A new high-tech Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. Racism. And parents too dumb to raise their children.
That was how NBC sought to explain away opposition to Pres. Obama's planned speech to schoolchildren.
Andrea Mitchell narrated a segment on this morning's Today on the subject.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Other presidents have faced opposition. But experts say it's now more organized, from cable television to blogs, to Twitter. It's gone viral.Yes, let's have some sympathy for the president. Everyone knows it's been virtually impossible for him to get any air time in this hostile MSM environment. And isn't it unfair that only certified conservatives are permitted to open Twitter accounts, have blogs, or go on MSNBC?
RON BROWNSTEIN: There are mechanisms for conservatives to reach other conservatives and to keep them in a state of agitation. And that is much more developed than it was even when Bill Clinton was president.Story Continues Below Ad ↓
MITCHELL: A partisan echo chamber making it much harder for any president to make his voice heard.
Then it was on to John Harwood of CNBC and the New York Times.
JOHN HARWOOD: In this case you've got a lot of people who are truly agitated about [the president's school speech] and I think partly that's the polarization continuing over time. And partly it's simply because Barack Obama is a different kind of president: first African-American, international elements of his background. But
I gotta tell you, Amy [Robach], as somebody who's covered Washington for a long time, this is one of the most ridiculous controversies I've ever seen. So far as I can tell, the biggest danger to kids in this whole thing is that a lot of the parents complaining aren't smart enough to raise them very effectively. Because if you think that a president coming into your school, kids school, and saying work hard and stay in school is a danger to kids, you've got some problems.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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Comments Policy
All of this talk about
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 07:14 ET by dmntd1All of this talk about people not being smart because they don't want their kids to listen to President Barack "The Socialist President" Obama is rather funny. I wonder where these idiots went to school.....
WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare,
That's always the liberals'
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 07:40 ET by motherbeltThat's always the liberals' judgment of those who disagree with them: they're too stupid to know any better. All the more reason for them to indoctrinate the children in school, away from their ignorant parents.
LA Times article today-- Spot on!
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 15:35 ET by JRJ08While it long ago crossed the borders of reason and civility, the hysteria over healthcare reform is -- at some level -- understandable, because wellness and infirmity are really just stand-ins for those most terrifying of issues, life and death.
But there is no similar way to rationalize the bizarre controversy now raging over President Obama's plan to deliver a brief televised address on Tuesday to the nation's grammar school children.
According to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Obama will "challenge students to work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens."
Sounds innocuous. Who, after all, could be against good study habits, personal responsibility and productive lives? As it turns out, quite a number of people who seem to believe that Obama intends to induct their children into -- well, it's not quite clear what they're afraid of. The Web and talk radio are abuzz with various attempts to organize a boycott of Tuesday's speech. One group is urging parents to demand that their children be excused from watching the president and be sent instead to the school library to read the Founding Fathers. (The theory, one supposes, is that a good dose of the Federalist Papers will inoculate the young against Obama's attempts to subvert the republic through good grades.)
On Wednesday, Fox News devoted a substantial portion of one of its prime-time newscasts to a discussion of whether Obama is, in fact, trying to seduce schoolchildren to some darkly obscure personal agenda. The sole guest, a spokesman for the libertarian Cato Institute, reported that "we've gotten a lot of calls from people asking, 'How do I keep my child from being indoctrinated?' "
On Thursday, Jim Greer, chairman of the Florida Republican Party, accused the president of attempting to "indoctrinate America's children to his socialist agenda." According to Greer, "the idea that schoolchildren across our nation will be forced to watch the president justify his plans for government-run healthcare, banks and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other president, is not only infuriating but goes against the beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power."
Anxiety over the speech seems particularly high in Texas, where many districts are offering parents involved in the boycott movement the option of taking their children out of class. (Whoever thought we'd see Texas treat advocacy of personal responsibility like sex education?)
The irony wasn't lost on everybody in the state. Puzzled Texas education officials told the Houston Chronicle that students often watch presidential speeches broadcast during school hours and that, in 1989, President George H.W. Bush specifically spoke to students about drug abuse. "It's hard to imagine anything more ridiculous than attacking the president of the United States for talking to students about the importance of getting a good education and being a good citizen," said Kathy Miller, president of a statewide school monitoring group. "I wish our elected leaders were responsible enough to denounce this kind of wild-eyed paranoia. But the problem is too many of them are actually feeding this kind of nonsense -- like when the governor flirts with secessionists and state Board of Education members say the president sympathizes with terrorists."
Miller has identified precisely the process at work in the healthcare hysteria and, increasingly, elsewhere where the GOP thinks it can shove the Obama administration into a ditch. Republican officials such as the Florida state chairman are playing a dangerous game with an unhinged segment of public opinion that regards Obama not as an elected official with whom they disagree, but as an illegitimate usurper of the presidency.
That paranoid fantasy is what's really behind the "birther" movement and the allegations that the president is -- take your pick -- a secret Marxist or a secret Muslim.
It's the kind of fanciful anxiety that produces comments like this, posted on a conservative website this week: "Barack Obama and his left-wing Chicago machine regime are putting into place laws and institutions which will insure that there will never again be free elections in America."
These are the people who are stockpiling ammunition and keeping their children at home next Tuesday.
JRJ08, Wow - an opinion
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 15:42 ET by hydrodynDMJRJ08,
Wow - an opinion piece from the LA Times.
Well, at least you've gone from making no arguments to presenting those of others. I guess that's a step in the right direction.
By the way, a simple link would have sufficed.
As an aside, I believe you're needed over at this post to explain to us how racist we all are.
~Fanciful anxiety
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 15:45 ET by choselife3xLike this? Or this? Or this? Or this? How about this?
Dissent: It's not just for liberals anymore.-kudzupolitics, USA Today
A waste of electrons. LAT
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 18:14 ET by NL207A waste of electrons. LAT already posted their piece. Repetition by you does not add credence.
Your quotation of the LAT lacks quotation marks around the quoted passages and proper attributation. Link it next time.
JR: you're welcome to post a
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 18:23 ET by Mark FinkelsteinJR: you're welcome to post a link and synopsis but please avoid posting the entire text of an article that exceeds in length the original item in the thread!
