more partisan) had the right not raised suck a ruckus.

Morrissey finds the speech quite self-referential with the President referencing “himself more than school, education, responsibility, country/nation, parents, and teachers combined.”

Similarly finding the speech “unobjectionable” as it “exhorts students to study hard and aim to achieve big things. It is devoid of any controversial content,” Paul Mirengoff also laments the speech’s self-referential aspect:

Quote:

One might have hoped for less discussion of Obama himself, particularly the things he’s tried to accomplish in the area of education. But that hope would have been unrealistic with this president.

http://www.gaypatriot.net/2009/09/07...such-a-ruckus/

Michelle says it’s “not the speech, it’s the subtext.“ http://michellemalkin.com/2009/09/07...s-the-subtext/

Tunku Varadarajan is a professor at NYU’s Stern Business School, fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and executive editor for opinions at Forbes.

He thinks I am a “kook” and “crazy” for criticizing President Obama’s education event tomorrow.

Tellingly, he does not address the actual substance of my arguments. But he packs in plenty of ad hominems:

Quote:

Too Many Kooks
Tunku Varadarajan, 09.07.09, 12:00 AM EDT

Obama’s school speech drives the right crazy.

The Silly Season ceases to be “silly” when what passes for political debate in America turns not merely stupid or witless, but certifiably demented.

I write of the kooky reaction of many conservatives–politicians, citizens and commentators in the media – to the plan by President Obama to address the nation’s schoolchildren tomorrow.

Obama will, as we all know, address our kids – plenty of whom need a lesson or two on the subject, since they clearly don’t get it from their parents – on the virtues of study, education and hard work. According to a White House spokesman, the aim of the speech is “to challenge students to work hard in school, to not drop out and to meet short-term goals like behaving in class, [and] doing their homework …” If anyone thinks that’s unpalatable, subversive, Commie and un-American, I’d like to meet for a duel at dawn by the skating rink at New York’s Central Park. (Pick your weapon, Michelle Malkin and Glenn Beck …)

Obama’s original “lesson plan” had been to ask students auditing him to write letters to themselves outlining ways in which they could “help the president.” This seemingly earnest proposal provoked a reaction so vitriolic from sections on the political right that I began to wonder whether I was missing a point–to wonder, in fact, that I, as a recent immigrant to this country, had failed to integrate well enough to grasp the nuances of American political debate.

Yes, you missed the point.

It’s not the speech, it’s the subtext.

It’s the radical activism of the White House Teaching Fellows who designed the education guides tied to Obama’s speech.

It’s the overzealousness of public school educators who have turned classrooms into Obama campaign offices.

It’s the influence of the left-wing social justice crusaders of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge on Team Obama.

It’s the Left’s embrace of Obama Chicago pal Bill Ayers’ pedagogical philosophy of “education as the motor-force of revolution.”

It’s the activist tradition of government schools using students as junior lobbyists to pressure legislators for higher education spending, pro-illegal immigration protests, gay marriage, environmental propaganda, and anti-war causes.

Now, who are you calling “kook?”

***

Update: Speech text released. It’s not about Obama…except, of course, that it is.

Jolie Rouge · 09-08-2009, 12:52 AM

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event
Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education.
And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility
for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility
for making sure you stay on track,
and get your homework done,
and don’t spend every waking hour
in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

continues ...

Jolie Rouge · 09-08-2009, 12:54 AM

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves.

And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself.

Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you.
So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResou...dSchoolRemarks

Jolie Rouge · 09-08-2009, 04:18 PM

That was then, this is now –
How Democrats treated GHWB’s speech to schoolkids
Posted by: Sister Toldjah on September 8, 2009 at 10:22 am

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock the last week or so, you’ve seen and maybe even commented about the controversy surrounding President Obama’s speech to schoolchildren, which he has either already given this morning at Wakefield High School in Arlington, VA or will give sometime today (I don’t know the exact schedule of events).

I don’t really have an issue with him giving a speech to schoolkids – provided there is no line in it about how the kids can “help the President” with his agenda (thankfully, there isn’t), and provided it’s pretty innocuous (it is). In fact, it appears as though there is a tradition of sorts surrounding Presidents giving “pep talk”-type speeches to public school students at least once during their respective administrations and usually in the fall.

What’s interesting to me about all this is the hypocrisy angle.

