Final update: We may never know what the original speech would have said, but the final transcript looked fine to me. I’m glad he emphasized behaving well and staying in school. I’m also glad the changed the superfluous curriculum that was originally planned. Hopefully many kids will listen, straighten up and fly right and stay in school.
And perhaps the politicians will encourage more charter schools so the “pro-choice” families can have more influence over their child’s education.
Updates:
1. Obama changes questions due to criticisms. But if they weren’t wrong to begin with . . .
2. For those naively or deceptively saying, “Gee, what’s the matter with the President encouraging the children blah blah blah,” go ahead and strap on the polygraph and convince us that you’d have had the same reaction if President Bush or President Reagan had done the same thing.
3. Theobromophile has better advice than my post. I stand corrected (though I still think it would be powerful if more parents said, “Enough with the indoctrination”).
No, no, no.
Children should NOT skip school on 08 September. They are indoctrinated in our schools no matter what, but this time, thankfully, it’s going to be obvious.
Why allow Obama to checkmate us by just doing more of these things so that parents who pull their kids out will just end up with truant kids who can’t graduate? Why allow him to just be more subtle about it by changing educational requirements to include discussions about him and his pet projects, rather than a TV broadcast?
No, no. Keep the kids in school. Have them in school with a short list of points to discuss in class. Have them ask their teachers if they would have the same reaction to any other President in history… and happen to cite Bush 43 as an example.
When asked why they should listen to the President, have them challenge the premise.
When asked what they thought of the President’s speech, have them ask why Obama couldn’t just communicate to parents and have everyone’s parents decide what is appropriate for them to hear. After all, Obama isn’t anyone’s second daddy.
Do not go quietly into that good night and let this happen to other people’s children. Those kids shouldn’t be brainwashed. Send your kids in and make it into the biggest disaster in the history of America.
—–
Go read Ironic Surrealism v3.0 » Hey, Obama, leave our kids alone!, a thorough summary of the problems with Obama’s planned indoctrination of public school students.
Watch the video of the kids singing his praises. Or just take some Syrup of Ipecac.
On Sept 8 Obama is planning a National Day of Indoctrination directed exclusively towards school children all the way from Pre K to grade 12. He wants to be broadcast in every school across the US so he can have a little talk with your child.
In a unified counter protest concerned parents are planning a-National Skip Day Sept 8 2009 -
Apparently, Our Beloved Leader, Barack Hussein Obama, the most merciful, Lion of the Masses, Protector of the Common Man and Omnipotent Parental Figure, will give an address on September 8 to America’s school children. The audience will be all children, preK-12. In protest of the forced ObamaTV viewing in classrooms across the nation everyone is encouraged to participate in a National Skip Day and keep your kids home. Take the opportunity to teach your kids true life lessons and not subject them to Obama propaganda. Maybe even use the day to make protest posters for the 912 March on DC!!
The U.S. Department of Education, apparently with the expanded role of overtly propagandizing America’s youngsters, has thoughtfully prepared “learning materials” for teachers to use in preparation for this historic and truly unprecedented event. They have been very thorough, preparing “Classroom Materials” in two separate packages, one directed at children “preK-6″ the other of students in grades “7-12.” Note: “preK-6″ implies that the Dear Beloved Leader anticipates his message being broadcast to pre-kindergarten children.
. . .
Had there been big elementary school love-fests during the inaugurations of George W. Bush?
**crickets**
. . .
Michele Malkin reminds us of the pro-Obama teacher who brought a little girl nearly to tears:
” Obama zealot teachers like this one across the country will do all the extra-curricular bullying and haranguing for him. Remember:”
Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.
-Vladimir Ilyich LeninWhen an opponent declares, “I will not come over to your side,” I calmly say, “Your child belongs to us already… What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.”
-Adolf Hitler“Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.” -Josef Stalin
Filed under: Politics | Tagged: government, home school, indoctrination, lenin, obama, Politics, public school, school, september 8
Wow….that’ll teach them!
Wish someone would have suggested it years ago when I was still in school. Forced politics in the classroom is unfair–always has been.
Why does everyone give a damn all of a sudden?
