Right Pundits

Obama’s Slip In The Polls And September 8, 2009 Address To Students

It’s no different than a 30 year-old man dating a 14 year-old teenage girl. Adult women no longer find him appealing so he seeks those that he can manipulate to his perverted way of thinking for the purpose of control. Adults, with half a brain, no longer listen to Obama’s Marxist rhetoric and nonsense so now he is targeting a captive audience; skulls-full-of-mush that he can mold. Nice try, but we see right through this communist antichrist liar.

He’s just warming up to give a speech to the rest of us. He thinks we’re too stupid to understand what he’s saying so he’s using this as his practice run for the voters.

rhayader

not all of us walk on water.

rhayader no, apparently you can’t. :p

thats right ghost.

There is something just creepy and not right about Obama.

That’s completely unspecific. What is the actual problem with the speech mentioned in the article?

have you looked at the lesson plans? there are links. i don’t want my kids to feel like they have “shared responsibility” on government policies which include education, volunteerism and/or healthcare for all americans.

when this president speaks of shared responsibility or hard work it’s always a double entendre and if i am not there to filter for my kids, i dont want them to hear it.

Yes, I did read the plans (which really aren’t lesson plans, just suggested discussion topics). For what it’s worth, the phrase “shared responsibility” does not make an appearance on either one. Nor do the words “volunteer”, “health” (let alone “healthcare”), or even “government”. The only mentions of education serve to encourage kids to get an education — and again, I have a really hard time finding fault with that.

Even if they had addressed anything close to policy or political philosophy (which, again, they did not), there’s no way this stuff is any more moralizing than all the “just say no” crap that was shoved down our throats back when I was in elementary school.

you don’t want your children to feel like they have a shared responsibility to the government of the country they live in?? or volunteering to their fellow man? or providing care to those in need? we all have a responsibility to our own country, whether we fulfill it by simply voting, volunteering at a local hospital, etc.
having children listen to a speech encouraging the importance of education and the furthering their education is not a bad thing. you do realize that that is what their instructors try to teach them everyday. as for the questions, it simply gives the children the chance to think about what they have heard and decide for themselves rather than just accepting everything blindly.

i have direct involvemnet with the school systems and no child left behind is an absolute disgrace to education. i know first graders who have been passed along to the next grade who do not know their alphebet or how to add/subtract. you should be more worried about if/what they are teaching your children rather than one speech they will hear.

“Cathryn Friar, what a sad, sick little woman you must be.”

when moonbats have nothing to say they de-volve to name calling and personal attacks. who is sad and sick?

“That’s completely unspecific. What is the actual problem with the speech mentioned in the article?”

It doesn’t matter. Hunches, intuition, gut feelings many times (and I would say more often than not) are more accurate than the intellect. He is and always has been a cypher, about which we know little. (I am not a birther BTW). There is just something

If you had kids you may or may not keep them away from people who say that drugs are bad and that would be your right as a parent. Kids need context, and BHO will not provide it.

What my kids do not need is just more indoctrination about the awesomeness of Obama

rhayader i do not expect obama to say any policy stuff. in fact under any other circumstances i think its good for kids to have civic responsibility taught early. but given all that has transpired in this administration over the last 8 months, for me personally, the creep factor is huge.

Don’t you people understand…you are not smart enough to teach your children or anyone else’s, how to think or right from wrong…we must have the government do this for us.

Let me see if I understand; If W had made a speech to a private school that accepted vouchers and he talked about:
persistence, citizenship, civic duty, personal responsibility, “I am what I learn”, “Why education is important”, personal goals, academic goals, “accountable to their goals”, “acheive their goals”. If W spoke this way, in that context, the Right would be ecstatic about a president finally espousing civic virtues in a democracy that have long disappeared. (All of the quotes above came from the support materials) As an educator, it is refreshing to have someone with credibility and stature speak to the importance of education and making it personal to each student. The key question in the materials was this one: “What other historic moments do you remember when the president spoke to the nation?” Obama is trying to send the message that our education system is critical to global competitiveness and every bit as important as other key issues. Go to the following page on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmz5qYbKsvM to give you an idea of what our students will face technologically. This president gets it and is going to challenge our students to start working to be ready. Barry Goldwater is rolling in his grave while you so-called “conservatives” compromise your values to score partisan points, instead of building on common ground and waiting to fight the points we truly have disagreements about.

That is why he should be teaching teachers to teach and parents to parent, and NOT go straight to the children…thats just wierd

oh yeah, this is a great idea … eeeeeeek

ok, so what is the over/under for how many teachers wind up on fox news for this event?

“its the lessons for pre, during, and post speech that are at issue.”

when you open an eleven foot pole factory we can discuss that

in many school systems it will not be a one day event.

without trying to color the event either way, the students are supposed to create goals, basically there is going to be a lot of classroom and school-wide activities surrounding this event.

it will potentially be a year long event depending on the school system.

well, when it comes to my kids, my husband and i are still in charge. and please don’t become the thought police.. you’re better then that.

Do what you want with your kids. Keep them home. I couldn’t care less, and never said otherwise.

I’m reacting to the claim that Obama giving this speech is somehow generally inappropriate and not in keeping with our public school systems. I think that’s bunk. I’m not talking to anybody about specific decisions when it comes to raising their children.

HUSSAIN OBAMA
CHAIRMAN, WHEN DO OUR CHILDREN GET THERE LITTLE RED BOOKS? YOU UNDERESTIMATE OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. THEY ARE SMARTER THAN YOU. YOUR MESSAGE WILL NOT BE TAKEN HOME TO THERE PARENTS. ONLY A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF JUST HOW DANGEREST YOU ARE. NICE TRY AT ” H*TLER ” YOUTH. CALL IRAN, KENYA, NORTH KOREA, AND ASK WHAT YOU ARE TO DO NEXT. YOU SOCIALISTIC TERROIST.

the interuption is not keeping with our public school systems

You will learn that in time.

Ugh, why are parents so condescending to non-parents? I’m not trying to tell you how to raise your kids. Stop pretending everyone who discusses education is trying to bully you around as a parent.

“it is the general teaching the week before (now) and afterwards that is concerning.”

you might want to ask your school what their plan is, in the interest of finding out how you could help/get involved.

Sorry Barry, but I’ve already given a speech to my kids about the importance of education. We don’t need you. Shouldn’t you be busy doing something important. Well I suppose in your mind, indoctrinating children and starting national youth groups is important. As it was to Adolf.

I predict that 9/8/09 will show an extremely low attendance rate. My children will certainly not attend if we are unable to opt out.

depending on the school, it will again not be a one day event, so in some cases it may not be opt-out-able.

for example, what if they decide to read a certain number of books over the year as their goal towards education? it is not like you can opt out of reading, or any other year long event that your child’s teacher or principal decides to do.

…Aaaand the winner of the Godwin award is [drum roll]…. MoTaVa!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

44-You do need to smacked around for that. You act as if we are idiots simply because we don’t want our kids to participate in what is for all intents and purposes a political event. Politicians don’t do this stuff out of the goodness of their hearts. ANY politician is looking out what is good for them. I wouldn’t want Bush or any other president doing it.