Wow - You've Mastered Cut and Paste, 101
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 23:24 ET by DoktorFrankenIn the NewsBusters post (why we're here) it mentions some Leftist stating that the president (using nationwide school time) telling students that studying hard and all that other supposedly positive garbage is nothing to complain about. That's because we're not complaining about that part. And they call us too dumb to raise children!
Every time I see one of the Leftists blather with the White Hizzie Talking Points on this issue they rarely, if ever, note the we're complaining about the ''Menu of Classroom Activities'' (HERE and HERE). The Administration has already backed off on one of the more questionable requirements (because it's too politically biased) but just the fact that this approach to our children was made in the first place is a tad frightening. Since most Leftists conveniently forget dangerous history they are usually ignorant to the basis of what our concerns are all about.
Conservatives would appreciate if the History of the murderous Communists and Muslims be taught to American students. Not some Leftist agenda (like calling Conservatives racists). Of course, we only know what the Activities are and this has been handled so secretly and poorly by the White House that the actual presidential talk will not be known until ''after the fact''.
Right - that's cool. (/sarc)
Ha!!! Wow!!!!
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 23:47 ET by RESTLESS 1You really left us speechless with that monument of thought.
"If the man, with the power, can't keep it under control...some heads are gonna roll." -Judas Priest
What the LA Times did not yell you . . .
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 09:37 ET by Galvanic1. Why did the Department of Education release a lesson plan for the President's speech without making the text of the speech available? Do teachers normally execute lesson plans without knowing the content of the subject?
2. The Department of Education is specifically prohibited by law from formulating and releasing curriculum, which this most definitely is.
3. The curriculum was not created soley by the staff of the Education Department, but with the colloboration of the WH staff.
What the President ought to do is apologize to the students K-12 for destroying their futures with the insurmountable debt they will have to pay the interest on.
While I was disappointed to
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 11:20 ET by JasonCWhile I was disappointed to learn that these were not the poster's ideas, but rather a cut-and-pasted op/ed - it became pretty apparent about halfway through, before I even read the replies - it doesn't change the fact that the comments therein are wonderful in their incisiveness and ability to cut to the quick of the new paranoiac fringe right. Both Reagan and Bush 41 did exactly what Obama is planning. We are currently watching the mouth-frothing hysterics dictate the terms of the debate, as the idea that Obama's speech will be some Orwellian mind-control exercise is basically being taken as a given, no doubt by the same sect of uneducated people who spent the past two months shrieking inane, demented opinions at their own elected representatives in public, and openly taking their marching orders from Beck and Limbaugh.
To the more sane and intelligent members of the right, congratulations... you've allowed your side to be run by basically the same morass of self-righteous idiocy that comprised the "Bush=Hitler, etc" segment of the left for 8 years.
Well done.
Jason
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 11:28 ET by FeynmanFanIsn't amazing how facts become pliable and perceptions differ?
I think you're painting with too broad a brush but, hey, it's your opinion.
"I support the President but not his policies" - Blonde
~Jason
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 11:32 ET by choselife3xI've already debated this topic on several threads, so I'll be succinct here. (you're welcome ;-)
It isn't the speech conservatives have a problem with; it's the lesson plan crafted with the help of the White House.
Not to mention, the questionable legality of that maneuver!
Federal law expressly prohibits the Secretary of Education or any
Administration officer from exercising "any direction, supervision, or
control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or
personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system" (20 U.S.C. § 3403).
Dissent: It's not just for liberals anymore.-kudzupolitics, USA Today
cl3x, Obama giving a speech
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 09:43 ET by JasonCcl3x, Obama giving a speech about the benefit of staying in school and working hard and all the other trite platitudes that schoolkids are hand-fed by the bureaucratic machine on a daily basis anyhow is about as innocuous as it gets. To suggest, sight unseen, that it will be a policy speech, is just plain silly. To invoke the word "indoctrination" is where we veer into hysteria. By these standards I could claim that Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No!" campaign was not a straightforward PSA-style proclamation about abstaining from pot and crack, but an insidious brainwashing designed to make a generation of kids into staunch drug war proponents who will support mandatory minimum sentences, increased police spending in inner cities, and sanctions against Colombia and Mexico. I.E., politicizing that which is designed to be apolitical.
Meanwhile, despite the fact that former presidents have done this same thing - and their speeches were no more critically viewed than to be referred to as resembling campaign speeches - Obama doing it is aligned with dictatorships and authoritarianism; with North Korea and Iraq.
The accompanying assignment may have indeed contained a rhetorical wincer, but that seems to have been long ameliorated. And besides which, if the assignment was designed in accordance with the speech, and the speech was then about the benefits of staying in school, isn't that what kids are going to assume they should write about? What tiny, infinitesimile percentage of kids do you think will write about a politicized issue here? Probably the ones whose parents already support Obama.
Chose, while I think your take on this is perfectly level-headed, I think you're also ignoring that for droves of OTHER parents, it is indeed the speech, not the assignment, that is fueling this opposition. NB alone has demonstrated that. At least you, personally, can rest easy knowing you have complete control over your kids' education.
~Jason
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 10:09 ET by choselife3xI haven't seen anyone suggest that his speech would be indoctrination. The indoctrination comes from the fact that the lesson plan assumes agreement and compliance with whatever Obama might say. Please don't parse that into "But his speech will be innocuous so what's the problem", because it's about the mindset of "Do what the President says" being cultivated in children.
What do you think the President wants us to do? Does the speech make you want to do anything? Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us? What would you like to tell the President?
The lesson plan is about the President, not the (innocuous) message. Just put "Bush" wherever it says "Obama" and see if it still sounds alright. See what I mean?
Dissent: It's not just for liberals anymore.-kudzupolitics, USA Today
choselife...Obama indoctrinates our kids
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 22:17 ET by Jer"I haven't seen anyone suggest that his speech would be indoctrination." [emphasis original]
Found the article linked below rather quickly. My guess is there is no dearth of additional examples, as well as quite a few similar comments on related NB threads.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/09/florida-gop-chair-on-obamas-speech-to-students-its-a-good-speech-ill-let-my-kids-watch.html
Note in particular the opening pagagraph.