Sorry Neil but this is ridiculous and I can’t believe you are jumping on that wagon.
Least this world forget that Bush was in a classroom having storytime with kids when this country was attacked! Did he rush from the room? Was anyone worried about the safety of those children when there was a clear threat to our leaders and government.
No he sat there like a bump on a log–hoping not to alarm them, because someone has just whispered a death threat in his ear.
Obama will be no where near any of the children–its piped in through satillite and everyone wants to stay home. What wrong with that picture?
Mizclark, I think you missed the point. President Bush did nothing wrong by staying and did not put kids in danger. That is besides the point, anyway. He was just reading to them, not propogandizing them like Obama is going to do.
Also, please do the math and let me know how many kids Bush talked to in person vs. how many Obama is trying to reach.
He wants his face in front of young kids, young kids who obviously talk to their parents, who may think about Obama in a more positive way, and may think that Obama’s policies aren’t that bad. After all, my kids like him.
Coug- BigBrother-cough.
So, is it that you don’t want the kids hearing a president talk, or does it just apply to THIS president?
Straw man. Kids can hear them all they like, but they should not be subjected to him in public schools. C’mon, you know the Left would have gone INSANE if Bush had done a fraction of this (Hey, they went insane when he didn’t do anything close to it).
See my memories of Bush are blurred….see I had to suffer through him as a governor and then poof–president…I suffered through endless speeches and visitations at my school–but there again I cant remember if that was while he was president or governor.
Actually I was referring to all of the other presidents I’ve been subjected to during school…things I was forced to watch when I should have been learning…The point is it was OPTIONAL…just like it is now. I can even remember things I was FORCED to watch like the Challenger explosion in 1986.
Be a parent…you don’t want your kid watching it send them with a note–don’t pull these kids into an adult fight they know nothing about. I HATE this healthcare plan and I’m beginning to get pissed off at some of the things he’s pulling while in office.
My kids? Are HYPED because the president wants to talk to them! They don’t give a rat’s fat pat-tooty what we’re arguing about. The President of the United States of America wants to talk to them! He’s also going to do it at school instead of hanging up TV like he does when he wants to talk to the parents! AWESOME
Can we please teach our children about the political process? Trust that you are the foundation of their learning. Maybe I’m not worried because my kids always come ask when they hear something totally against what they have been taught at home.
No, no, no.
Children should NOT skip school on 08 September. They are indoctrinated in our schools no matter what, but this time, thankfully, it’s going to be obvious.
Why allow Obama to checkmate us by just doing more of these things so that parents who pull their kids out will just end up with truant kids who can’t graduate? Why allow him to just be more subtle about it by changing educational requirements to include discussions about him and his pet projects, rather than a TV broadcast?
No, no. Keep the kids in school. Have them in school with a short list of points to discuss in class. Have them ask their teachers if they would have the same reaction to any other President in history… and happen to cite Bush 43 as an example.
When asked why they should listen to the President, have them challenge the premise.
When asked what they thought of the President’s speech, have them ask why Obama couldn’t just communicate to parents and have everyone’s parents decide what is appropriate for them to hear. After all, Obama isn’t anyone’s second daddy.
Do not go quietly into that good night and let this happen to other people’s children. Those kids shouldn’t be brainwashed. Send your kids in and make it into the biggest disaster in the history of America.
Excellent point, thanks!
Not quite what I meant, but at least you show up.
We have to teach our children how to argue…how to disagree…respectfully! Maybe the next generation won’t be so quick to go to war.
Mmm, drawing parallels between Obama, Hitler and Stalin? Someone got a little too ambitious.
But the fact is that their philosophies on the issues in question are remarkably well aligned. That doesn’t mean that their end state is to kill tens of millions of people. But their rhetoric is very similar — http://www.redstate.com/california_yankee/2009/09/01/obama-campaign-org-politicizes-911-calls-protestors-right-wing-domestic-terrorists/ :
Seriously now — “right wing domestic terrorists?” “subverting the American Democratic process?’ “Whipped to a frenzy?” “Fox propoganda network?” “treacherous leaders?” — each of those is beyond hyperbole and ignores what is going on with the Left leadership.