When the time comes, I want my grandchildren learning math, science (including evolution), reading, history and civics, i.e. how this country was formed and the processes by which it governs itself. As they get older I would like to see some practical skills like how to work with a budget and how business work, so that they have an idea on how to live in this world and not move back home. And that would include becoming fluent in a foreign language. I don’t want ‘forced’ volunteering to be a requirement for graduation anymore than participating in sports to be required

They can learn the political process and their religion if they have one, from their parents.

kate
if you look at those three questions and what you perceive in them, you are seeing imaginary underlying meanings in straight forward questions. these questions are trying to get the children to understand what they have heard and think for themselves about it.

rhayader

you are asking legitimate questions.

but to answer them is difficult because its not just an isolated incident anymore in the age of obama. this is not an overreaction by conservative parents to a liberal president. its one thing after another with these clowns and this just ‘feels’ like soft indoctrination.

Well another reason we’re homeschooling is my daughter comes home, not knowing who Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson or Ronald Reagan are but she knows everything about Barack Obama.

And don’t give me that he’s the president nonsense. It was before Obama was elected. She didn’t even know who George W. Bush was.

^5 shannon!

@ghost: Done with you, won’t be answering you any more. I don’t have time for asshats who tell an adult that he “needs to be smacked around”.

59
if you don’t have children, why are you so worried about what we do with our children

ghost
i understand your point about not having the politics introduced to elementary aged children. what about to those in high school who will soon have the option to vote? i believe that parents should share their opinion on politics with their children, but ashouldn’t they hear all sides before they form an opinion of their own?

if you don’t have children, why are you so worried about what we do with our children

As I’ve said several times already, I have absolutely zero interest in how any of you decide to raise your children. Home school them, church school them, do whatever the hell you want.

I’m defending an attack on what I see as a perfectly reasonable public school activity. I already replied to this exact sentiment in comment #39.

64- Asshat. Gawd that hurts coming from a stoner sh!t like yourself. Grow up dude, it is a tough world out there.

Godwin…?!?! Gibberish.
Here’s my wiki…..MoTaVa’s Law.

The law states that no matter how obvious the facts are, people will deny them.

Why do you consider it an attack…its our right of opinion

“so fox would have an underlying message but not Obama???” american

what i am saying is that i would not be so terribly worried about obama’s speech.

it will be the lessons and activities that SOME schools will create around this.

this is exactly the kind of thing that gets redneck bible hugging gun toting hick parents all upset.

being concerned and shoving something down someones throat because they are told they can leave, are two different things

lisib, your so nieve

what does it matter if someone has children or not?

Thanks Annie!

Perhaps you’re not reading enough into it.

OK, but that just gets into a circuitous argument, each claiming that the other has a wrong perspective. If that’s where this is going, I’m happy saying “live and let live” and getting the hell out of work for the day.

“What Obama gets is that the biggest problem with American education is not the system, but rather the home support in elementary”

yes, the public system is great, if we could just keep the parents away from the children

3 questions:

What is the President trying to tell me?
What is the President asking me to do?
What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about?

Obama must be a very good guy, he is all in my interest and country’s interest.

When I grow up, I’ll listen whatever he said.

…. This is the first step of brain wash ….
…. This is the first step to get kids into your van , sick ….

“lisib, your so nieve” american

or … i am a teacher who will be caught in the middle between … all sides.

this speech of obama’s is a really really really bad idea, from the point of view of peace in the classroom.

Yeah the teachers are the ones who really take the brunt of the crap here. My sympathies Lisa!

“have you been given specific materials and lesson plan for this event?”

not yet, and i holding my breath.

i happen to be lucky enough to teach in a racially diverse school district, with a racially diverse school board and superintendent.

i am sure that whatever is planned it will be incredibly educational and enrich the lives of our children, their family’s and our community

and i am sure i am going to get phone calls

If you want to control the masses you start with the children! There is no need to show this video. America as a whole supports more people with charity than any other nation on this planet.
Who gives Obama aka Darth Vader the right to tell our schools paid for by my tax dollars ran by the states to show our children a video none us has seen. He did not ask or have the school contact me before hand for permission!
I heard today he wants to control the country’s water, food supply, and the internet.
This Jack ass needs to be run out of office hell out of our country. Maybe even tried for treason as far as I’m concerned! He forgot his job is to serve the people. We do not serve him or his special interest groups.
Down with Obama!!!

later …

but i would not be concerned with the text of obama’s speech however.

i am 99.99% sure it will have only one or two things that might be slightly objectionable to some parents.

kate is correct, focus on the surrounding events.

“i was not implying that teachers should necessarily give their political opinion. only that those teenagers that will soon have the right to vote should simply view all sides (right vs. left, rep. vs. dem.) before they decide.”

not in schools.

contrary to what you might think, most teachers do not want to be a vehicle for spreading other points of view.

it is not really our job and it only causes us headaches …

“This is a trial run. If this goes off nicely and without a big stink you can rest assured he will speak (to our children)again. ”

count on it.

yearly at least.

“of what programs do you speak of?”

any program that redistributes income over the long term and produces generational dependencies on the government for food, shelter and medical care. Go to any inner city or some of the rural parts of the southern states and ask the teenager with 2 kids where money comes from. Or in the case nowdays the debit card. There are several to pick from.

Many school districts and colleges require volunteering/community service as a condition of graduation.

well, i think in the long run, this will most likely backfire because The One has just become an embarrassment to at least, if not more, then half of the country.

many kids will have ’school flu’ and won’t even be there. it may turn out to be a bust like so many other things obama does.

politicians are interested in votes, not my child

Real change comes from the top down. Just like this healthcare stuff, until our elected officials are in the same plan we are, there will be no good plan.
So quite trying to bond with our children

Aww, arent the little brownshirts cute ?

I’d say the obvious, but I’ve already been labeled as the Godwin’s Law award recipiant*

“agree that there are many who take advantage of them, though.”

That they take advantage of them doesn’t bother me. That the programs sap any initiative from entire generations of people and allow them to be led by a government that wants to keep them in virtual serfdom is the real sin.

Do you think that I want people to starve, or not get health care? No, I want them to produce and make the best of themselves that they can. But that doesn’t buy votes like a debit card does. Do you understand now?

This is how you tell the country you will do a school speach. A student reporter. No question asked. Smart, very very smart.. to a kid, not to the adults.

Health care reform, 50% people is ok. Public plan or no? Let’s leak the press and see what is the response. Then say what people want to hear.

Internet, shut it down when it’s not in our favor.

Where is this heading to?

No……this speech is about testing the acceptability of his presence in the classroom.

Put a frog in a pan of water then turn up the heat slowly

September 8 2009 is now being considered a national skip day.

115
so, you’re suggesting that in these programs they should be given initiative to better themselves by getting a job and providing for themselves? teach responsibility pretty much?

you could teach them from school age to obtain a good education and to be responsible of oneself…say in a speech about the importance of education. my point is that the speech is merely about the importance of obtaining an education and how that will better someone, not about the differences in policy.