Jer
→ True Jer
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 22:20 ET by Cool ArrowI heard the indoctrination comment early and often.
I just wonder if he's going to bring up Larry Sinclair to prove to the kids he understands what they should be going through.
Tango Makes Three, and all that stuff.
Van Jones is a Quitter - FS
Well, Cool...I wasn't familiar with Larry, so I
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 22:41 ET by Jerchecked out his website. Something tells me Obama won't be handing out advance copies of Sinclair's Pulitzer-in-waiting tome: Cocaine, Sex, Lies & Murder.
Jer
Why not Jer?
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 23:14 ET by RESTLESS 1He's already shown to be guilty of at least three out four.
"If the man, with the power, can't keep it under control...some heads are gonna roll." -Judas Priest
Just three, Restless?
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 23:20 ET by JerOther than the couple of kids, do we have proof positive that he's ever had sex?
Jer
Well, they may not be his.
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 23:25 ET by RESTLESS 1It's not like I would find that out watching MSNBC...or Cnn...or NBC...or... oh well, you get the picture.
"If the man, with the power, can't keep it under control...some heads are gonna roll." -Judas Priest
~Jer
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 07:29 ET by choselife3xI was referring to the NB community.
I think you're also ignoring that for droves of OTHER parents, it is
indeed the speech, not the assignment, that is fueling this
opposition. NB alone has demonstrated that.
Added: Jer, all the liberals are completely deflecting from the clumsy absurdity of the lesson plan by saying that people are upset about the speech. They simply refuse to address the lesson plan at all, which leads to only one logical conclusion. They know they can't defend it.
Thanks for the link, I can't wait to read it!
Dissent: It's not just for liberals anymore.-kudzupolitics, USA Today
choselife...
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 11:24 ET by Jer"...all the liberals are completely deflecting from the clumsy absurdity of the lesson plan by saying that people are upset about the speech. They simply refuse to address the lesson plan at all, which leads to only one logical conclusion. They know they can't defend it."
Administration and DOE spokespersons have already admitted to the clumsy wording of the.lesson plan--and I concur with that assessment--directly addressed it and modified it, yet parents in many districts are still calling principals and admininstrators where their kids attend school frantically demanding their children not be exposed to anything Obama might have to say--despite the fact the text of the president's apolitical educational pep talk has been released and emphatically endorsed by the likes of Newt Gingrich and Laura Bush.
I'll revisit the related NB threads, and if they are entirely devoid of complaints about the potential speech itself, then I apparently was hallucinating.
Jer
Silly parents.
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 11:45 ET by JWFExcercising their free speech rights to complain. Ohhhhh. The audacity!
While you are revisting, why don't you look at my powerline post below.
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
Nary a word from me about
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 12:21 ET by JerNary a word from me about free speech, JWF.
I visited your post and visited powerline and visited Byron York's commentary. On the face of it, it appears to be a pretty good "gotcha". But there is one significant distinction: the outrage by the Democrats was ex post facto--not a whipped up frenzy prior to the actual event. I would like to see a copy of Bush's address to the students. If it were apolitical, then the Democratic reaction was ludicrous.
Jer
ex post facto.
Wed, 09/09/2009 - 06:06 ET by JWFYes. And they also brought in real investigations, and real lawyers. Vs. what, a few concerned parents voicing their concerns here.
I would like to see a copy of Bush's address to the students. If it were apolitical, then the Democratic reaction was ludicrous.
Sometimes I wonder, I should get paid for google searches. How hard is it really? I found it with only one refinement
google - george h w bush address to students
then
google - george h w bush address to high school students transcript
boom, second on the list of results
I mean, if the troll mamabear can find it, surely my ol' history perfesser can too.
http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=3450
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
Thanks, JWF... And you
Wed, 09/09/2009 - 11:08 ET by JerThanks, JWF...
And you are correct about the googling advice. I should have done so before. I had read mamabear's posted synopsis, and agree that the Dems were way out of line.
BTW...don't you think you are being a little tough on mamabear? She seems pretty fair and reasonable. But perhaps there's some interaction I'm unfamiliar with.
Later, Jer
Ok. I will give one more chance just for Uncle Jer.
Wed, 09/09/2009 - 11:26 ET by JWFI am done here. I posted more on this topic here.
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
~Jer
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 11:54 ET by choselife3xWhat I mean by clumsy was that they didn't realize how spectacularly out of line their wording was to non-Leftists. What they mean by clumsy is "Uh, did we say that out loud?"
I didn't see anyone on NB complaining about the then-as-yet-unreleased speech, just the DOE lesson plan. But I don't read every thread either. Sometimes I'm busy setting off nukes in the Woodshed. *grin*
Jer, could you expound on something for me? What part of the lesson plan did you think was "clumsy" and in need of modification, and why?
Dissent: It's not just for liberals anymore.-kudzupolitics, USA Today
chose...
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 12:25 ET by JerI skimmed through the plan several days ago and the suggestion of a homework assignment for the kiddies to think about and express ways thay can "help Obama" was particularly lame.
Jer
~Lame
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 14:09 ET by choselife3xAs in slobbering over Obama in a spectacularly embarrassing fashion? *yes, I'm laughing...but I refuse to use "LOL"!*
Dissent: It's not just for liberals anymore.-kudzupolitics, USA Today
Binky Pontificates! Go Binky Go!
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 10:23 ET by JWFMore Binky Braverheart aka JasonC Cliff notes!
Binky: Obama giving a speech! trite platitudes! hand-fed! innocuous! it will be a policy speech! just plain silly! hysteria! Obama! Nancy Reagan. No! Obama abstaining from pot and crack! Obama! brainwashing a generation of kids into staunch war proponents! Obama! politicizing that which is designed to be apolitical! former presidents, speeches, more viewed than Obama.
Obama! a rhetorical wincer! ameliorated. support Obama!
Jason,
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 22:13 ET by RESTLESS 1Who do you think you're bullshi...oops, sorry Shy, BS'n? It was never about the speech, it was about the "what would you do to serve your president?" question that ever came under scrutiny here.
But, I know, it's because he's a (half) black man, we all hate (half) black people, we can't stand a (half) black man in the WH, blah, blah, blah,...