Byron York has a detailed look at how the left treated George H.W. Bush’s speech to school kids in October 1991. They didn’t kick up much of a fuss before the speech, but they sure as heck did after it – even launching a GAO investigation as to whether or not it was appropriate:

Quote:

Democrats, then the majority party in Congress, not only denounced Bush’s speech — they also ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate its production and later summoned top Bush administration officials to Capitol Hill for an extensive hearing on the issue.

Unlike the Obama speech, in 1991 most of the controversy came after, not before, the president’s school appearance. The day after Bush spoke, the Washington Post published a front-page story suggesting the speech was carefully staged for the president’s political benefit. “The White House turned a Northwest Washington junior high classroom into a television studio and its students into props,” the Post reported.

With the Post article in hand, Democrats pounced. “The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students,” said Richard Gephardt, then the House Majority Leader. “And the president should be doing more about education than saying, ‘Lights, camera, action.’” http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op...-57694347.html

[...]

Lost in all the denouncing and investigating was the fact that Bush’s speech itself, like Obama’s today, was entirely unremarkable. “Block out the kids who think it’s not cool to be smart,” the president told students. “If someone goofs off today, are they cool? Are they still cool years from now, when they’re stuck in a dead end job. Don’t let peer pressure stand between you and your dreams.

Not only that, but lost in all of this is how conservatives are being treated as “nuts” by the MSM for being concerned about what the context of Obama’s speech was going to be (the speech transcript was finally released over the weekend), whereas the MSM obviously played an active role in perpetuating the liberal myth that GHWB’s speech was nothing more than “political propaganda.”

Mainstream media hypocrisy? Check.

Congressional Democrat hypocrisy? Another check.

Same crap, different day.

GayPatriot asks a good question here in wondering whether or not the speech would have been overtly political in nature had conservatives not made such a fuss about it. My guess is that it probably would not have been, and I say that as someone who takes second place to no one in calling out this administration’s shameless political opportunism time and time again.

Let’s save our energy for the bigger battles we will continue to wage against this administration on a number of issues including the war on terror, cap and trade, the free market, ObamaCare, union favoritism, the rights of the unborn, etc. Compared to those things, his speech to school kids is small potatoes, IMO.

Comments

Quote:

Originally Posted by Severian

September 8, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Well, if Obamacles can claim credit for jobs that would have been lost but for MEEE! I don’t see why we can’t claim credit for forcing his speech to be less controversial and overtly leftist than it would have been. Goose/gander, that kind of thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bertie

September 8, 2009 at 1:55 pm

A fundamental difference between “Us” and “Them” (and that’s not always D’s and R’s). Conservatives were more concerned about exactly what the president planned to say, based on the released lesson plan there was reason for concern.

In 1991, “they” did not really care what the president said or what the kids heard. Their only interest was in not missing an opportunity to attack.

http://sistertoldjah.com/archives/20...to-schoolkids/

Why should D.C. schoolkids listen to Obama?

Why should D.C. schoolkids listen to Obama? He didn’t listen to them.

Would love to see this video played in schools as a follow-up to Obama’s speech.

He’s all for educational values…except when he isn’t.

Not forgotten: http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/02...oolhouse-door/

First, watch this powerful video open letter to President Obama from students who have benefited from D.C. public school choice through the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. Kids who support government monopolies get all the MSM attention. These kids get…ignored

The pro-school choice movement is joined, believe it or not, by the Washington Post editorial board, which writes today that “Ending D.C. school vouchers would dash the best hopes of hundreds of children.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...030101617.html

Quote:

Last week, the Democrat-controlled House passed a spending bill that spells the end, after the 2009-10 school year, of the federally funded program that enables poor students to attend private schools with scholarships of up to $7,500. A statement signed by Mr. Obey as Appropriations Committee chairman that accompanied the $410 billion spending package directs D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee to “promptly take steps to minimize potential disruption and ensure smooth transition” for students forced back into the public schools.

We would like Mr. Obey and his colleagues to talk about possible “disruption” with Deborah Parker, mother of two children who attend Sidwell Friends School because of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. “The mere thought of returning to public school frightens me,” Ms. Parker told us as she related the opportunities — such as a trip to China for her son — made possible by the program. Tell her, as critics claim, that vouchers don’t work, and she’ll list her children’s improved test scores, feeling of safety and improved motivation.