122
because whether you like it or not, many people look up to him. if they see how someone can rise up from unlikely circumstances and become President (instead of having it handed to you from your father) maybe they will think that they can beat the odds and do something with their life, too.

Annie…that for me to teach NOT Obama

I want the president of the United States to protect our boarders…NOT teach our children

dido

I can see it now…

September 8 is now being considered a national skip day.

Perhaps it is time to resurrect this, let it go viral and with luck several young thinking youths will follow suit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8

GHOST…you are scary

I’m 46 and just spent 2 years getting my K-6 teaching license as a post-bac student at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. I felt like I was in Moscow or Beijing. I had a textbook that bashed the “capitalist” educational model and praised the “Marxist” model. The whole teacher certification curriculum was based on the Marxist model outlined in that book, and I see those philosophies everywhere in our public education system now. If you don’t think Obama is about propaganda, you need to WAKE UP!

whats wrong is it is mandatroy

i agree. it shouldn’t be mandatory, but it shouldn’t be outlawed either

freedom of speech is not outlawed

American
boarders? dido?
Maybe you need a pep talk from POTUS.

b-o-r-d-e-r-s and d-i-t-t-o

Your welcome!

145
agreed kate. parents should be active in their child’s life. as for accepting inaccurate information…that’s why i approve of the questions the children are given. they can think for themselves and decide what they take away from the message.
147
i don’t think it should be introduced to elementary schools, as i have said before. for those young adults who will soon have the right to vote, it couldn’t hurt.

high schools and above

annie

‘they can think for themselves and decide what they take away from the message.

i agree for young adults although we can thank them *in part* for giving us this hot mess we have the the wh right now.

but littles don’t really think and decide what to take away from the message… they take away what the person giving it wants them to have.

i want to be that person in my kids’ life not barack obama.

i will say again..i do not believe the elementary age children should have this message, and i am not the one enforcing it.

obviously,our opinions will not be swayed in this conversation. it was good to hear several different perspectives, though.

My fellow Americans, the issue is that our president (the Messiah) has no business or reason to address or children..period the end. His encouragement is neither desired or required for our children to live a full life. We are are given the same access to education as citizens, some get/choose better by paying for it either with tax dollars or private schools, but in the end, it is about survival of fittest..or at least that what used to be considered the American dream..My children will be home on 9-8.teachers are paid to teach reading, writing, etc, live lessons are learned at home at this age.

First off i want to say that the man in office was put there because he was able to reflect other peoples ideas of change on himself, we were all in AGREEMENT that we needed something diffrent. I belive the change he is bringing is the kind of change that if it happened anywhere else 50 years ago we would have cut ties with them or been involved in helping that country to get rid of that person.
That being said, if this was for the high school student that are about to be out ther voting in the next election (if there is one) I would be ok with that. However he is going avter children that are learning ther basic foundations. children from pre-k to 7th grade have no reason to have this bouncing around in their heads. comment 60 is right my children knew GWB was a president but not which one they thought it was befor they were born, but they knew Obama. my question to anyone else that reads this is what makes BHO more important than any other president in the history of America?
Im not here to pick a fight with anyone. I just want everyone to use the brain that they were given,if you look at what is going on in america right now it is not good and its not getting any better. Change is needed. Ill leave with this thought, We dont always get the government we need, However we always get the government we deserve.

Texasborn, whatever “we” did to” deserve” what we are getting must have been pretty bad..Maybe it was giving homeless people 5.00 or smokes in exchange for a vote? possible. I agree with the rest of your comments. I think many democrats are feeling pretty had right now, because this is not the change that was preached/promised..This is not the President I pay for, nor is he doing the job that he is paid to do. I am not trying to reach out to his daughters and I am simply looking for the same respect.

““instead of having it handed to you from your father”

Of course you were referring to John Quincy Adams, correct?”

i think she meant jfk.

“They will all be lead to believe that they have to sit there and soak up everything he says as gospel” american

actually … and i am not making this up …

one of the key messages that we are supposed to present is that

“it is very important for people to listen to everything the president, and other elected officials say”

and the strange thisng is, “the woodstock” generation is eating that up without any protest at all.

heh. they love me!

my kids gift them on their birthdays and christmas and other holidays and i bring treats to school and extra supplies for kids who need them and work in the parent club.

and they don’t mess with me or my babies! :p

“one of the key messages that we are supposed to present is that

“it is very important for people to listen to everything the president, and other elected officials say””

Are you serious? This is part of the lesson plan? If you have a link I would really want to see it.

“i don’t think it should be introduced to elementary schools, as i have said before. for those young adults who will soon have the right to vote, it couldn’t hurt.”

um … yes it does.

it is not our place to be influencing the political views of young people beyond basic civics.

we can teach the pledge of allegiance, how many people are in congress, that it is ok to lie under oath about sex and there are 57 states, but beyond that it is the parents job not ours

heh rwb!

i should make a youtube of it… kindof the conservative response to his school speech. i would need some good bumper music.

“elected officials say””

Are you serious? This is part of the lesson plan? If you have a link I would really want to see it.”

look at the bullet point just above “During the Speech”

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10582301/President-Obama?s-Address-to-Students-Across-America-September-8-2009

now i can understand the younger weaker teachers lapping that up, most of them are in absinthe induced hazes anyway …

but the older teachers who were hippies?

you would think they would object to this, but actually they are some of obama’s biggest supporters.

the thing about this is … i can already predict what will happen.

490 teachers out of 1,000 will be grateful for the “time off”

10 teachers out of 1,000, me among them, will be grateful for the “time off” but will remember to ask — “will the school be providing bagels and coffee?”

489 teachers out of 1,000 will take this opportunity to do something socially conscious, e.g. anything from reading a book a week to stop global warming to having their pupils plant trees in support of the yanamamos.

10 teachers out of 1,000 will write plays for their pupils to put on about a gay jesus coming down to proclaim that a pregnant lesbian teen girl of colour who was raped by an evangelical christian after bible study and got pregnant when the rapist’s condom broke — needs to have a late term abortion or she will die — but the pedophile gop congressman who touches children inappropriately will not allow her to see a doctor because she is an undocumented alien … so she dies … and the play will be shown on a fox news special

and 1 out of a 1,000 teachers will claim it is unconstitutional and an attempt by obama to take away her guns, and she will be on cbs and msnbc 24 hours a day in a dueling banjo special report on appaliachians that want to kill gay people and obama

plus … 99 out of 100 schools will get the crappy low fat cream cheese for the teachers’ bagels because 9 out of 10 middle aged teachers have asses almost as big as michelle obama

i mean really

i HAAAAAATE it when teachers wear gym clothes to class … (yes, i am the teacher who wears the clothes from ann taylor and wears her hair up)

Although, to be fair, i’m guessing most school teachers can’t afford Ann Taylor.