"If the man, with the power, can't keep it under control...some heads are gonna roll." -Judas Priest
Binky Braveheart speaks his mind.
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 12:24 ET by JWFNo. Binky is not over teh tops!
Binky Braveheart - paranoiac fringe rights! free teh paranoiacs! mouth-frothing! frosty mouth frothing milkshakes! hysterics! womens! womens hysterics! Orwellian mind-control! I is not hysterics! exercise! cults! sects! uneducated people! inanes! I is not obsessed with Beck and Limbaugh! I is obsessed with Coulter! morass of self-righteous idiocy! It is Sunday. Everyone go to morass! Bush=Hitler! 8 years! I is not still focused on Bush. 8 years! I is well done. Stick a fork in me and turn me over. I forgots teh dementeds!
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
Cliff Notes - JasonC aka Binky Braveheart.
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 12:35 ET by JWFI disappointed. Obama. paranoiac fringe. Obama is planning. mouth-frothing hysterics. Obama dictate. Obama's speech. Orwellian mind-control. Obama. uneducated . shrieking. inane. demented. Obama. marching orders. congratulations... Obama. morass of self-righteous idiocy. "Bush=Hitler," 8 years. Well done Obama.
A conversation with Binky Braveheart aka JasonC
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 11:39 ET by JWFA concerned parent: I don't like this lesson plan.
Binky: paranoiac fringe right!
A concerned parent: Huh? Look. I don't think our children should be focused on what they can do to...
Binky: (interrupting) mouth-frothing hysterics!!!
A concerned parent: ...help the President. Please don't interrupt.
Binky: Orwellian mind-control!
A concerned parent: What? Look. It's good that the President can pass along the message to stay in school...
Binky: (interrupting) uneducated people shrieking inane, demented opinions!
A concerned parent: ...and work hard. What? Are you talking about me?
Binky: taking marching orders from Beck and Limbaugh!
A concerned parent: Now what does Beck and Limbaugh have to do with my child?
Binky: morass of self-righteous idiocy!
A concerned parent: Sorry? Are you speaking to me or about me or what are you talking about anyway?
Binky: Bush=Hitler! 8 years!
A concerned parent: Uhm, dude? Bush left office 9 months ago.
Binky: well done!
A concerned parent: Yes you are. Someone stick a fork in him and turn him over. He's done.
And partly it's simply
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 07:20 ET by ThisnThatFirst truth I've heard from NBC in a long time. You're right, Harwood. We simply aren't used to socialist presidents who are thugs.
___________________________________
"Tax the rich" is a basically unstable way of governing - The NYT
Good for the Goose
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:33 ET by adamsmithSo after eight years of bashing Bush with DailyKos,MoveOn.Org,Acorn,MSNBC,HuffingtonPost,and God only knows who else all funded by George Soros, all of a sudden being organized to oppose a Communist agenda isn't fair. The Hypocrisy and general blindness as far as self awareness with these communist moonbats is surreal....They ain't seen nothin' yet...Seems the right caught on with Saul Alinsky's crap, learned it, and learned how to use it on commies....Time to organize heavily to defeat the Communist onslaught. They say the people are too stupid to take care of things themselves, I say they're too stupid to see they will be removed as the economy dies....With these 60's radicals in power, it is their last gasp for communism. It's an ideology proven to be cruel everywhere it's been tried, I say it will be taken out of America with a new Joe McCarthy and the people behind it....Andrea Mitchell is a communist lemming, and not as smart as she thinks.....Death to Communism.....
They never mention the
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 07:21 ET by Ryan Mc.They never mention the teacher guide that suggests reading books about Obama and asking what does Obama want you to do among others. They are not even talking about the actual controversy. I can't imagine that's an oversight.
Of course it's not an oversight.
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 07:45 ET by motherbeltThey know they have no defense for the DOE developing lesson plans and activities to "go with" the address. Why can't the President just tell the kids to behave and work hard to succeed and then let them get to it? Why do they have to have assignments based on the speech?
So instead of addressing the "lesson plan" thing, which is actually a legitimate complaint, they have to frame the controversy as parents not wanting the President to make a speech to students.
Accuracy and honesty aren't a big deal to them.
It's amazing how the left
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 07:23 ET by gopsteveIt's amazing how the left acts so horrified when THEIR guy is protested...as if we haven't seen 8 years of total hate and protests about anything Bush...
Parent's Aren't Smart?
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 07:37 ET by BourbeauHow's that coming from a left leaning journalist? The only people not smart in this controversy were the ones who came up with the plan and the documentation to be shared in the classroom. They allowed this thing to spiral out of control by first, not vetting the materials properly, and secondly, forcing the issue within a short time-frame. John Harwood should avoid making generalized smears of parents until he's fully informed of what transpired, why it became objectionable, and why parents reacted as they did. For the record NO PARENT OBJECTS TO ANY PRESIDENT TALKING TO THEIR CHILDREN - REAGAN DID IT; BUSH SENIOR DID IT; AND OTHER PRESIDENTS HAVE DONE IT WITH LESS FORMALITY. NONE OF THEM ADDED MATERIALS OR EXERCISES TO BE DONE BY THE STUDENTS AS PART OF THE EVENT. And there's what caused this furor. A President and a Department of Education overreached and got their hand slapped.
THE DOE IS A WASTE AND SHOULD BE ELIMINATED BY THE NEXT GOP PRES
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:50 ET by Paarlin fact I heard JosephCalifano, Carters cabinet member say that he broke with Carter over the creation of the DOE back in1977. He said it was a total mistake to create it when there were 50 perfectly functioning and capable state education departments to devise and implement educational policy.
He also stated that time has proven him correct and that many state educational departments have become nonfunctional and serve only to implemnetn federal policy and that education has suffeered as a result...I beleive he is right and was glad to hear a Dem stand up to the education complex..
Paarl of RHodesia
DOE
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 09:09 ET by ricklailReagan vowed to disband the DOE but when they got in they decided they could straighten it out.
There are two people, Dr. Dennis Cuddy and Charlotte Iserbyth, that worked in the DOE at that time. Goggle or BING them and read what they have had to say over the years.
