Obama speech flap: Did adults learn anything?
With all of the public attention focused on President Barack Obama’s speech to the nation’s school children, I had to wonder: Did the adults learn anything?
Obama urged kids to study hard and not give up, even if they don’t like some classes or things are tough at home. He reminded students that each of them has special abilities, and it’s their responsibility to develop them.
The president acknowledged that, like many of us, he was “a little bit of a goof-off” when he was young. He told kids that success takes hard work, and nobody else will do it for them.
It was a speech that could have been delivered by any responsible leader, Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative.
AP Photo by Stew Milne
It was a pep talk about personal responsibility, not politics. But from the way the right-wing fringe and some Republican Party officials reacted to it beforehand, you would have thought Obama was planning to sprout horns and advocate devil worship.
There was a lot of bluster about Obama “overstepping his authority,” even though previous presidents have made similar speeches. Timid school officials offered opt-outs for students whose parents objected. Cowardly school officials skipped the speech all together.
Steve Robertson, chairman of the Republican Party of Kentucky, last week called Obama’s plan to speak to children “very concerning and kind of creepy” and an attempt “to circumvent parents” and “gain direct access to our children.”
Robertson and some talk radio entertainers focused on an ill-chosen phrase that federal education bureaucrats used in material prepared for teachers. The phrase, suggesting teachers could have students write letters to themselves about how they can “help the president,” was reworded to how they “can achieve their … education goals.”
It seemed like a lame excuse for objecting to a presidential speech, because that’s exactly what it was.
Some GOP leaders have no interest in working with Obama and other Democrats, whether it’s rebuilding the economy, reforming health care or anything else. They just want to see Obama fail.
The talking heads of the right-wing media relentlessly bash Obama. They shamelessly distort facts, incite fear and call anyone who disagrees with them radical, socialist or even communist. It’s a profitable business model, because gullible listeners lap it up.
Obama is no radical, unless you think “middle of the road” means the right shoulder. But there are radicals out there, on both sides of the political spectrum, and this episode is a good reminder that responsible people should be wary of them.
American politics has always been messy, but it works pretty well. In robust, fact-based discussions among responsible people, ideology usually gives way to artful compromise and practical solutions. One of history’s best examples was Lexington’s own Henry Clay.
On the other hand, history’s ills can usually be traced to political or religious ideology and extremism, from Mao’s China and Hitler’s Germany to the Spanish Inquisition and modern Islamic terrorism. Those perpetrators believed they were right and their opponents were evil, and they had no reservations about saying or doing whatever it took to win.
Obama’s agenda and proposals should be carefully studied and vigorously debated. Thoughtful discussion could lead to good compromises, better ideas and ultimately solutions for the nation’s problems, some of which can be traced to past examples of ideology trumping common sense.
That has become more difficult, though, because modern communications technology amplifies the voices of irresponsible extremists, ideologues and the willfully ignorant people who follow them.
The best lesson to take away from the president’s speech to school children is that personal responsibility is a good concept for adults, too.
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September 8th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Just like the Armageddon that would befall us in the year 2000, the speech that was suppose to indoctrinate our youth. Now who was spreading the baseless lies…..hmm…..oh ya, “Fake News”. Is anyone real surprised? Too funny.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:14 am
The problem wasn’t the speech it was the study guide material. The guide instructed the children to write letters on how they could help Obama. The guide was changed and the children were instructed to write a letter explaining how the children could better themselves. The children should have been the focus not Obama.
Bush 41 spoke to children during his presidency and there was an uproar from the
NEA and there were congressional hearing. The silent from the left is deifying. Apparently only liberals can speak to our children.
September 9th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Yes, we got Obama’s message. Its “do as I say, not as I do.” He talks to students about taking responsibility for themselves, as all of us should, but through his policies and programs has irresponsibly initiated the largest expansion of government in history and while during the campaign called for fiscal responsibility once in office, has left us with a $1.8 trillion dollar deficit, and during his first term will oversee the largest increase in the nation’s debt in our history. He says “no earmarks in my administration”, yet signs a stimulus and budget bill that is loaded with thousands of “pork” projects. He says “no lobbyists in my administration”, yet has appointed at least 12 of them to key positions. I could go on and on with the lies and distortions that he has told the American people.
Why are conservatives calling him a socialist and a Marxist? If you look at his actions and behavior you will clearly see why. He has nationalized GM and Chrysler, while saying in public that he doesn’t want to run a car company. He nationalized AIG and several of our largest banks, all of which he did under the disguise of a “crisis”. Oh, by the way, where in the constitution does it allow him to do this? Now, he wants to nationalize our health care system. If you don’t think so, go back and listen to some of his speeches over the last several years. They’re on the internet for all to see. In one of those he even stated that a public option is just the first step towards a national health care program. It is obvious to me and many other people that Obama is not a free-market capitalist, but rather a true proponent of socialist and Marxist philosophy that calls for the state ownership of the means of production and the state control of the economy.
Is Obama a radical? It has often been said that you are known by the company that you keep and Obama has throughout his life surrounded himself with radicals and extremists. He appointed Van Jones, an avowed communist, and Carol Browner, a member of Socialist International to key advisor positions in the White House. Radicals, such as, John Holdren, who proposed in a book, that forced sterilization and abortions be used to control population growth. There is Ezekiel Emmanuel, his health advisor, who has proposed a “complete Lives system” tht would place an economic value on a person based on age and would withhold (ration) health care services to people based on their future ability to contribute to “society”. Yes, Mr. Obama is a radical who has always surrounded himself with other radicals and extremists, such as, Marxist Saul Alinsky, radical revolutionary William Ayers, and Rev. Wright who preached the Marxist gospel of African liberation theology. You are known by the company you keep. If he did not agree with their radical ideas, then why are they in the White House?
I do agree with the statement that we should carefully study and vigorously debate Obama’s agenda and proposals. But, he obviously does not want debate, for if he did, he would not push Congress to rush through and pass legislation, such as, the stimulus package, cap and trade, health care, etc., so quickly that legislators do not have the time to even read the bills, much less debate them.
Yes, Mr. Eblen, we get Obama’s message and we don’t like it. We don’t like his hypocrisy nor his arrogance, and we don’t like where he is taking our nation. If you sir, would do your job, do some real research for a change, and report the facts objectively without your obvious liberal democrat bias, you too would see the “real” Obama. Thankfully, we have the internet and talk radio. Otherwise, we would be totally blinded by a complicit and irresponsible media. I suggest that before you call someone an “irresponsible extremist and ideologue” that you ought to look in the mirror.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I was a great speech, now the wingnuts are floating their version of what they feared the speech would be. Always good for a laugh.
September 10th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Fred,
You, sir, are a jackass. Obama inherited a crumbling economy and a vast accumulation of debt… he didn’t create the mess, he’s trying to clean it up. His speech to our children is exactly the kind of thing they should be hearing from our elected leaders. So what if the literature was worded to “help Obama”… he’s our PRESIDENT!!! Right-wingers just can’t stand not having the political power they are used to anymore and will say anything to get it back, even during the most challenging time our country has faced in three generations. That is selfish and unpatriotic, and people like you are gobbling it up. Wake up.