Sometimes I wish I could just pretend I didn’t recognize any of this for what it was, but I can’t. The problem is Rhayader and annie are not looking at the whole picture. I’m not very old, but I have spent a lot of my time studying history. I don’t like to think our president is trying to pull a big brother on us, but it sounds eerily like that coupled with what Mao tried to do with China’s youth, and that cult of personality he created still affects China today. Many of the young people over there still revere him. I have seen this first hand. My own Chinese instructor in colleger who at a guess, was in her late twenties, thought he was awesome, and this is in spite of the starvation, and brutality, he incited over his time in power. It is a common powermongering practice, when the older citizens won’t toe the line, to go after the children and have them propagate the message. China had the Red Guards, Germany had the Hitler Youth. Especially when the teachers are telling impressionable young children to ask questions like “What does the president want me to do?” And “How can I help the president?” That sounds to me to be dangerously close to “What does the president want me to do for him?” and “How does the president want me to spread the holy word of Obama?” Personally, I find that sickening and I applaude those of you who wish to take your kids out of school that day.

coffee mugs, candles, christmas stuff, that kind of stuff is mostly under the table.

the trouble is some parents cannot afford gifts and feel pressured and it is an issue (i am in a poor district).

however, i thought you were talking about school supplies. technically they are supposed to go through the office, but a staples card is great.

i know it sounds silly, but a lot of my children “are on the school lunch program” if you know what i mean.

oh and i really hope you do not check off each issue on your list as you finish discussing them, during the pta meeting …

that drives teachers insaaaaane …

and you wonder why teachers drink

the government should use some of the stimulus money to provide everyone a laptop that does not have one and also subsidize broadband for any that cant afford it. each morning while drinking their morning coffee,tea,pepsi or water they would be required to log onto http://www.whitehouse.gov where a morning message from the president will appear, so that he can be worshiped. the orders for the day will be given and everyone will be happy.

start tomorrow, make a commitment to serve…

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/21/A-Call-to-Service/

you can join acorn, work in a soup kitchen, you choose… we will give you a menu of 100 various service options

together we CAN change our world, one person at a time

YES WE CAN

ok knova, i will

Narcissism 101.

also you would think media conservatives would have fact checked before they became critical

He can not reach the parents about his terrible ideas of fixing the finances and midical needs so he targets the kids. My kids are not going to school that day.
Obama should be ashamed of himself. I don;t let strangers talk to my kids… why should I let that Muslim freak talk to my kids!!

Clearly, they are expressing their opinion the same as you are. Different people with different opinions is what makes up this country. Don’t you think you are being just a little paranoid, Kaleidoscope?

a call to wapo for them to check archives could clear it up or a good local librarian. im likely to believe it is true but a tad skeptical.

Some entries here sound a little “too perfect,” don’t you think? They sound like a well thought-out speech that somebody, such as Obama, spent a lot of time on.

Remarks to Students and Faculty at Alice Deal Junior High School
1991-10-01

Thank you, Ms. Mostoller, and thanks for allowing me to visit your classroom to talk to you and all these students, and millions more in classrooms all across the country.

You know, long before I became President I was a parent. I remember the times that my kids came up with a really tough question or a difficult decision. I tried my best never to shut them down with a quick “no.” I would simply say those three magic words that made that problem disappear: “Ask your Mother.” [Laughter]

Let me tell you why I’ve made the trip up from the White House to Alice Deal Junior High. I’m not here to teach a lesson. You already have a very good teacher. I’m not here to tell you what to do or what to think. Maybe you’re accustomed to adults talking about you and at you; well, today, I’m here to talk to you and challenge you. Education matters, and what you do today, and what you don’t do can change your future.

Every day, we hear more bad news about our schools. Maybe you saw today’s headline, I don’t know if you had a chance to look at it, about the release of the new National Goals Report. Get the camera to come in and take a look at this for a moment. In math, for instance, this national report card shows that, nationwide, five of six eighth graders don’t know the math they need to move up to the ninth grade.

In spite of troubling statistics like this one, I don’t see this report, however, as just bad news, and I’ll tell you why. This report tells us a lot about what you know and what you don’t know. It gives us something to build on. It shows us our strengths and the weaknesses that we’ve go to correct. It sets forth a challenge to all of us: Work harder, learn more, revolutionize American education.

I know you’ve heard about stanines and percentiles, surveys and statistics, but here’s what all that fancy talk really means: Education means the difference between a good future and a lousy one. Reports don’t give us the right to make excuses. Our scores will tell us where we are and where we need to go.

I mentioned earlier the bad news we hear about schools today. But what we don’t hear enough about are the success stories. You know, all over America, thousands of schools do succeed, even against tough odds, even against all odds. Kids from all over the District of Columbia petition to get into Alice Deal School here because parents know this school works. It works because of teachers like the one standing over here, Ms. Mostoller, who decided at the age of 25 — maybe you all know this, but a lot of people around the country don’t — she decided at the age of 25 that she wanted to teach. She was standing in a supermarket checkout line when she saw a magazine ad about college. She went back to school, worked her way through in 7 years, waiting tables to pay tuition. She made it, and so can you.

This school here works because of students like the ones with me today, students like Rachel Rusch — where’s Rachel? Right there, okay — a member of Alice Deal’s award-winning “Math Counts” team. Rachel, you tell me if I’m wrong, but you and six other students in this class alone have taken part in the Johns Hopkins Talent Search. They took the college entrance exams on an experimental basis last year as seventh graders. Even in junior high, some of them scored well enough to get into college right now. So, let’s just put it on the line. You’ve got the brains. Now, put them to work — certainly, not for me, but for you.

Progress starts when we ask more of ourselves, our schools and, yes, you, our students. We made a start nationally now by setting six National Education Goals to meet the challenges of the 21st century. By the year 2000, at least 9 in every 10 students should graduate from high school. We should be first in the world in math and science. We need to regularly test student’s abilities. Every American child should start school ready to learn; every American adult should be literate; and every American school should be safe and drug-free. Reaching those goals is the aim of a strategy that we call America 2000, a crusade for excellence in American education, school by school, community by community.

But what does all this mean, you might say, what is he doing, what does this all mean for the students right here in this room? Fast-forward — 5 years from now. Unless things change, between now and 1996 as many as one in four of today’s eighth graders will not graduate with their class. In some cities, the dropout rate is twice that high or higher. Imagine: Out of a total of nearly 3 million of your fellow classmates nationwide, an army of more than half a million dropouts.

I ask every student watching today: Look around you. Count four students. Start with yourself. No one dreams of becoming a dropout, but far too many do. Which one of you won’t make it through school?

The fact is, every one of you can. Let’s make a pact then right here. Let’s work to see that 5 years from now, you and your friends will be more than sad statistics. Give yourself a decent shot at your dreams. Stay in school. Get that diploma.

Let’s go back to the future. In the fall of 1996, 5 years from now, nearly half of today’s eighth graders who get their diplomas will enter the working world. More than half the graduates will stay in school and become the college class of the year 2000.

The question each student watching today should ask is: Where will I be, where will I be 5 years from now? Will I be holding down a good job and maybe working toward a better one, or will I be out of school and out of work? Will I be on a college campus, or out running the streets?

Think about that tonight when you’re at a kitchen table doing some homework; while your parents are meeting your teachers like so many millions do this year at back-to-school nights all across our great country.