Semper suprene nitens
OBAMACARE: If it ain't good enough for my Congressman then it ain't good enough for me.
Y'know, it's statements like "Parents Aren't Smart"
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 02:26 ET by Scout FinchThat really get my ire up with Big Media. How condescending of them! And statements like this are bounced off websites and get remembered by other conservatives. Their sneering condescension only gets my ire up higher and higher.
Enough that I might attend a town hall meeting. I heard about one on Twitter.....
And partly it's simply
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 07:53 ET by motherbeltAnd partly it's simply because Barack Obama is a different kind of president: first African-American, international elements of his background. -Harwood
And there you have it: the racism charge.
and then Harwood says:
Because if you think that a president coming into your school, kids
school, and saying work hard and stay in school is a danger to kids,
you've got some problems.
Completely mischaracterizing the situation, and attempting to portray parents as anti-Obama, rather than objecting to lesson plans that focus on "helping the President."
Newsflash to John Harwood:
You're not that smart. And we're not that dumb.
Oh, and BTW, why has no one focused on the question of "helping the President" to do WHAT?
Yeah. Charges of racism.
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 02:29 ET by Scout FinchTHAT'S a good way to win friends and influence people. Chalk it up to yet ONE MORE WAY liberals gratuitously incite anger amongst good people like us.
tHE TRICK IS THEY DO THINK
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 00:46 ET by Dan The Man 2tHE TRICK IS THEY DO THINK WE ARE SHEEP TO BE LED TO SLAUGHTER.
This takes me back to the
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 07:57 ET by Radical1979This takes me back to the days when the Monica Lewinsky scandal was first breaking and HRC went around saying it never happened, this was all a "vast right wing conspiracy". Liberals never do anything bad or make mistakes, it's all the fault of that vast right wing conspiracy.
Those drugs they took in the '60's must still be in their systems.
Radical
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:07 ET by ricklailThose drugs they took in the '60's must still be in their systems.
I am not sure but I think that you can have flashbacks from LSD for many years. To last 40 years-I don't know. It has always been said that drugs fry your brain. That does not heal. Your tongue in cheek comment is probably more correct than you know.
Semper suprene nitens
OBAMACARE: If it ain't good enough for my Congressman then it ain't good enough for me.
They wonder why nobody is
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:02 ET by ricklailThey wonder why nobody is watching the news. When you insult parents, who know a damn sight more than educators on how to raise children, they are going to turn you off. For Dr. Spock/T. Berry Brazelman (?) parents this is right up their alley.
When I see this crap by Obama all that I can think of is Hitler youth. Many parents that were educated in the government schools really don't know the story behind the rise of the 3rd Reich. Getting kids indoctrinated as early as possible was a major step in Hitler's rise.
Semper suprene nitens
OBAMACARE: If it ain't good enough for my Congressman then it ain't good enough for me.
Ricktail...you bring up a
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 09:11 ET by celatorRicktail...you bring up a great point. The Obamatrons and leftist commentators are simultaneously insulting parents and trying to convince citizens (most of whom are parents) that Obama is a heroic figure worthy of trust. They don't grasp the delicious, self defeating irony they have created for themselves.
I am so thankful that the NB staff is revealing this story and all the other stories they uncover every day. This morning's menu of articles on the site is particularly powerful.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
I totally agree
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 02:02 ET by maryerinWhen I read the questions in the lesson plan Hitler Youth sprung to mind immediately. Of course not all of the kids were blinded by their participaton in the Hitler Youth. However, the fact that they were forced to join the organization and then forced to listen to the atrocious teachings of Hitler and his henchmen is what is most appalling. That is why in America intelligent parents will not allow the power hungry President to force his ideals on their children.
And also, the calling of names and attempts to debase Conservatives is also awfully close to how the persecution of the Jews began. It's so much easier to turn in your neighbors when they are 'dumb' and 'racist.' Hitler didn't kill 6 million Jews by himself.
The big print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.
Fulton
J. Sheen
Sweet Cheese & Rice
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:17 ET by BondPlainBondWasn't it about two months ago MSNBC said conservatives were bumbling idiots incapable of finding their asses with both hands, were stunned more than two words could be strung together to form a coherent sentence, and were floored when they discovered conservatives were completely capable of dressing themselves?
That the town hall meetings were made up of people being bused in from far and wide, people that had to be trained (like monkeys) to even display a properly indignant reaction to the White House-manufactured, and completely misleading, talking points on health care?
Now MSNBC says conservatives are a highly organized bunch with the expertise in maneuvering and using the internet, tapping into specialized mechanisms, for their political advantage.
Two months? Wow. I don't think even trained monkeys would be able to pull that off, but, at least credit is being given where due. *snark snark*
Harwood? Wow. This guy just willingly jumped out a high-flying plane without a parachute! Good luck with the landing, fella.
I love the smell of liberal desperation in the morning!
I smart dady
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:10 ET by HatedByLiberalsI dunt no whut dis man talkn bout. I teech meye keds gud at mobil hom skool. Dem democarts jus aborted they keds. Dat y dem democrats not bad parents.
Seriously, they weren’t upset about all this technology when it was used to bash Bush everyday. I guess this technology has gotten very easy to use since these people who are using it aren’t even smart enough to raise their own kids. Sounds like an oxymoron… (oops that’s a big word we aren’t supposed to know) I mean that sounds like Bull Sh!+ to me.
Agitated!
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:13 ET by TexndocAgitated! Am I ever agitated! Quit agitating me!
Here's what I supposed HAS to be done to un-agitate me: take away my Rush, my Glenn Beck, my Newsbusters, my Michelle Malkin, my FOxNews. Right, Andrea Mitchell? 24 hours / 7 days NBC and Huffington Post. Oh, will I be so happy and feel so blessed we have the real Messiah to lead us out of the wilderness.
The activities that 7th
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:23 ET by ghotifunThe activities that 7th through 12th grade students and teachers are "assigned" to do surrounding the speech can be found here:
www.docstoc.com/docs/10648471/Obama%E2%80%99s-Address-to-Students-Across-America-September-8-2009-Menu-of-Classroom-Activities-7-12
A similar site exists for K-6th grades.
Listening with purpose...
