Obama to brainwash the "schoochildren"

[valvano]

http://www.ed.gov/news/events/advisory.html

"September 8, 2009
PRESIDENT OBAMA DELIVERS NATIONAL ADDRESS TO AMERICA’S SCHOOCHILDREN

Wakefield High School
4901 S. Chesterfield Rd.
Arlington, VA 22206

Media Pre-set: 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM (All equipment must be dropped at the site by 7:00 AM; media will not have access to their equipment from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM.) Media Access: 10:00 AM

Throw: 60 ft.
Cable run: 600 ft.
Live truck parking: Trucks should enter the entrance off Dinwiddie Street and will be directed on site. All live trucks must RSVP with vehicle information. Trucks must plan to park by 7:00 AM. Live truck operators must bring cable ramps.

Media entrance: Entrance number 2, off Dinwiddie St.

Media Coverage: This event is open to pre-credentialed media. To request credentials, please RSVP online at: www.WhiteHouse.gov/the_press_office/MediaRSVP-EducationAddress-9-8-09/. The deadline to RSVP is 6:00PM EDT tomorrow, Thursday, September 3rd.

All names submitted for credentials must be accurate and reflect the identification media presents at check points for entrance. RSVPs do not guarantee access. You will receive a confirmation e-mail if you will receive a credential to cover the event.

Contact for logistical and planning purposes only: Johanna Maska at jmaska@who.eop.gov. "

[Dorothy Wood]

you're a piece of shit.

[Burnout18]

will he be reading The Pet Goat?

[Whatitis]

Hopefully the "schoochildren" can "ax" some questions to Obama :D

fucking racist.....and you do nothing but feed the stereotype of Republicans.

[valvano]

fucking racist.....and you do nothing but feed the stereotype of Republicans.

or are you the racist for assuming only minorities use such language??:D

"racist"...what a liberal says when their brain runs out of bumper sticker logic..

[YoungRemy]

the typo is embarrassing, but not as much as the thread title.

histrionics much?

thanks for sharing the info, valvano.

I appreciate your efforts.

[Videodrome]

lol

[QueenAdrock]

or are you the racist for assuming only minorities use such language??:D

"racist"...what a liberal says when their brain runs out of bumper sticker logic..

Ironic, because you're typecasting Whatitis as a liberal, which he is not.

And I agree with Dorothy.

[Schmeltz]

So here we have valvano, who can barely string together a coherent sentence, the poster with quite possibly the worst spelling and grammar on the board, picking out a spelling error and trying to run with it.

There's some bumper sticker logic for you.

[valvano]

So here we have valvano, who can barely string together a coherent sentence, the poster with quite possibly the worst spelling and grammar on the board, picking out a spelling error and trying to run with it.

There's some bumper sticker logic for you.

stupid internet message board spelling errors...one thing

official dept of education website spelling errors....... more obama change you can trust...

[YoungRemy]

this is going to get heated.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6599457.html


Some object to Obama speech to students
By GARY SCHARRER and ERICKA MELLON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Sept. 2, 2009, 8:05PM

Some Texas parents are asking school principals to excuse their children from listening to a speech that President Barack Obama will make to schools next week on the grounds that it smacks of political indoctrination.

Obama will deliver an address directly to students on the importance of education beginning at 11 a.m. (CST) Tuesday.
“The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan wrote in an Aug. 26 letter to school principals.
Critics of the president are using the Internet to build opposition and encourage parents to request their children not be forced to listen.
“I think it's inappropriate because it smacks of political indoctrination of the worst kind,” said Brett Curtis, a parent of two children attending Pearland ISD schools. “It's not just a speech. It's a specific curriculum to go along with the speech directly from the president of the United States without review.”

Schools are getting a menu of classroom activities for students, according to the education secretary, designed by teachers “to help engage students and stimulate discussion on the importance of education in their lives.”
Curtis said he would instruct his children to boycott the speech as “a general protest. I know that's going on around the country.”
Most Houston-area school districts will let principals and teachers decide whether to show Obama's speech. Some district leaders raised concerns about interrupting already scheduled lessons, while others said students need to hear the president's expected message of personal responsibility for learning.
Some parents have threatened to keep their children home for the day...

and here is the e-mail chain going around:

Word is traveling fast on the internet, between bloggers and twitter, the choice is clear : No school for kids on September 8th due to the beginning of Socialist Indoctrination of Americas children.
Keep your kids home September 8th
2009 September 1
by DanaLoesch
Take a day of vacation. Go to the zoo. Anything that would save your offspring from what I will bluntly say is just the quasi-fellating the executive branch. That cackling over a bubbling cauldron you hear is the NEA rejoicing.
Picture 4
President Obama’s Address to Students Across America September 8, 2009
I wouldn’t have such a problem with the Department of Education were this presented in a non-Orwellian fashion. Oh yes, it is, as the lesson plan directs, to listen to what t he president, the mayor, et al. says, to respect their "authoritah" , but there is no emphasis in here on why the president and other elected officials should listen to US. The focus is solely on authority. There is no consideration given to the authority of the American people. That’s what concerns me.
There is this mindset that those in Washington are the "elite," that we should mind our Ps and Qs and blindly follow their directives. That’s not the manner of governance upon which this country was founded – it is quite the opposite; even the hobbyist Constitutional aficionado appreciates this.
So yes, keep your kids home on September 8th and teach them that the power of America rests in the hands of its people, no one else...

NOTE TO OBAMA :

LEAVE OUR KIDS ALONE !!!!

[kaiser soze]

Wait!?

Education isn't brainwashing?

I thought conservatives hated the fuckfaces in school - the liberal teachers, the elitist students, the money, the opening of minds and such..

Sorry to say vulvano, Obama didn't type that :(

[Videodrome]

what if valvano is right?

[kaiser soze]

Then the children will become Zobambies and the Second Amendment will be proven as the only solution to this crisis -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vya2O-GePc

[Bob]

or are you the racist for assuming only minorities use such language??:D

"racist"...what a liberal says when their brain runs out of bumper sticker logic..

those poors do talk funny. good one valvano

[Videodrome]

lol @ valvano's true colors.

[The Notorious LOL]

Every politically themed message board I have posted at is always chock full of right wingers who cannot spell or write worth a shit.

[yeahwho]

Obama's Youth, training the young and impressionable for future Sturmabteilung members.

[rirv]

Why does the adjective "Orwellian" get rolled out at every opportunity?

[Michelle*s_Farm]

I checked google trends to see if "Orwellian" is on the rise (in google searches). I compared 2009 "Orwellian" to "Darwinian". Below are the findings which seem to show an increase in interest in "Orwellian". Although "Shakespearean" kicks some major ass.

"Orwellian" versus "Darwinian":

http://www.google.com/trends?q=orwellian%2C+darwinian&ctab=0&geo=all&date=2009&sort=0

"Orwellian" versus "Shakespearean":

http://www.google.com/trends?q=orwellian%2C+Shakespearean&ctab=0&geo=all&date=2008&sort=0

Shakespearean may win the day because of the latest Shakespearean Insult Generator below (brilliant):

http://www.mainstrike.com/mstservices/handy/insult.html

Here are a few great insults from the bard himself:

"Thou spleeny idle-headed puttock!"
"Thou currish sheep-biting nut-hook!"
"Thou yeasty beef-witted moldwarp!"

[Schmeltz]

official dept of education website spelling errors....... more obama change you can trust...

Are you for fucking real, man? Are you seriously taking the presidential administration to task over a missing "l" on a website? Is this supposed to be the straw that finally breaks the back of the weary and infuriated American people?

Jesus are you ever a joke.

[valvano]

Are you for fucking real, man? Are you seriously taking the presidential administration to task over a missing "l" on a website? Is this supposed to be the straw that finally breaks the back of the weary and infuriated American people?

Jesus are you ever a joke.

its not the Dept of Energy, or Dept of Transportation, or Agriculture....

its the Dept of Education..you know, the bureacrats who are over the public school system!>!>!>!


"I voted for Hope and Change and all I got was a $9 Trillion Dollar Deficit"

[valvano]

looks like somebody finally figured out how to spell "schoolchildren"...

(y)

[YoungRemy]

looks like somebody finally figured out how to spell "schoolchildren"...

(y)

that's all you've got on the entire matter? have some self-respect and tell us what is wrong with the president addressing the nation's schoolchildren.

leave the dramatics behind, valvano.

i love how you put the deficit purely in Obama's hands.

like Bush had little to nothing to do with the bailouts of the housing, banking, and auto industries...

get real, dude! the Dept. of Education was doing God's work until Obama came into office, right?!

[ms.peachy]

and here is the e-mail chain going around:

What a bizarre thing, to urge people to keep their children out of school for fear they might hear an alternate point of view, rather than to encourage them to teach their children to listen critically to what they are being told, and to discuss with them what is being said. Hands over ears, la-la-la I can't hear you! WTF.