I’m asking you to put two and two together: Make the connection between the homework you do tonight, the test you take tomorrow, and where you’ll be 5, 15, even 50 years from now. You see, the real world doesn’t begin somewhere else, some time way down there in the distant future. The real world starts right here. What you do here will have consequences for your whole lives.

Let me tell you something, many of you may find very hard to believe this. You’re in control. You’re thinking: How can the President say that about kids like us when we don’t even have our driver’s license? But think about it, and you’ll see what I mean.

Think about drugs. You see films. You hear police experts and tough speakers from the outside. You get stern lectures from everyone: movie stars, athletes, teachers, parents, friends. But you know and I know that all the drug prevention programs, all the pledges, all the preaching in the world won’t pull you through that critical moment when someone offers drugs. At that moment, everything comes down to you. Yes or no, you’ve got to choose, and the answer will change your life. Your parents won’t make the decision. Your teachers won’t make the decision. Your friends won’t make the decision. It’s up to you. It takes guts to take control.

A sound body and a sound mind, they go together, as my friend, and he is a friend, Arnold Schwarzenegger says. He’s crossing the Nation talking with students about the importance of fitness. And real fitness means no drugs.

Studies show a decline in drug use, and that’s good, that’s encouraging, I think. And every student who draws the line against drugs really deserves credit for that. But drugs and violence continue to threaten every school, every small town and suburb in America. And as students, you have a right to be physically safe at school. You should never have to worry that a quarrel in the hallway will lead to gunfire in the playground. Fear should never follow you into the classroom.

If you have to take the long way home after school so you don’t cross paths with the gang hanging on the corner, if outsiders roam the halls of your school hassling kids, hassling students, you must take control. Go to your teacher, or go to your principal, or go to your parents, as difficult as it may be, go to the school board if you have to. Demand discipline. If good people chicken out, bad people take control. Together, we can — I really believe this — we can drive the drugs and guns and senseless violence out of our schools.

When it comes to your own education, what I’m saying is take control. Don’t say school is boring and blame it on your teachers. Make your teachers work hard. Tell them you want a first-class education. Tell them that you’re here to learn.

Block out the kids who think it’s not cool to be smart. I can’t understand for the life of me what’s so great about being stupid. 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.

Take control — challenge yourself. Only you know how hard you work. Maybe you can fake, maybe, just maybe you can fake your way into a job, but you won’t keep it for long if you don’t have the know-how to get the job done. Maybe you can cram the week before that marking period ends, and turn that C into a B. But you can’t con your way past the SAT and into college. If you don’t work hard, who gets hurt? If you cheat, who pays the price? If you cut corners, if you hunt for the easy A, who comes up short? Easy answer to that one: You do.

You’re in control, but you are not alone. People want you to succeed. They want to help you succeed. Here at Deal, teachers like your outstanding teacher standing here with us today, Ms. Mostoller, from your principal, Mr. Moss, to your custodian, Mr. Francis. Right now in classrooms across this country, in the communities you call home, when things get tough, when answers are hard to come by, there’s a teacher, a parent, a friend or family member ready to help you. They want to see you make it.

If you take school seriously, you won’t have to settle for a job, just any job. You’ll have a career. If you make it your business to learn, one day you’ll be a better parent. You may not think about it now, but one day your children will want to look up at you and say, “I’ve got the smartest Mom and Dad in the world.” Don’t disappoint them.

Let me leave you with a simple message: Every time you walk through that classroom door, make it your mission to get a good education. Don’t do it just because your parents, or even the President, tells you. Do it for yourselves. Do it for your future. And while you’re at it, help a little brother or sister to learn, or maybe even Mom or Dad. Let me know how you’re doing. Write me a letter — and I’m serious about this one — write me a letter about ways you can help us achieve our goals. I think you know the address.

Now we’re going to walk over to the school auditorium to say hello to the rest of the student body. To all the students across the country who watched us here in this great classroom today, may I simply say thank you and good luck to you this school year.

And now, Ms. Mostoller, if you’ll kindly lead the way. Thank you all very much. Nice to be with you.

Note: The President spoke at 12:15 p.m. in a classroom at the school. His remarks were broadcast live by the Cable News Network, the Public Broadcasting System, the Mutual Broadcasting System, and the NBC radio network. In his remarks, he referred to Cynthia Mostoller, an eighth grade humanities teacher; Rachel Rusch, a student; Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness; principal Reginald R. Moss; and custodian George Francis. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.

oh hey lisab yes with the school supplies. i hear you. we give them quietly to the school counselors for distribution.

It is the subliminal that I am worried about.

Obama and his henchpeople are using subliminal messages to take over the minds of our youth.

To those of you who only got out of the fifth grade, or who have an IQ of 60 (the people we are trying to reach), subliminal messages are messages hidden in other messages that you cannot see or hear, but which are nevertheless there.

Sure, other LEGITIMATE Presidents (who were born in the USA) made similar addresses to school children, but they were not socialist fascist Muslim communist anti-American freaks, who are trying to destroy our country.

So, a priori (another difficult term–it means from the get go), we KNOW that these subliminal messages are there.

Take Glenn Beck’s advice. Beware. Keep your kids at home.

This must stop! Indoctrination of our youth by foreign powers is not good! Hussein Obama has never given a birth certificate! Fellow Republicans, keep pushing on this because we have them on the run. They have no answer to this basic fact: no proof of natural born status. Obama wants to kill our grandparents, then us! VOTE REPUBLICAN AS IF YOURE LIFE DEPENDED ON IT! IT PROBABLY DOES!

[...] BMW at 10:14 pm (224) Read [...]

BMW

heh. i may have taken a few liberties with that whole “Obama is God” routine. i am pretty sure there won’t be a sign in the background… though not 100%.

[...] Obama School Address Speech Live Feed Video, September 8 2009 … [...]

@Ghost: Hey I missed your last comment #94 last night; I got my a** out of work and didn’t feel like jumping on the computer again last night.

Fair enough; I’m more than happy to engage in discussions — even when there is marked disagreement — so long as I don’t feel like my viewpoint is being discounted simply because of who I am. So my bad on whatever insults were slung at you; I just get real frustrated when I feel I’m being talked down to (as opposed to simply being disagreed with).

Anyway, yeah I’m sure I’ll be in the mix with you on plenty of posts moving forward.

230 – Klo is someone who is being her version of a parody of a right-winger. She is actually on your side. Stick around or look for some of her other posts.

231 – Glad that we can discuss things again. The comment to which you took offense was metaphorical, and I can see where you might be angry. The internets can be a place where our passions can be let loose in ways that they might not be face to face. We will agree on the things on which we agree and disagree on the others

232 – annie, I stopped communicating with you before you said that you were younger and had no children. You have no idea of my political affiliation or the totality of my views. I have been on websites and been accused of having some kind of clairvoyant ability to “see” other poster, if they are young, old, ugly, beautiful, their gender, whatever. To tell you the truth annie, I don’t even know for sure that you are female (I have said the same about lisab.) You like BHO and that is fine. I do not.