Difficult to do since children aren't taught critical thinking skills.
We heard President Obama mention the importance of personal responsibility...
Are they serious with this question? Personal responsibility in the wake of the idiot residents of New Orleans staying in N. O. during the storm and the government bailing out irresponsible mortgage holders across the land?
My 8th-grade daughter has a "bumper sticker" on her notebook. It reads:
Waterboard Obama
"Waterboard Obama"
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 18:11 ET by RayRaythat's funny :)
if the Republicans had any brains, they'd start portraying Obama as the new "establishment", something for kids to rebel against. Show how he and Rahm bulldoze over any opposition by using the full weight and power of the presidency. Show how the media is historically in opposition to the power of the presidency, but now are instead aids in destroying his opposition.
But the Republicans are just too terrified of being called a "racist".
Projection; it ain't just a river in Egypt
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:24 ET by masslibertarianThere are mechanisms for conservatives to reach other conservatives and to keep them in a state of agitation.
I guess Brownstein's never heard of MoveOn.org, Media Matters, Daily Kos, etc., huh? Classic liberal projection.
Calling Comrade Lloyd
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 10:55 ET by SeftonThere are mechanisms for conservatives to reach other conservatives and to keep them in a state of agitation.
Which is their leftist call to action for FCC "Chief Diversity Officer" Czar Mark Lloyd to implement his Marxist censorship programs.
What, me stupid?
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:35 ET by FranksamI know this is racist, but I'll say it anyway. The rate of illiteracy is highest in the minority communities, as is the school drop out rate. That's probably my fault, because as a white man it is so in my self-interest to keep the poor people down. Our former Democratic Govenor, Dick Lamm, got in hot water for saying that some cultures don't place a high value on formal education. It wasn't the Hasidic Jews that were insulted, if you know what I mean.
If Obama is encouraging education, we have to wonder why. If people actually learn to read it will not bode well for the Democrats. That's probably why the Pres is giving a speech on TV, rather than sending a written message to the kids. Farenheit 451, where are you?
Your comments aren't any
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:38 ET by ghotifunYour comments aren't any more "racist" than pointing out other statistics like percentages of prison populations based on ethnicities or the percentages of minorities that receive any level of government assistance.
Facts are stubborn things--indeed.
NOT racist, I beleive
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:58 ET by Paarlbut you always have to put these stats in context so you dont give the opposition the ammo they need....lets look at the black unwed birth rate of 70-80% and maybe higher in deep inner cities though I am not exactly sure of the stats.
I have read Thomas Sowell and he points out that the blaqck illegitimate birth rate prior to the era of LBJs Great Society was equal to or lower than the white illegitimate birth rate across similiar income classes (ie there were many more (by %) poor blacks). so context has to be given..the point is government activists policy tends to hurt those to whom it is directed....
Paarlof Rhodesia
Absolutely.
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 09:43 ET by JerryAbsolutely.
"Compassionate" democrat policies have done more to destroy an entire culture than any passionate enemy could have possibly done. And while condeming them to a life of poverty, they somehow convinced their victims that the democrats were their best friends and republicans were their enemy.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
The truth is not racist
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 11:37 ET by StogieGuy(ok, it's a little long)
Thanks to the Great Society brought to us by LBJ (may he burn in Hell), we have developed into two nations: a first-world nation consisting of suburbs, downtown areas and rural communities; and, a third-world nation comprised of minority-dominated inner city slums and (to a lesser extent) rural enclaves hidden away from the mainstream.
The first world county is world-class in every way, statistically it bests anyone else on earth when it comes to health, education, income and is competitive with the least violent countries. The rate of children brought into one-parent households is lower than the average of 'developed' nations and childhood illeteracy is among the lowest in the world.
The third world county (LBJ Land), on the other hand, is a backwater that rates with a poor African and the poorest Latin American countries when it comes to health, educational success, and ranks up there with the world's MOST violent countries. Income is not at third world levels here: it's higher thanks to Government payments, etc. However, drug use is epidemic and most children (approaching 90% in some areas) are born to single-parent households....many such households have multiple children from multiple fathers.
The demographics are such that the population of the former is flat while the government-subsidized population of the latter is booming. And, they've just provided us with their second president (although, to be fair, they didn't know that LBJ was their guy).
Our "slum" areas are appallingly worse than any in other industrialized nations. The UK, France, Canada, and other countries have nasty neighborhoods - but none ever approach the likes of south Chicago or south central LA or Liberty City in Miami or scores of others.
Were it not for this, the libs couldn't point to statistics about life expectancy to argue health care or crime rates to argue about gun control - because we would be at the top of the list. But we're not. Again, this is the fault of generations of failed public policy. Policies that encouraged poor minorities to have lots of kids outside of wedlock for a pay raise and which fostered a now-inbred entitlement mentality. It's very, very difficult for a kid brought up in such a society to break out of such a mindset. That's why it becomes a never ending cycle. And yes, the "racist" statistics do reveal who are the majority in these areas.
facts?
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 18:20 ET by RayRayI remember a show done by McLaughlin maybe 15-20 years ago. A white guest stated that although blacks accounted for 25% of the population of NYC, they commit 50% of the crimes. A black woman guest jumped up and got in his face about how he was being a "racist".
It is now pretty much de facto that any white who criticizes any black for any reason is automatically a "racist"... until the general population finally notices one day that the country is filled with examples of reverse racism.
And btw, the fact that here are so many blacks in prison is not viewed as any evidence of black culture gone awry, but instead as evidence that the justice system is "racist".
No Class
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 08:55 ET by NH DadParents who disagree are smart enough to know that when a lesson plan includes, "write/discuss ways in which you can help serve the President" it's nothing more than INDOCTRINATION! The President serves the people, the people, er children do not serve the president.
"There is no one less tolerant and more close minded than a tolerant and open minded liberal."
NH, just think of all the
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 09:34 ET by JerryNH, just think of all the great speeches that could have been if only Dear Leader were president...
"Ask not what your president can do for you, ask what you can do for your president."
"One small step for man, one giant leap for the president."
"I regret that I have but one life to give.. for my president."
"My president tis of thee... sweet man of anarchy.. to thee I sing."