The schools have always been a place to indocrinate the masses, I guess it was o.k. when that indoctrination included white washing American History, making it seem like the Western world was the center of the universe, and only White people did anything worthy of mentioning in all of world history….just saying…
Thanks, Neil.
To everyone else: good red herrings, but they ignore the real issue: should children be required to, upon the threat of criminal action for non-compliance, listen to Barack Obama’s propaganda?
The answer should be obvious. If not, try the above exercise of putting in “George W. Bush” for “Barack Obama” and consider if you would want your child to be legally required to listen to Bush propaganda.
i honestly don’t know what the big deal is. I would have no problem having children listen to a Bush speech, and I think it was great that he spoke at schools. One of my fondest memories of Bush was a speech he did at a high school. He was funny, didn’t really speak much about politics, and generally just answered softball questions, but it was a thrill for the kids. I don’t expect this to be much more than that.
Is it outrageous for a democratically elected president to address the nation’s youth? Come on now. Your kids have to deal with all the filthy evolution talk every day, why not a little socialism? It’s like a cherry on top.
Also, please give me a link to the threats of criminal prosecution for those kids who don’t listen.
Guess yall are forgetting when we were forced to listen to Reagan about taxes! What do school children know about taxes?
At least this indoctrination is really about them.
Gee, could this have anything to do with Obama’s approval rating slipping? The mainstream media is totally in the tank for Obama–the celebrities are in the tank–tank’s getting pretty full–people who embrace this would-be dictator remind me of a bunch of mindless zombies. They sound like they’ve been brain-washed. Change, change, change. Isn’t that what Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez promised? No, my child is off limits to Barrack INSANE Obama. My message to Obama and his minions: HANDS OFF! THIS FREEDOM-FIGHTING PARENT IS DECLARING WAR ON YOU!!! Thanks to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, The Great One Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, Mark Steyn, Michele Malkin, and Ann Coulter I know about this plan to indoctrinate my child. And I intend to prevent it. My husband and I parent our child–not the government. Don’t forget, fellow Americans, you have a great source for the truth, 680 WCBM and Fox News. God Bless you all! Watch and listen–I ALWAYS DO!!! RUSH LIMBAUGH FOR PRESIDENT!!!
I just read the briefing from the white house on this speech. It’s 15-20 minutes, and the subject of the speech is for each child to stay in school and take ownership of her education.
How can you possibly spin this as a negative? This is absolute crap. I would have welcomed a speech like that from any president, regardless of his party, at my child’s school. This is a new low.
Look – I’m not an Obama fan right now either, but that guy could save a drowning child and be criticized by the right for his lunch choice earlier in the day. Your real arguments (and there are many good ones) are really diminished when you stat making stuff up.
Both Reagan and Bush I did the same thing. I’ve heard that Clinton and Bush II did as well, though I haven’t seen any concrete confirmation of that. I remember when I was in elementary school, 1st or 2nd grade, when Reagan ran for reelection and we had a school wide election of our own (for the record, Reagan won in a landslide in school too). In the 5th grade my teacher had us watch the Bush – Dukakis debates and talk about who we thought won. This isn’t a new thing.
I don’t really have any problem with this.
For the record, I have no objections to any debates, just the one-sided liberal propoganda machine.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve voted in Presidential elections (mock or real) since Kindergarten, when I voted for Richard Nixon. My reasoning was that a fellow student, Fred Nixon (no relation), was a nice kid, so why not vote for Richard? If you have a better system for selecting the leader of the free world I’d like to hear it.
OMG! WHy are you guy so sure that Obama will spit out propoganda? You just know for a fact that he won’t say anything different than the other president who have talked to children and said ’stay in school’.
And yes, if Bush wanted to speak to kids on the importance of education, as much as I could not stand him, my child would be right in front of that tv!
Americans are so stupid. As dumb as our children are, and yes, we are well behind other countries in education, you would encourage skipping school?!? As high as our drop out rate is, you would encourage skipping school?? As strongly connected teenage pregnancy, welfare and jail is to the lack of education, you would encourage skipping school. GIVE ME A BREAK!
Tell me one reason why you know for a FACT that his speech is some covert plot to brainwash our kids?