I have been accused clarvoyance, just like you did when you assumed that i knew you were younger. This is the internet and anonymous. for all I know you could be a 63 year old grandfather, chain smoking camels in a wifebeater shirt while pretending to be annie.

Now for the record my last direct comment to you was in 160. You said in 162 that you had no kids, were younger and had a different political affiliation than I did (as if you know what mine is. Most GOP members are NOT for the decriminalization of drugs and pro-choice. Now you know two of my views.) In 172 I made a joke to lisab that you probably had no idea who jfk was or what the reference to his father handing him a Presidency. That one you are going to have to research for yourself. After that I made 2 comments to lisab as she is a teacher and she knows what is going on in the school.

Please try harder.

You know you could describe my politics by the Charlie Daniels song “Long Haired Country Boy”

People say I’m no-good,
And crazy as a loon.
I get stoned in the morning,
I get drunk in the afternoon.
Kinda like my old blue tick hound,
I like to lay around in the shade,
An’, I ain’t got no money,
But I damn sure got it made.

‘Cos I ain’t askin’ nobody for nothin’,
If I can’t get it on my own.
If you don’t like the way I’m livin’,
You just leave this long-haired country boy alone.

Preacher man talkin’ on the TV,
He’s a-puttin’ down the rock ‘n’ roll.
He wants me to send a donation,’Cos he’s worried about my soul.
He said: “Jesus walked on the water,”And I know that is true,
But sometimes I think that preacher man,
Would like to do a little walkin’, too.

But I ain’t askin’ nobody for nothin’,
If I can’t get it on my own.
You don’t like the way I’m livin’,
You just leave this long-haired country boy alone.

Instrumental Break.

A poor girl wants to marry, And a rich girl wants to flirt.
A rich man goes to college,And a poor man goes to work.
A drunkard wants another drink of wine,And a politician wants a vote.
I don’t want much of nothin’ at all,But I will take another toke.

‘Cos I ain’t askin’ nobody for nothin’,If I can’t get it on my own.
If you don’t like the way I’m livin’,
You just leave this long-haired country boy alone.

Hah, I think I would be a little closer to Marley’s “Easy Skanking”:

Excuse me while I light my spliff
Oh God, I got to take a lift
From reality I just can drift
That’s why I’m stayin’ with this riff
Take it easy!

(Sorta kidding — I like the herb but it’s not an obsession any more than baseball or video games for me).

Unfortunately my team in the Nationals

Ouch, my condolences. It seems to me like the “Natinals” should be able to make something work — east coast big-city market, beautiful new stadium, etc. But every game I see, the stadium is virtually deserted, because the product on the field is crap.

At least they signed Strasburg. I think they could turn themselves into a decent franchise if only they could get things moving in the right direction.

I’m a Boston fan myself.

If god cannot be injected into our schools for even those who choose, Why should our government be allowed to inject politics, or Obamas beleives into that same school. I call Bulls*#t!!!

[...] Obama School Address Speech Live Feed Video, September 8 2009 … [...]

If it is really a speech on education then why can’t he do it when we are at home WITH OUR KIDS, and can turn it OFF if we wish. Our children are a captive audience. They have NO choice.

We are their parents. If this is so straight forward then why doesn’t he do it when we can watch it all together as a “family” if we choose.

This kind of story makes me glad I don’t have children yet. There is no good reason for him to go after children and their easily moldable minds to try to create his perfect liberal world. I’m curious to see how much support he loses nationwide before the next election.

You guys this has been done in every public school in every part of the country since before we were all born. Every kid is fed propagandist stuff about his or her leaders, government, history,culture. It’s the way of the world. Think for a minute about what they taught you in school.

That doesn’t mean it’s OK. In fact, I absolutely agree that it’s wrong to indoctrinate children, especially when the indoctrination comes from the state. But this isn’t anything new.

For the record, I also can sympathize with the idea that when it’s your children, the fact that it was done to you and to others is little to no comfort. But it never hurts to try and have a little perspective.

Okay. I went and read all that was published and can NOT find anything about ” Students might think about reporting their Parents, their Parent’s friends, Neighbors, Classmates, or even their Teachers to fishy@whitehouse.gov if they see any resistance to the Hope and Change that President Obama has in store for our Homeland.” can someone please tell me where this idea is stated?

President George H. W. Bush made televised address to students in October 1991 as campaign season was heating up. Bush asked students to “take control” of their education and to write him a letter about ways students could help him achieve his goals, strikingly similar to Obama’s messages.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26744_Page2.html#ixzz0Q652SZN3

Do you know if the schools are required to show it? I wouldnt be opposed if the parents were notified ahead of time and given the option to pull their kid out (just like with sex ed for instance). It seems a little underhanded and sneaky to do it the first day when parents/teachers dont have time to communicate and prepare.

#255

i put the whole speech in #217. it was an address to a single class that was broadcast to many other schools. it was not a partisan speech by any means. if obama said what bush did no one would be upset.

the fear is that he will be “pledge to me your support and loyalty”

and also that the schools will be very partisan.

#257 “Do you know if the schools are required to show it?”

jenni it’s not *required* but most public schools will participate because of the directives from the USDE. check with you district and your principal to see if your school is.

“check with you district and your principal to see if your school is.”

yeah, just what they want, more parents calling.

I believe that students that are allowed to view the speech will only hear a loving father pleading with our kids to take education serious and be prepared for the future. The children of today will be our caretakers and our lawmakers when we are old and at their mercy…what can it hurt if our President gives a pep talk to kids about how important education is? Even if one kid hears his speech and decides to turn their life around and become a better student, a better citizen, a better son or daughter it will be worth listening to. Who knows , maybe that child will discover a cure for cancer. I have taught for the past 15 years at a high school and I have had they pleasure of encouraging students to learn and grow into amazing individuals with their own views and beliefs. I respect our President and every President before him. I will be proud to watch the speech and show my students by example that we can open our minds and listen, process the information, and then choose to agree or disagree respectfully.

I think we should see what he says sept 8th before we jump on him, i disagree more with his new “green” black panther associate van jones, and his spending millions do get us out of debt plans. I dont think this ‘child like’ interview was intended for parents more than for children to be aware of the political world. Now if Obama presents a ‘go to school vote obama’ speach, the we need to jump on him, but if he says somthing along the lines of stay in school and learn, then we shouldnt convince our kids when they’re 10 that democrates are idiots, or that (as van jones stated) republicans are azzholes… they need to decide and, they will when obama wraps himself in a circle.

As far as Obama’s speech is concerned….

…I have a copy of the email memo sent out from the Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction to all principals and superintendents in the state.

I cannot find anything objectionable about what Obama is planning to talk about. And I cannot find anything objectionable about any of the discussion questions that are included.

BUT- my kids will be watching WITH ME so that we can discuss together.

Honestly, I don’t know that I would be concerned if it were any other President. But Obama’s socialistic tendencies really do frighten me. I have read just enough about the Chinese Revolution to worry about the potential of future broadcasts.

In my case, it is not really about this one broadcast. It is about a political trend that I find completely horrifying.

Really? I really fail to see the problem here. The president of the United States is giving a speech about the importance of education and some parents might not allow there children to see it? What is wrong with you people?

