At the end of Wednesday’s CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric introduced a segment on Tysheoma Bethea, a 14-year-old girl who attended Obama’s address to Congress: "President Obama has said one of the biggest adjustments of his new job is living in a bubble. Now, to combat that problem, he started to read a handful of letters everyday from average Americans. One letter, written by an eighth grader from Dillon, South Carolina, caught his eye, and her story caught ours."
Correspondent Mark Strassmann then reported: "Thanks to Tysheoma Bethea, everyone at J.V. Martin Junior High now shares the audacity of hope...Last night, the 14-year-old watched President Obama read America her letter to Congress, a plea to build a new school for her small town." Strassmann described the situation at Bethea’s impoverished school and how Obama had instantly inspired them: "Too often at J.V. Martin Junior High dreams die early. 85% of students live below the poverty line. This school, built in 1896, is falling apart. For generations here, hope has been in shambles. The dropout rate is 60% and the daily fight is against a poverty of the spirit. But last night, this junior high reconnected to hope."
Strassmann spoke with Bethea, who declared: "There's such thing as possibilities and as long as you got possibilities, all your dreams can come true." Strassmann asked her: "And last night was a dream come true?" Bethea replied: "Yes, sir." Strassmann concluded his report: "With one letter, this eighth grader taught her entire school the possibilities in dreaming." Couric added: "Good for her."
Here is the full transcript of the segment:
6:57PM SEGMENT:
KATIE COURIC: President Obama has said one of the biggest adjustments of his new job is living in a bubble. Now, to combat that problem, he started to read a handful of letters everyday from average Americans. One letter, written by an eighth grader from Dillon, South Carolina, caught his eye, and her story caught ours. Mark Strassmann now on the teenager who will not quit.
MARK STRASSMANN: Thanks to Tysheoma Bethea, everyone at J.V. Martin Junior High now shares the audacity of hope.
BARACK OBAMA: I think about Tysheoma Bethea.
STRASSMANN: Last night, the 14-year-old watched President Obama read America her letter to Congress, a plea to build a new school for her small town.
TYSHEOMA BETHEA: 'We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself, and one day presidents. So we can make a change not only in the state of South Carolina, but the world.'
OBAMA: 'So we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina, but also the world.
BETHEA: 'We are not quitters.'
OBAMA: 'We are not quitters.'
BETHEA: I would have never thought something like that would have ever come true for a little girl from Dillon, South Carolina, and a little school.
STRASSMANN: Too often at J.V. Martin Junior High dreams die early. 85% of students live below the poverty line. This school, built in 1896, is falling apart. For generations here, hope has been in shambles. The dropout rate is 60% and the daily fight is against a poverty of the spirit. But last night, this junior high reconnected to hope.
AMANDA BURNETTE [PRINCIPAL, J.V. MARTIN JUNIOR HIGH]: To watch my little girl up there and, you know, tears were just flowing down my face because this is my blood, sweat, and tears.
BETHEA: There's such thing as possibilities and as long as you got possibilities, all your dreams can come true.
STRASSMANN: And last night was a dream come true?
BETHEA: Yes, sir.
STRASSMANN: With one letter, this eighth grader taught her entire school the possibilities in dreaming. Mark Strassmann, CBS News, Dillon, South Carolina.
COURIC: Good for her.
—Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.
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I'd like to buy a vowel,
February 26, 2009 - 18:14 ET by SickofLibsI'd like to buy a vowel, Pat.
the White House was built
February 26, 2009 - 18:24 ET by Radar_Onethe White House was built in 1800, give or take a year or 2. Does this mean we NEED to rebuild that also? The Capitol was last expanded just after the Civil War...do we need to rebuild that also???
The audacity of Hope is truly AUDACIOUS!!!!!
Barack Obama= Half Honkey...ALL Donkey
Wait a minute
February 26, 2009 - 18:27 ET by KC MulvillePerhaps this accounts for his superficial surface understanding of what's going on. I wonder how much they're paying Reader's Digest to condense Obama's reading material?