[kaiser soze]

More video on this stupidity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voBXix7G8Bs&eur

How did the parents feel when bush spoke to the U.S. on 9/11 - he used the kids as a backdrop for his press conference

obviously if it's related to terrorism they don't mind, but if it's about hard work and education it is a horror

talk about douche bags

I hope these idiots call for the disbanding of The Boys and Girl Scouts, All church Youth Groups, Boys and Girls Clubs and the like

will anyone think of the children!?!

[freetibet]

Wait!?

Education isn't brainwashing?

I thought conservatives hated the fuckfaces in school - the liberal teachers, the elitist students, the money, the opening of minds and such..

Sorry to say vulvano, Obama didn't type that :(

Oh, so "opening minds" stands in the same row with liberal teachers etc. now. Yeah, that's coherent :rolleyes:

"Communism - known for opening minds in the Western world at least since the 1920s."

- that could have been a runner-up slogan of the Obama's campaign, just after "Change - we believe in". LOL

[kaiser soze]

ah yes coherence, the thing that your post lacked

got it ;)

[Bob]

Oh, so "opening minds" stands in the same row with liberal teachers etc. now. Yeah, that's coherent :rolleyes:

"Communism - known for opening minds in the Western world at least since the 1920s."

- that could have been a runner-up slogan of the Obama's campaign, just after "Change - we believe in". LOL

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT

[QueenAdrock]

its not the Dept of Energy, or Dept of Transportation, or Agriculture....

its the Dept of Education..you know, the bureacrats who are over the public school system!>!>!>!

...looks like somebody finally figured out how to spell "schoolchildren"...


So you believe that this was an actual spelling error, as in, the Dept of Education didn't know how to spell "schoolchildren"? I dunno, I kind of took it as a keystroke mistake. Mistakes that anyone can make, and has nothing to do with education as much as it does with not having enough attention to detail.

No, no, you're probably right. The Dept of Education probably didn't know there was an "L" in school. :rolleyes:

PS - "bureaucrats" has a "u" in it.

[Bob]

also, question mark isn't spelled with a ">"

[YoungRemy]

following is the prepared indoctrination of our schoolchildren by the President of the United States of America

http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

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.
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.

[kaiser soze]

Laura Bush defends Obama speech

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/07/laura-bush-defends-obama-school-speech/

"I think that there is a place for the President of the United States to talk to school children and encourage school children, and I think there are a lot of people that should do the same," she told CNN's Zain Verjee, in an interview set to air Monday on The Situation Room. "And that is encourage their own children to stay in school and to study hard and to try to achieve the dream that they have."

whoa and wow

[faz]

I'm just AMAZED that there is an uproar in the states over things like this.

The president speaking to schools....really? You're going to complain about that?

[kaiser soze]

I am just as baffled

This is why I believe there is much more to this than just speaking to students

[Bob]

I'm just AMAZED that there is an uproar in the states over things like this.

The president speaking to schools....really? You're going to complain about that?

i live here, and i'm amazed too for what it's worth...

[RobMoney$]

I'm just AMAZED that there is an uproar in the states over things like this.

The president speaking to schools....really? You're going to complain about that?


It's not that him speaking to students upsets me.
I have two HS aged kids and I'm NOT with the people that are advocating keeping their kids home, or calling the school to request that their kid be excused from it.

What bothers me is the timing. Aren't there more important things the President should be doing on Sept. 8th 2009, 9mos. into his first year on the job?
Not that this isn't a good message, but don't you sort of have bigger fish to fry?

[DroppinScience]

It's not that him speaking to students upsets me.
I have two HS aged kids and I'm NOT with the people that are advocating keeping their kids home, or calling the school to request that their kid be excused from it.

What bothers me is the timing. Aren't there more important things the President should be doing on Sept. 8th 2009, 9mos. into his first year on the job?
Not that this isn't a good message, but don't you sort of have bigger fish to fry?

You apparently are not familiar with the phrase: "I can walk and chew gum at the same time."

Apparently, you believe the president should do only one thing at once.

[DroppinScience]

Hmmm... mixed message from the Florida GOP Chair...

Florida GOP Chair on Obama's Speech to Students: "It's a Good Speech, I'll Let My Kids Watch"

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/09/florida-gop-chair-on-obamas-speech-to-students-its-a-good-speech-ill-let-my-kids-watch.html

Last week:

Jim Greer, Florida GOP Chair, Warns That Obama "Back To School" Speech Will Foment Socialism

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/jim-greer-florida-gop-cha_n_275287.html

[RobMoney$]

I'd settle for him accomplishing one thing.
Just one.