"For score and seven years ago, my poor father brought forth upon this continent, a new president, conceived in Selma...."
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
Dear Adolph and Uncle Joe
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 22:25 ET by ahusserwould have been proud (of Obama).
"Somehow, I told you so, just doesn't quite say it." Will Smith in 'I, Robot.'
John Harwood: ...the
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 09:22 ET by ghotifunJohn Harwood: ...the biggest danger to kids in this whole thing is that a lot of the parents complaining aren't smart enough to raise them very effectively...
And, John, you have some evidence or study to point this out?
<sigh> I so tire of editorialization when simple reporting will suffice.
Oh, wait, he is on the Gray(ing) Lady's payroll.
these two villiage idiots
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 09:32 ET by larry on LIdon't want to remember the blowback the dems directed at hw bush ,prior to him addressing the school children.
People need to quit
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 09:42 ET by RR GOPPeople need to quit confusing intelligence with knowledge. Not being able to distinguish between the two is in itself ignorant.
Be that as it may, if these Libtards have a problem with today's youth (or the "today's youth" of decades past...get it?) then they have only themselves to blame as they are the ones mostly responsible for the disintegration of a public education system that used to work much better and afforded the average citizen many opportunities for higher learning, etc. It still does, but not as well.
Also, are they implying that Newt was right about bringing back the state-run orphanages?
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
If I remember correctly
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 10:04 ET by Cthulhu2012If I remember correctly there is (or was, don't know if they took it out) a provision in Obamacare for social workers to visit homes and make sure they were raising their kids properly. Seemed to imply that if the parents weren't raising their kids properly (re: according to the government's vision) they'd be in danger of being removed from the home.
How much you want to bet that once this thing passes the first homes being visited are going to be those where the parents openly expressed dangerous, anti-government, and violent views (re: conservatives, TEA party members, etc.).
Why choose the lesser of two evils?
The talking-head voice of the Rothschilds spews her...
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 09:52 ET by ThalpyThe talking-head voice of the Rothschilds spews her condescending nonsense our way again. We should be grateful I suppose. How is it that the Leftists have been able to organize their indoctrinational and propaganda filled attacks over the years? It seems to me that all of the MSMs used common words and phrases for their united attacks on the Bush administration. That's not to say that some of the Bush criticism was unjustified, but Leftist attacks were the result of a unified organizational effort and unending.
Harwood's statement about the parents is almost unworthy of comment except to say that it isn't the message that President Obama plans to deliver, it's that he's delivering a message at all. It may be difficult for some of these superior people to believe, but there are many of us who don't swoon when the Anointed One has something to say. The parents' failure to welcome Obama's "talk" doesn't reflect their ignorance or their stupidity. On the contrary, it reflects their sound judgement.
Yeah, but...
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 10:44 ET by StarAZDon't you think Harwood looks cute and earnest as he wrinkles his worried face about how stupid everyone is besides him?
Dummies
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 09:55 ET by KansasgirlHe's kidding, right? The majority of people who AREN'T raising their kids at all are the liberals voting block.
0bama's campaign speech to the schoolchildren
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 10:03 ET by nandrelli"Ask not what your country can do for you.
Ask what you can do for 0bama.'
Maybe they could spend 5
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 10:28 ET by KevroyMaybe they could spend 5 BILLION on i-pods, put Dear Leaders speeches on them, and hand them out to the kiddies. That way they could hear his words of wisdom anytime they wanted.
Let's see....
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 10:43 ET by StarAZThe term "public servant" used to be in use---but I have never heard of "president's servant."
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 10:57 ET by jessieHThere they go, again. Bad mouthing the citizens of this country. And they wonder why we don't listen to the MSM. Their smoke & mirrors don't work, anymore. They won't be allowed to turn our children into liberal zombies. It's like the song says: "If you take all the crap I learned in high school- it's a wonder I can think at all". They can take their lies on down the road. WE won't have it.......
VRWC
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 11:52 ET by viluzionNow with extra vast rightiness.
Addressing the wrong audience
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 12:06 ET by CobraManHas any of the major news services pointed out that Obama is addressing the wrong audience? He's telling school children that it's better if they attend school. something they already realize since their already attending school.. But what about the drop-out? Shouldn't he be addressing them instead?
Hay, Obama, you'd do much better if you tell the drop-outs to go BACK to school. Telling kids who already attend school to attend school is redundancy in action. You're not addressing the real problem, the existing drop-outs. Where's your speech to them? Oh, that's right, they're not a captive audience, correct?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
Oh yeah...the old right
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 12:22 ET by bigtimerOh yeah...the old right side of the aisle are too dumb to know anything trick...
Poor ol' sleepy-eyed Harwood hasn't a clue...never will either.
'Go Green...Recycle Congress'
I is agitated.
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 12:31 ET by JWFI is agitated in teh echo chambers. Somebody. Sombodies help meez.
I don't like teh black presidents. I is racist!
Now where is that James Dobson book so I can beat on my stupid kids. No wait, I is in the wrong forum. I is stupid not my kids.
So how is it exactly that
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 14:52 ET by lsudolemiteconservatives are smart enough to organize effectively using the internet, but too stupid to raise their kids properly? Kinda like how Bush was simultaneously a drooling idiot who could barely string a sentence together and the world's greatest criminal mastermind who orchestrated 9/11.
I am pretty sure the Nazis said the same thing about...
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 15:55 ET by R D Helm...German parents who kept their kids out of the Hitler Youth organization.
And from my readings, there were a lot of them, too.
-Dave
Even when the government tries to kiss you, it is just a prelude to a good screwing. -Neal Boortz
eight months television free
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 15:57 ET by katainkentseems like all I am missing is being insulted on a daily basis.
I think that's worth the extra $1200 bucks in my pocket.
___________________________________________
We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. ~Thomas Jefferson
Mr. Harwood, "truly your
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 17:29 ET by HockeyKidMr. Harwood, "truly your intellect is dizzying".
Thanks to The Man in Black.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
HockeyKid, I thought that
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 17:31 ET by hydrodynDMHockeyKid,
I thought that was from Princess Bride.
And so it begins...
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 17:58 ET by moderncommentaries83If this isn't a clarion call for liberals to enact policies to take away children from conservatives, I don't know what is.