But the debate unfolding on Capitol Hill isn’t about facts. It’s about politics and the stranglehold the teachers unions have on the Democratic Party. Why else has so much time and effort gone into trying to kill off what, in the grand scheme of government spending, is a tiny program? Why wouldn’t Congress want to get the results of a carefully calibrated scientific study before pulling the plug on a program that has proved to be enormously popular? Could the real fear be that school vouchers might actually be shown to be effective in leveling the academic playing field.

The question answers itself...

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/09/08...sten-to-obama/

Jolie Rouge · 09-09-2009, 05:30 PM

Kiddie Recruitment Push #2:
New Girl Scout Patch for Service to Hope & Change…

and the Obama Youth recruitment push continues — under the guise of national security instead of education this time: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090908...20090908185707

Quote:

The United States wants to enlist its 3.4 million Girl Scouts in the effort to combat hurricanes, pandemics, terror attacks and other disasters.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a campaign Tuesday to entice the blue, brown and green-clad multitudes to be even more prepared, with the promise of a new patch if they pitch in. The young scouts will be able to emblazon their sashes or vests with the patch if they undergo the training which readies them for an emergency.

We can de-fund FEMA if we’re going to send the Girl Scouts when disaster strikes. They couldn’t be less effective, that’s for sure, but that most certainly has little to nothing to do with what this is all about.

The new patch isn’t shown, but something with an acorn inside the O-Logo might be appropriate.

I also see the Agence France-Presse has surrendered and is now obeying with Obama and the DHS on their new phrasings decree:

Quote:

The move is part of a month-long government effort to make Americans better able to cope with natural and man-made disasters.

“Man-made disaster” is of course Hopenchange speak for “terrorist attack.” http://dougpowers.com/2009/03/20/oba...inistration-2/

No doubt the Girl Scouts will also be taught that “in the event of a terrorist attack, do not call it a ‘terrorist attack.’”

The entire administration is a man-made disaster and we’re the victims. With the exception of those who are capitalizing on the socialism.

http://dougpowers.com/2009/09/09/kid...o-hope-change/

US Girl Scouts prepare for war, pestilence
Tue Sep 8, 2:56 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States wants to enlist its 3.4 million Girl Scouts in the effort to combat hurricanes, pandemics, terror attacks and other disasters. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a campaign Tuesday to entice the blue, brown and green-clad multitudes to be even more prepared, with the promise of a new patch if they pitch in.

The young scouts will be able to emblazon their sashes or vests with the patch if they undergo the training which readies them for an emergency. "This new preparedness patch will increase citizen preparedness and enhance our country's readiness for disasters," said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano in a statement.

"As a former Girl Scout, I know the 'Be Prepared' motto well, and I look forward to working with the Girl Scouts to spread the preparedness message to all of our nation's citizens."

The move is part of a month-long government effort to make Americans better able to cope with natural and man-made disasters.

Napolitano has urged individuals, families and businesses to stock fresh water and food, and prepare an emergency plan -- to be enacted in the event of a disaster.

The unveiling of the patch marks a partnership between the scouts and Citizen Corps, a community-based initiative under the DHS's Federal Emergency Management Agency, which coordinates national response to disasters.

Girl Scouts of the USA chief executive Kathy Cloninger said the tie up with Citizen Corps "provides an opportunity for our girls to lead the way in ensuring that their families and their communities are prepared for emergencies."

The patch will be available alongside existing Girls Are Great, Girl Scouts Against Smoking, Media Know-How and Read to Lead patches, and, of course, the Cookie Sale Activity Pin.

Girl Scouts sell an astonishing 200 million boxes of cookies each year on average, according to the organization, which was founded in 1912 and chartered by the US Congress in 1950.

It is not the first time the girl guides have been called into action in defense of the homeland.

During World War II, Girl Scouts "operated bicycle courier services, invested more than 48,000 hours in Farm Aid projects, collected fat and scrap metal, and grew Victory Gardens," according to Girl Scouts of the USA.

As the end of the second millennium neared and computers around the world were expected to be stricken with a debilitating bug, Girl Scouts were enlisted in some parts of the country to hand out advice about the threat poised by Y2K.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks scouts hosted remembrance ceremonies and wrote thank-you letters to rescuer workers.

hblueeyes · 09-09-2009, 05:47 PM

Reminds me of the youth brigade started by Hitler.

Me