At 12:00 p.m., Eastern Time (ET), September 8, 2009, President Barack Obama will deliver a national address to the students of America. (Please note that this is a change from the originally scheduled time.) During this special address, the president will speak directly to the nation’s children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school. The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.
MYTHOLOGY: From Jim Greer, Chair of Republican Committee in Florida:
As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology. The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other President, is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power.
Greer goes on to project that children will be forced to agree with Obama's initiaties, or else be "ostracized by their teachers and classmates."
Unbelievable. If Obama rescued a kitten from a tree, Republicans would wail that he was defying the traditions of gravity, and that the kitten had pooped on the lawn of the Pentagon, thereby defiling the troops. When they screech at innocuous "initiatives" like giving kids a pep talk at the start of the school year, it really deflates the impact of their quibbles on more significant issues.
Using the word socialist (or fascist)when referring to Obama is like branding yourself an idiot. It tells me all I need to know about the ability of that person to think and act rationally.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness you wrote about this or I might have missed it! Thank goodness he is doing it at noon. There's a good chance my kids will be awake to see it!
ReplyDeleteI still wish we could get more politicians on board about alternative educational ideas.
President Obama is not the first president to do a pep talk for children. Former President George H.W. Bush did this as well. Many people seem to look for agendas these days. I read where the idea for making September 11th into a national day of service was twisted by a Republican newspaper as part of a liberal agenda, even though the person who promoted the idea had bipartisan support and tried to pass it while Republicans still held the White House and Congress. Paranoia is alive and well in this country. I choose to be optimistic about any idea that doesn't cause a war!
I agree with you. The false outrage over this message to school children is utterly ridiculous.It sickens me to see how divisive politicians in this country have become over every.little.thing.
ReplyDeleteAlright here's my biggest issue with the uproar: If you don't want your children to receive the government's message, don't put them in a government run school. Period.
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