Has anyone noticed how
February 26, 2009 - 18:33 ET by Clear thinkerHas anyone noticed how scary our government has become? Besides the usual handful of course.
Peaceful Islam - What A Joke!
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
Instead, he's reading
February 26, 2009 - 21:04 ET by motherbeltInstead, he's reading letters from grade school students???
The sure-fire guilt trip. Get the kids to write sob stories and read them out loud.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Apparently, he hasn't
February 26, 2009 - 18:54 ET by HockeyKidApparently, he hasn't mastered "My Pet Goat" yet.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
→ Maybe not hockeykid
February 26, 2009 - 19:03 ET by Cool ArrowBut he didn't attend Madrassa that long.
Articles like this make me
February 26, 2009 - 19:02 ET by ArchConservativeArticles like this make me want to vomit.
Since when did hope become "audacious"? What the hell does that uneducated statement mean anyways? The "Audacity of Hope"? America by it's very definition IS hope. It always has been. Since the first settlers came here for religious freedom and a better life, America has been hope. There is nothing "audacious" about hope here. Now if you live in Iran or North Korea or China or Venezuela or Cuba, THEN having hope would be "audacious" because those government are set up to crush hope and dreams.
Schools like this are failing BECAUSE of government, not because government is not involved enough. These kids have been taught to rely on the government and it has failed them. Their parent have failed them. Getting a brand new school will not stop the backwards slide that it is currently on. Only when these kids are taught traditional American values: hard work, perserverance, a drive to be the best, will they succeed.
Having hope is one thing, doing something with it is quite another.
You support the troops by supporting the mission! If you don't support the mission, have the guts to say you don't support the troops.
Obama: Not my President. Ever.
However, let's see if he vetoes the line inserted
February 26, 2009 - 19:09 ET by Cape Conservativeby Democrats in the bill that REMOVES the funding for the exceptional International School in D.C. - you know, the one that allows parents to apply for their child's admittance to a school that HAS PROVEN that children CAN SUCCEED in the D.C. school system, regardless of home situations or income!
You know - those children whose parents can't afford the Sidwell Friends Academy!
How dare they take away a functioning, PROVEN educational program that helps the disadvantaged children receive an education that will allow them to grow beyond the projects!
It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue. ~ Sam Adams
CC... That is what I am
February 26, 2009 - 19:20 ET by bigtimerCC...
That is what I am angry about myself...just as I can feel you are in your post...but nary a mention in the msm about this program.
...Of course we all know why.
I DESPISE this administration, along with congress that are killing us all and what we had left for freedom, they will have a lot of the accomplished in less than a year from what I have seen from EO's and cramming of unread bills down the throats of all of us, yep they will have a lot done by then, that I don't think we will be able to undo.
...and far left judges haven't even been crammed through yet.
hmmm, bt - you can 'tell' I'm a bit angry???
February 26, 2009 - 19:35 ET by Cape ConservativeGood catch - my poor KEYBOARD is taking quite a licking tonight ;-)
It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue. ~ Sam Adams
CC... LOL... So am
February 26, 2009 - 19:47 ET by bigtimerCC...
LOL...
So am I....so is my keyboard!
At least I am cooling off somewhat...what a day it has been...heck what a month...can anyone believe what all has happened to this country in less than a month with the EO's and what congress has already passed....I am literally just shaking my head here.
It is just like right now...Homeland Witch Napolitano is demanding an investigation into all the illegal immigrants that were arrested in Wa....ACLU is standing by the illegals too.
We now have to pay for the groups like Acorn, LaRaza, ACLU via tax-dollars...and they are our enemies of this country as far as I am concerned.
Btw...I mentioned the Southern Poverty Law Center will now try to get back in the news, get $$$ for support and make a everything racist again.
I've about had my fill...Live Free of Die!
I am now sure that the
February 26, 2009 - 19:25 ET by obxrayI am now sure that the drive by media is the lowest of professions.
slip and fall lawer's
MSM, democrat's, college teacher's
cry baby adult's.......ect. Bunch of cancer on the country.