[RobMoney$]

Hmmm... mixed message from the Florida GOP Chair...

Florida GOP Chair on Obama's Speech to Students: "It's a Good Speech, I'll Let My Kids Watch"

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/09/florida-gop-chair-on-obamas-speech-to-students-its-a-good-speech-ill-let-my-kids-watch.html

Last week:

Jim Greer, Florida GOP Chair, Warns That Obama "Back To School" Speech Will Foment Socialism

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/jim-greer-florida-gop-cha_n_275287.html

I never said I wouldn't let my kids watch.
Just sayin'.

[DroppinScience]

I never said I wouldn't let my kids watch.
Just sayin'.

I didn't know you were the Chairman of the Florida GOP.

Welcome to the board!

[Bob]

What bothers me is the timing. Aren't there more important things the President should be doing on Sept. 8th 2009, 9mos. into his first year on the job?
Not that this isn't a good message, but don't you sort of have bigger fish to fry?

i think obama is capable of multitasking. most lawyers are

[Dorothy Wood]

I'd settle for him accomplishing one thing.
Just one.

rome wasn't built in a day.

[Bob]

well he successfully accomplished turning the country into the united socialist states of america, that must count for something

[faz]

What bothers me is the timing. Aren't there more important things the President should be doing on Sept. 8th 2009, 9mos. into his first year on the job?
Not that this isn't a good message, but don't you sort of have bigger fish to fry?

Wasn't it the first day of school? It seems like the perfect time to speak to the kids. I doubt it took up too much of his time. If it, somehow, did take up months and months of work then good for him for focusing on schools.

[A. Chimendez]

this is going to get heated.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6599457.html




and here is the e-mail chain going around:


What I find mind-numbingly hilarious is that when a Republican is in office none of this shit was ever a problem.

http://www.dailykostv.com/w/002099/

First Bush basically hyping his own education plan.

[Pee Wee]

you're a piece of shit.

I know you are, but what am I? :D

[kaiser soze]

Another Muslim socialist communistic dictator from a foreign land indoctrina.. *ehem* enlightening the children

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksv9bq0xN1s

[Whatitis]

What bothers me is the timing. Aren't there more important things the President should be doing on Sept. 8th 2009, 9mos. into his first year on the job?

What...like Bush reading to schoolchildren 9 months into his first term? :eek:
Stupid argument then and an even more stupid argument now.

[valvano]

I'm just AMAZED that there is an uproar in the states over things like this.

The president speaking to schools....really? You're going to complain about that?

democrats did WAY MUCH MORE BITCHING back in the day, and the main steam media lead the way:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/When-Bush-spoke-to-students-Democrats-investigated-held-hearings-57694347.html

When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
09/08/09 7:11 AM EDT
The controversy over President Obama's speech to the nation's schoolchildren will likely be over shortly after Obama speaks today at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. But when President George H.W. Bush delivered a similar speech on October 1, 1991, from Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington DC, the controversy was just beginning. 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.'"

Democrats did not stop with words. Rep. William Ford, then chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate the cost and legality of Bush's appearance. On October 17, 1991, Ford summoned then-Education Secretary Lamar Alexander and other top Bush administration officials to testify at a hearing devoted to the speech. "The hearing this morning is to really examine the expenditure of $26,750 of the Department of Education funds to produce and televise an appearance by President Bush at Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington, DC," Ford began. "As the chairman of the committee charged with the authorization and implementation of education programs, I am very much interested in the justification, rationale for giving the White House scarce education funds to produce a media event."

Unfortunately for Ford, the General Accounting Office concluded that the Bush administration had not acted improperly. "The speech itself and the use of the department's funds to support it, including the cost of the production contract, appear to be legal," the GAO wrote in a letter to Chairman Ford. "The speech also does not appear to have violated the restrictions on the use of appropriations for publicity and propaganda."

That didn't stop Democratic allies from taking their own shots at Bush. The National Education Association denounced the speech, saying it "cannot endorse a president who spends $26,000 of taxpayers' money on a staged media event at Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington, D.C. -- while cutting school lunch funds for our neediest youngsters."

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.

:D

[yeahwho]

It's fear, I think there is a underlying fear that if the President is at the school (http://www.commonground.ca/pix/iss/0407156/michael_moore.jpg) something bad may happen.

Plus we already are super smart and stuff. Who needs some presidenting talker guy trying to tell us what to think. When I grow up I want to be a whore on a reality TV show.