[...] Obama School Address Speech Live Feed Video, September 8 2009 … [...]

Obama is the worst! he is trying to brain wash us.. lol when i watch the video at school im just gunna laugh

I did not vote for Obama, but he is the president of the United States and deserves our respect. My children attend public school that hasn’t started yet. We will watch it at home and discuss it.

I fail to see the harm in listening to a speech by the president and then discussing it with my children. If your children will see it at school, and you have any concerns, then you need to take the time to watch it yourself and be prepared to discuss it when they come home.

IF IT IS a blatant indoctrination attempt, isn’t that all the more reasonable to prepare our children to practice critical thinking?

“lisab–

You aren’t possibly suggesting that parents should NOT call to find out what is happening in their specific school?

Please tell me that, as a teacher, you are more concerned with a parent’s right to know than you are with the convience of the school phone lines.”

i think parents have every right to be concerned what is going on in schools.

however, do not attack teachers if the decision is being made by the principal or school board. sometimes teachers do stupid things, but many times it is the school not the teacher that decides. even if it is a teacher out of control, you should call the principal, they should know what is going on in your child’s class.

my point was that the schools are getting hammered by parents calling, and they do not want you to call.

i am not saying you should not call

why would they trash me if i am not even there?

hearts of lion’s those two.

Obama doesn’t show his birth certificate?! What are you so afraid of, B.O.? I think it is outrageous that kids should be indoctrinated by some guy who could be a spy, or have an allience with some other country. And he claims that he is a Christian! He seems to be Muslim in everybody else’s eyes. So it’s unfair for kids to be exposed to good ol’ B.O. until we find out more about him!

Kaleidoscope, here! Just signing off until later today to see how people responded to me!

“I have heard teachers and principals say that they wish parents would back off and let them do their jobs. I’m wondering where you stand on that subject.”

just for the sake of argument, lets say your child’s school decides to have all the students in the class pledge allegiance to obama — hypothetically.

calling the teacher and saying bad things only upsets the teacher and does not help the situation one bit. scheduling a meeting with the teacher just takes up her personal time.

calling the principal and scheduling meetings with the principal is much much much better. why? because if it was a crazy idea of the teacher’s the principal can stop it. more likely it is a crazy idea of the principal’s anyway, and as a parent you should know that.

it also may not be the principal’s idea, it could be the superintendent’s or the school board’s. but you will only find that out by calling the principal.

basically principal’s are weasels without the moral fiber.

I never thought I’d see the day when parents would demand a President of the United States be barred from addressing their children. Because our current President is of another party (and, in some cases, because he is of African descent), he is now being treated as, immoral, villainous, toxic and alien. It will surely not be lost on African-Americans that a new precedent is being set for our first African-American President. Speaking as a Democrat, I have never in my life dreamed of treating any Republican President like a drug pusher or sex offender simply for offering to speak to schoolchildren. It is the height of impudence that any President’s remarks be “screened” by parent-ideologues of the other party, by tendentious teachers or school administrators. That any teacher, principal, school board, municipality or state should take part in this outrage is nothing less than a scandal. I rarely use this term, but there is no other term for it: is un-American.

If you want first world children informed on what their president is thinking you will give them the opportunity to watch the speech, then even better discuss it afterwards. It is not going to be some blatant attempt to indoctrinate anybody in the evils of communism. If you want a bunch of yokels and bumpkins for kids, unaware of what even their president is thinking, you will have them bounce a ball somewhere. Who knows, maybe they will one day make the cut on a reality TV show.

As a lifelong educator, I see nothing wrong with the President’s speech. It is not political and he should be one of the students’ most important role models. He is not being “interjected” into my classroom. He is the President of a country that sure could use some help. Hopefully, that help will be from our sons and daughters right here in the US. Made in the USA.

Obama has such small and narrow experience that he is wrong when he thinks Chicago translates into America. Perhaps inner city, black kids in Chicago need a black man to show up and tell them to work hard in school and thus become a rallying point and reference point for struggling teachers, but most the country doesn’t need in the classroom any President with lesson plans to promote a cult of personality.

I find it bizarre that impoverished blacks feel a man who is half-African and half-white and grew up in one of the most privileged states in the U.S. has something to offer them. But that’s racial prejudice, isn’t it? They look at his skin and think he’s like them.

I realize this post may cause some anger, but want to offer this interpretation of what is going on here. I feel there is at least some measure of validity to it.

Fantastic post Frank. Thanks.

I’m a member of an apparently shrinking class – a moderate. I don’t agree with a lot of spending that the current administration has done or proposed and I also don’t agree with many of the conservative responses. I’m in a minority on this board, but a majority on the Obama student speech issue when I say that those who oppose him speaking to our students are narrow-minded and disrespectful. Their vocal efforts to keep Obama out of the schools, just like with the birther issue, have created a backlash and served to re-energize Obama’s base.

People like Malkin may think that keeping up a constant barrage against Obama on all fronts, rational or not, will keep him on the defensive and keep him from being an effective President. That’s a shotgun approach and it really just ends up destroying the credibility of those taking the shots. It detracts from the debate on the important issues – health care and energy, education and jobs.

Malkin, Beck and their ilk should be smarter in picking their targets. Van Jones was an easy one and they are probably pulling muscles right now with so much patting themselves on the back. They would be better served in the long run to use their national platforms to offer real, credible criticisms of Obama’s major proposals, without resorting to knee-jerk labels like “racist”, “socialist” and “communist”. That may provoke a positive response in the narrow slice of far right-wing conservatives they reach every day, but it immediately turns off the moderates that they should really try to influence.

What about the 600,000 Americans who gave their lives to free blacks and keep the Union together?

There is a clip of George Bush in one of his speeches to school children asking kids to write him a letter. There is also Ronald Reagan talking to children in schools…my own among them at the time…about guns, prayer in school and taxes. Why haven’t what these presidents and others said in speeches to school kids been brought up in the media? Why are the lies about the Obama speech being changed after this uproar still being circulated? The speech wasn’t changed except for omitting asking kids to write him a letter. Why is the media participating in turning this country into a complete insane asylum where ignorance, hatred and racism rule the day? I feel very sorry for the children whose parents are so narrow-minded and full of hatred that they deny their own children a chance to hear a president and quite possibly hear something that could change their lives for the better. It is sad. Very sad.

Then forget Health Care and Crap & Trade and fix the freakin’ school systems.

“Think Twice.. The kids of Today are tomorrow Future…Right!!!”

lucy that sounds like a whitney houston song.

and by the way yes indeed our kids are the future thats why being vigilant about what goes in is important.

My 14 year old watched on his own, curious, hes pretty politically inclined. Towards end Obama says “I” am doing all I can to get you the books and computers you need, I expect you to do your part.”
He told me he got the impression that Obama wanted to take all the credit for really what everyone was doing and trying to shmooze by creating a bondage of “its us against them”

He also told me that the pres is flat out of his mind if he thinks I’m doing any work sheets

@JoAnne: I’m not necessarily saying you’re wrong when you say that Obama and other politicians should be kept out of the classroom. But prayer? Of all things, why is prayer the suitable alternative? Isn’t that the sort of thing — much like political ideology — that they should be learning at home, if so desired?