Here's a link to the
February 26, 2009 - 20:18 ET by DutchHere's a link to the schools website:
http://www.dillon2.k...
Per the website, much of the school of was remodeled in 1982 and 1983. Maybe not brand new, but still newer than I. I know that in one short month (or long month, depending on how you look at it) we've come to expect lies and exaggerations from this administration, but this needs to be added to the list. Unless the school was very poorly remodeled, I would hardly think it to be in shambles by now.
I'm in my late 30s. From
February 26, 2009 - 21:08 ET by GregEI'm in my late 30s. From 2nd thru 5th grade (1970s), I was in a school built in 1920, and certainly not remodeled within 20 years of my attending. It had no air conditioning, was basic, and was what we knew as our school. I don't remember my parents saying anything about the school conditions. We went to school there, plain and simple. We learned, we had good teachers, it was a great time in my life. I'm sure there were some bad things that took place, but I don't remember any of them.
The politicians can whine about school buildings all they want to. The problem is not the buildings. The problem is the family. The problem is the curriculum. The problem is the agenda. The problem is "everyone's a winner and no feelings can ever be hurt." The problem is "zero tolerance" policies that leave common sense at the door. .................etc...........etc...............etc!!!!
Look at some of the schools built now. $40 million for a school, with only 40 cents worth of solid curriculum, and not a penny in common sense. Schools with skylights, large brick columns, huge open foyers with architectural structures..........all of which cost alot of money, but add ZERO to a child's learning. It's ridiculous. We are a nation of so many people who just don't get it, and unfortunately many of those people run our public school system.
BETHEA: I would have never
February 26, 2009 - 20:59 ET by GregEBETHEA: I would have never thought something like that would have ever
come true for a little girl from Dillon, South Carolina, and a little
school.
Bethea, you only didn't know because you're a young person, not yet interested in political theater or in the motives behind the political use of emotion. But once you get older, you will look back and your "I would have never thought...." comment will make you say "yes I see now that I only said that because I was young, knew no better, and didn't realize that the worse shape my school was in, the better chance that a liberal politician, possibly a president, would use it as example of the need to push a big spending agenda."
Because Bethea, this is, unfortunately, part of the political game that is engrained in American politics and in the minds of those who see government as the savior and the only entity that you could possibly look to for guidance in your life. To them, you yourself are nothing, if not for their generously loving and guiding hand.
Dr. Thomas Sowell on School Buildings
February 26, 2009 - 21:10 ET by Retired Geek"One of the schools I researched years ago that impressed me the most -- in fact, moved me to the verge of tears -- was a ghetto school in a run-down building, located in a neighborhood that caused a friend to say that I was "brave" -- he probably meant foolhardy -- to park a car on the street there.
The children in that school scored above the national average on tests. In their classrooms, they spoke the King's English, behaved like little ladies and gentlemen, and made thoughtful answers to the questions they were asked. Yet these kids came from poor homes, often broken homes, and many were on welfare.
You can't buy that quality of education for any amount of money.
It has to be created by people who have their priorities straight. Don't tell me it can't be done when I have seen it done with my own eyes."
Dr Thomas Sowell
http://www.jewishwor...
Another Obama plant?
February 27, 2009 - 00:26 ET by waincroftI remember a visit to a school during the One's campaign that sounds very similar. Built so long ago, etc.
But this letter came in just randomly recently and this girl, from a less than affluent area of SC, winds up at the joint session of Congress speech in a cute little outfit that curiously complemented Michelle's sleeveless dress? Which, by the way, confirmed global warming I guess, as it was Feb in DC. Gees, it's Feb here in FL and I am not running around sleeveless.
Is this another plant, as I believe Henrietta Hughes was at the Fort Myers town hall dog and pony show? Ask me. I'll tell you about Henrietta from the records of the county in which I live and she camps out in her truck in a park. Gees. She owns a lot she could park on and dig a latrine!
While I applaud the desires of a child to learn and improve herself, I think it below disgusting to see her used by Obama. I hope she realizes if she adopts conservative viewpoints, she may have a chance of making something of herself. If not....
Round up the RINOs