You’re doing that job well enough!
Have fun choking on this, Neil
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/07/laura-bush-praises-obama_n_278917.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/07/laura.bush/index.html
AP) WASHINGTON � Former first lady Laura Bush on Monday expressed support for President Barack Obama’s decision to speak to the nation’s school children, saying it is “really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States.”
In an interview with CNN, Mrs. Bush, a former school teacher, said, “There’s a place for the president of the United States to talk to school children and encourage school children” to stay in school. And she said parents and others also need to send that message.
Obama’s planned remarks Tuesday to be broadcast by C-SPAN to many schools across the country has drawn protests from conservatives and some parents who said the president is trying to indoctrinate the nation’s children. Some parents have said they plan to keep their children home from school because of the Obama speech.
“That’s their right,” Mrs. Bush said. “That certainly is the right of parents to choose what they want their children to hear in school.”
“I also think it’s also really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States,” she said.
Obama in his speech will urge students to stay in school.
“What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country,” Obama will tell the students, according to a transcript released Monday by the White House. “What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.”
Mrs. Bush also decried the extreme political partisanship in the nation.
“We’re polarized. … A lot of people on the right, a lot of people on the left. We’ve seen that for the last eight years. … We’re still seeing it,” she said.
Mrs. Bush praised Obama’s performance under difficult circumstances. “He’s tackled a lot to start with and that’s made it difficult,” she said.
She said her husband has refused to criticized Obama because he believes the new president “deserves the respect and no second guessing on the part of a former president.”
Still, she said Vice President Dick Cheney, who has been sharply critical of Obama, “has every right to speak out. … It’s certainly Vice President Cheney’s right to say whatever he wants to say.”
Mrs. Bush was interviewed in Paris, where she was helping promote global literacy as part of a United Nations meeting.
Hi Nick,
I’m not sure why you think that would bother me. Laura Bush is a class act (contrast her to the Clintons, or virtually any Liberal politician for that matter).
Let’s consider a couple other thoughts. First, if Laura said something you disagreed with would you quote her as authoritative?
More importantly, do you think it is just possible that Laura Bush has a unique perspective given the vile hatred and vitriol that she and her husband received from the Left for 8 years? Just maybe?
I hope your school year is off to a good start. I know it is a big transition, but I think you’ll really enjoy 7th grade.
Regards,
Neil
For the record Neil I think she said pretty center on her comments.
I love the Bush women! She showed so much CLASS!!! She was able to defend her husband and the seated president and it wasn’t some sound byte. She spoke from the heart!
I totally agree she has a unique perspective and why she was able to give Obama the benefit of the doubt (@NICK)
Oh, and did you notice this part?
Update: As noted in item 1 in the post, they changed the materials that were to go along with his speech. I’m OK with a pure “stay in school” message. I taught Junior Achievement classes for 12 years and am always glad to see that reinforced.
One of the problems Obama & Co. have is that if you deceive people over and over (i.e., “no abortions in the health care bill!”) then they don’t believe anything you say.
I’m glad our free speech and Democratic process put pressure on him to make an appropriate speech.
Go ahead, try and convince me that this was his plan all along.
We may never know what the original speech would have said, but the final transcript looked fine to me. I’m glad he emphasized behaving well and staying in school. I’m also glad the changed the superfluous curriculum that was originally planned. Hopefully many kids will listen, straighten up and fly right and stay in school.
And perhaps the politicians will encourage more charter schools so the “pro-choice” families can have more influence over their child’s education.
Is it just your mistrust of him that makes you think the speech has been changed? If so, aren’t you just artificially reinforcing your mistrust?
One thing I dislike about most right wing bloggers is that they criticize something they “believe” Obama is about to do. Then when he doesn’t do it they take credit for “pressuring him” to change his mind, and continue to criticize him for what they assume he would have done. That’s exactly what you’re doing here Neil.
What on Earth is wrong with the president addressing kids on their level? I think it’s fantastic, and I would have praised Bush for doing it too. In fact – I did.
I’ve addressed all those above.
Al Mohler had what I thought was a very balanced piece on this topic — http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=4404