@Micky: Hah, if there was a president who held the power to get 14 year old guys to do more work sheets, he would be revolutionary indeed.

tom
he may be an effective communicator but at what point do we start expecting his actions to catch up with his rhetoric? here’s an interesting article if you have time to read it by thomas sowell.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/09/08/what_obama_says_vs_what_he_does.html

@ Tom: The devil is also a pretty effective communicator.

314- exactly right !

Sam..maybe you should take the cotton out of your ears and put it in your mouth…ya just might learn something.

read the speech and not one word says anything about President Obama trying to push his political beliefs or politcial agenda on our kids. This speech is a speech letting children know not to give up, stay in school, say no to drugs & to become successful in life. The parents, school teachers, school administration officals, etc… that have been on national T.V. should be embarressed, ashamed & disgusted with themselves by saying they dont want there children to hear the President speak to the children who need to hear this message now more than ever. I believe people dont want there kids to hear the President speak about this because of one of two reasons, either there afraid of there kids hearing the truth from the President or its a racial thing. We remember past Presidents and First Lady’s have spoken to kids in schools such as George W Bush reading to kids at a school on 9/11, or Bill Clinton speaking to children, or George H.W. Bush speaking to kids in the classroom, or even Nancy Reagan continually telling kids to say no to drugs. I really believe this is racism at its fullest because President Obama is black and he’s telling the truth to the kids and god knows these kids nowadays need to hear the truth from somebody cuz the parents and schools are not doing the job. Stop the madness and the racism America

It’s not in the Constitution Rhayader, and you know it.

Carla, produce the president’s elusive high school or college transcripts, or his thesis, or other proof of the incredibly innate “intelligence” of dear leader. Everyone knows Obama is a big dummy which makes it ironic and inappropriate that the slacker speaks to our kids.

Deep down you know he doesn’t know what he is doing. You know we know you know he doesnt know what he is doing. Stop the games. You like Obama because you like a nurturing daddy figure who isn’t George Bush. Liberals like Obama because they want to be nursed at the boob of big brother.

Carly, show me some indication that this man is intelligent. I have’t seen it myself.

Hah yeah, seriously. Kerlikowskie keeps telling us that a word as simple as “legalization” is “not in the president’s vocabulary”. Doesn’t sound that smart to me — what is that, about 3rd grade vocabulary level?

McCain, that doesn’t even sound appealing. Yuck!!!

I saw a clip of Reagan’s address to the school kids, and I was shocked.

“Now kiddies, study hard, and Uncle Ronnie wants you alwasys remember, taxes are bad, and guns are good.”

The hypocracy of the Right is never ending.

Now that he has saved all the kids, maybe he can create a job for me. I am starting to see him as God too.

all it’s establishing is a show of faith in a higher being or creator

But to me — someone who doesn’t hold, or agree with, that faith in any meaningful way — “establishing a show of faith” is itself a religious act. Atheism is as valid a religion as any Judeo-Christian sect you can think of. Establishing prayer in school clearly shows disdain for atheism. If I had kids, I would certainly have a deep-seated objection to the establishment of group prayer in their public school, as it would be deeply antithetical to my own personal beliefs. Are those beliefs less valid because they don’t include a faith in a supreme creator?

@Klo: Do you have a link to that Reagan speech? Sounds interesting — and is probably a good illustration of the hypocritical reaction to Obama’s speech.

330- dead on !

It was all bullsh*t for posterity. The campaign will never end

Skip med school Mickeyl…we have receptionists now deciding what RX’s we should have. With Lisab’s plan in all 57 states, we just need someone with enough skill to open a band aid.

the $250,000 includes living expenses while you are training and averages both public and private schools.

So most of us could be doctors in ten years when this finally costs us 10 trillion dollars and fix ourselves when sick ?

Carla.
I’ve been reading your stuff and as a result choose to ignore you up til now.
Can you think for yoiurself ?
“WE ARE WITH YOU” just out of blind allegience ? The beauty of this country is that we are allowed to take self thought and vocalize it, speak our minds, not be led around by the nose. But you have forsaken that, havent you ?
Obama may be very well educated, sound good, but do you know the difference between being educated and being smart ?
The guy is a flaming idiot, stupified by his own arrogance, hes given more speechs than days hes been in office and his popularity is sinking, with every speech on healthcare his and the public options #s drop. And yet he cant figure out to give the people (the majority, isnt that what Dems are all about?) what they want or just shut the f*ck up for a week, go away and let things take their course.
THAT MAKES HIM STOOOOOOOOOOPID !!!!!!!!!

kate im so sorry to bust your bubble but there are more ppl with the president than not. you guys are in a small and shallow bubble we the american ppl see right threw u. and its sad like i said before. talk about being narrowminded. and please dont think that your failing party will rebound keep up all the nastiness and you guys are just putting the last nail in your coffins. (Micky your not worth commenting to) LOL

is strengthened.

Not only is $100 billion low balling lisab, after the first decade, the projected annual deficit is $250 billion. That is the freaking deficit we’ll run per year after 10 years. There is no plan to actually pay for this crap, they just want to pass it and then hope a God steps in to fix it. We are so totally screwed.

Carla, read a poll sometime (we actually tabulate them on this site daily). Obama has about 45-47% of the population supporting him. Now, I’m no math expert, however, I believe that constitutes less then a majority. So, in fact, the majority of Americans are not with you or him. In fact, more and more every day are waking up to the fact that they did indeed elect a community organizer who sold us on hope and change but no real experience.

Are surprised that H mentioned himself 56 times.
In 1991 GHW Bush was attacked by the dems. They called for hearing to determine the cost.
But today the dems are having an Obama tingle because he is the only prez to care about education.. Tomorrow he will fix the potholes on a street near you. Then he will fix Deal or No Deal and outlaw Wheel of Fortune. They just are not fair.

“So most of us could be doctors in ten years when this finally costs us 10 trillion dollars and fix ourselves when sick ?”

well no … but a lot. for $10 trillion we could train 40,000,000 people as doctors, or about 40% of the work force or 12% of the population.

Karol – the problem is not a tempest in a teapot. The problem is that no one trusts Obama. Fortunately, he watered down his speech and it all turned out okay. That is thanks to the PEOPLE (who ARE the government of this great country), who demanded he not make this ridiculous attempt to indoctrinate our youth.

I do commend you for having your talking points down pat, however. Right down to demeaning and belittling the people of the country. The elitism is astounding actually.

I’d rather take em to a zombie flick than a michael moore fick.
Obama didnt tell our kids anything a decent parent hasnt told their kids a 100 times.
Its all about getting face time with them…
period

Yeah, but its those little worksheets that bug me. It just reaks too much of Kim Jung Ill, “dear leader” heres my list of things I can do to help you, it smells bad

Charlie Sheen lost it man…

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,548400,00.html

[...] lot of people have acted like they felt people were over-reacting to the recent Obama speech to school children across the nation. What’s the big deal? Other presidents have done it. So what? What harm can it [...]