[DroppinScience]

Nice, you didn't even read the article you posted.

This point caught my eye...


That didn't stop Democratic allies from taking their own shots at Bush. The National Education Association denounced the speech, saying it "cannot endorse a president who spends $26,000 of taxpayers' money on a staged media event at Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington, D.C. -- while cutting school lunch funds for our neediest youngsters."

Wouldn't this be fair game? A president is cutting education programs while he addresses a public school to discuss how important education is. That's a giant slap in the face if you ask me. I haven't heard these charges leveled at Obama. All I hear is "it's brainwashing!"

While it's quaint in 1991 to hear critics lambaste using the presidency for propaganda and expensive productions (Bush's own son perfected this to obnoxious effect), there are charges here that ring true.

[QueenAdrock]

democrats did WAY MUCH MORE BITCHING back in the day, and the main steam media lead the way:


And yet the Republicans weren't complaining at that point in time. Do you see the hypocrisy on both sides, or just the Democrats? :rolleyes:

Either way, I have no problem with any president, Republican or Democratic, to talk to schoolchildren about the importance of staying in school and getting a good education, as long as it's not hyperbole and they actually back their words with actions. Help out the schools, give them funding, pay teachers good wages, all of that. I certainly hope Obama has that on the horizon, unlike Bush I.

[yeahwho]

Nice, you didn't even read the article you posted.

This point caught my eye...



Wouldn't this be fair game? A president is cutting education programs while he addresses a public school to discuss how important education is. That's a giant slap in the face if you ask me. I haven't heard these charges leveled at Obama. All I hear is "it's brainwashing!"

While it's quaint in 1991 to hear critics lambaste using the presidency for propaganda and expensive productions (Bush's own son perfected this to obnoxious effect), there are charges here that ring true.

It's all about headlines, When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings, not those pesky facts that pertain to the reason the event was questioned.

I'm pretty sure the birthers, deathers and socialers are are not seeing the big picture here. Obama wants to turn the United States into a monarchy with hereditary rule. Bob was coming close a few posts up with the Socialist states of America, but actually I envision this Countries new name to be, "the Socialist States of Obama" for many Obama generations to come.

[yeahwho]

And yet the Republicans weren't complaining at that point in time. Do you see the hypocrisy on both sides, or just the Democrats? :rolleyes:

Either way, I have no problem with any president, Republican or Democratic, to talk to schoolchildren about the importance of staying in school and getting a good education, as long as it's not hyperbole and they actually back their words with actions. Help out the schools, give them funding, pay teachers good wages, all of that. I certainly hope Obama has that on the horizon, unlike Bush I.

The absurdity of which is so true. The republicans aren't outraged over increases in military costs that directly effects the pocketbooks of the parents of these kids and eventually their lives.

What bothers me honestly is how small of a mind is perpetuating that having school talks from the POTUS is bad. We have right now, right here at this very moment a republican party that REFUSES to agree on anything.

Bob Herbert of the NYTimes has brought up this topic (which bob on here has for the past month) today in this piece titled,

It’s Time to Get Help (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/opinion/08herbert.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1252432968-CG55qjkrKfoFbwir3pRyGQ)

There is no end to the craziness. The entire Republican Party has decided that it is in favor of absolutely nothing. The president’s stimulus package? No way. Health care reform? Forget about it.

There is not a thing you can come up with that the G.O.P. is for. Sunshine in the morning? Harry Reid couldn’t persuade a single Senate Republican to vote yes.

Incredibly, the party’s poll numbers are going up.

We need therapy. President Obama is planning to address the nation’s public school students today, urging them to work hard and stay in school. The folks who bray at the moon are outraged. Some of the caterwauling on the right has likened Mr. Obama to Chairman Mao (and, yes, Hitler), and a fair number of parents have bought into the imbecilic notion that this is an effort at socialist or Communist indoctrination.

As one father from Texas put it: “I don’t want our schools turned over to some socialist movement.”

The wackiness is increasing, not diminishing, and it has a great potential for destruction. There is a real need for people who know better to speak out in a concerted effort to curb the appeal of the apostles of the absurd.

[kaiser soze]

The *gasp* speech

part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO--88uajyA

part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVLooZJhuw

[YoungRemy]

he clearly deviated from the script and instructed the youth to "SIT DOWN" three times in a row.

tyranny...

[yeahwho]

he clearly deviated from the script and instructed the youth to "SIT DOWN" three times in a row.

tyranny...
and that part where he mentioned he had some candy out in the van...