Be vigilant, parents. They're coming after you for daring to question Barack Obama.
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam
Good grief, look at Harwood's face. Could his lips BE any more
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 19:13 ET by BO STINKSpursed (h/tip to Chandler Bing)? This should be on a poster that is captioned. "I am a liberal who is not getting his way. WAAAHHHH!!"
BTW, hubby is watching 'Band of Bros.' AGAIN and I am looking for fun on NB. Wait, that didn't sound right....
"...it must be known that we are at all times ready for war." G. Washington
looking for fun
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 03:55 ET by ChattychitoHee Hee Hee. on NB hee hee Haw Haw snort
just kidden around wit ya
"A man who doesn't borrow from the brains of others proves he has no brains of his own." CH Spurgeon
WaDa
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 03:50 ET by ChattychitoHeck are they talking about. Once again they show their ignorance to all that we are saying.
we are not against the POTUS giving our kids a pep talk we are against a White House that wants to give a curriculum along with that talk.
we are against what is being hidden from sight that he will say on TV to our kids especially if it disagrees with our views and values.
get a grip MSM wake up. this is not a racial issue, this is not biased issue. it is about the Government staying our of our kids minds and letting the Parents do their job. My IQ is higher than most who work for the MSM and they have the gall to say I am "to stupid to raise my kids..."
I am asking all who are offended to stand up against the MSM race baiting, ego maniacs to apologize for their arrogant statement.
"A man who doesn't borrow from the brains of others proves he has no brains of his own." CH Spurgeon
WHO IS THIS JERK?
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 21:37 ET by ptsonJohn Harwood is the one with the problem. He just insulted 50% of the public with a misrepresentation of facts. Oh I forgot, NBC is in the tank and doesn't care about ratings. Probably very few people were actually watching.What a pompous a-hole. (just using a term from our new green job czar) By the way any new green jobs out there besides the czars? Or any new jobs, green or not? Maybe a new one for John, he should be fired for insulting his audience. But with Jeffery Imalt at the helm, mismanagement and much lower stock prices will prevail at GE. At least until they are taken over and become Government Electric. Seem unrealistic? If you can steal General Motors from the bond holders, GE is easy!
How low will the left stoop?
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 21:50 ET by Cho Yi FanIt seems that every day I read where the left winged media has stooped to a new low. This story is just another example that the elitist in the media don't respect we the average folks.
That Mr Harwood can be so arrogant and presumptuous is insulting. The assertion that not allowing children to listen to the party line from Commissar Obama is somehow a reflection of someones fitness to be a parent is ridiculous. This is still a free country (although I don't know for how long) and parents can still decide what is appropriate for their children to see, hear and do.That's what good parents are suppose to do. Only a deranged fool would equate a parent not wanting to let their children listen to the The Supreme One with their ability to parent. Hopefully children have been spared from Mr. Harwood's egotism .
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have".
Thomas Jefferson
There is no limit to how low the Left will go
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 21:57 ET by Free StinkerThere is no limit to how low the Left will go.
No limit to the depravity of The Left
and if you disagree
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 22:01 ET by candanceYou are racist.
Under Bush Dissent =Patriotic ~ Under Obama Dissent=Racism
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 22:10 ET by Free StinkerI'm a racist?
OMO!
I hope Obama is ready for Millions of "racists" next Saturday in D.C.
at this point
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 22:20 ET by candanceIt's lost all of its venom. I don't hear anything but noise when these people talk now.
Image
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 22:14 ET by nkviking75C'mon, conservatives, it's not as if Obama has poured lots of time and money into constructing an elaborate image as a messianic leader. (/sarcasm off)
“Always love your country — but never trust your government!" -- Bob Novak (1931-2009)
If "Stay in school and work hard"
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 22:24 ET by RESTLESS 1are all he wanted to say, then he could do that anytime. Why the secrecy. Why the manipulation? Why the closed enviroment of the schools? Why the stuped questionnaire asking how they would serve the 0?
"If the man, with the power, can't keep it under control...some heads are gonna roll." -Judas Priest
Chicago Annenburg Challenge
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 04:04 ET by Johnnye BMaybe if Ms Mitchell put down the Kool-Aid long enough to do a little research into the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, she would know why parents are concern about President Obama’s agenda. That is if she can see clearly with a Kool-Ad buzz.
Obama granted thousands to Ayers' failed program
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 10:18 ET by ekslibBilly and Barry, Not Such Perfect Strangers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wQqj8CVv3Q
Ayers and Obama had offices on the same floor in a small Chicago
building for 3 years. Obama worked for a foundation which granted
thousands of dollars to Ayers' "Small Schools Program."
Did Obama mail the checks to Ayers or walk down the hall with them to Ayers' office?
What a cozy relationship!
Obama wants kids to love HIM
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 10:12 ET by ekslibJust as North Korea's Kim want kids to love him
"Obama Kids: Sing for Change (Pyongyang Remix)" illustrates this very well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2naSzb1psU
if HE does it once
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 11:08 ET by dogwonthuntif HE does it once and it is seen as good before HE utters a word, why not have obama on tv every day at school to remind the children that they need to learn more about THE ONE. why not put adoring pictures of obama on all the walls, on the book covers, on the school uniforms. put HIS name on every school, every library. (mao, saddam, kim jon-il, lenin, etc.) why not give every student the same ipod gift that the queen recieved: recordings of all of HIS speeches. HIS two autobio's. HE can tell students about all of HIS missing father's dreams that so inspired HIM to acchieve.
All JR can do is cut and
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 11:09 ET by jistincaseAll JR can do is cut and paste and run I guess. They offer no real argument about the facts just repeating liberal trash talking points. If anything it is the liberals that are too stupid to raise their kids in a good manner. I have examples of them running all over my neighborhood. Always getting everything that they want. Expecting everyone to never tell them that they are wrong about anything or have to obey anyone. I know that I am known as the mean Dad in the neighborhood because I make my kids do as I say and when the other kids are at my place they do as I say also or they get sent the hell home. I am not tolerant of disobediant brats mine or others. I find it amusing and pathetic when I see a parent that is afraid to make their child obey them. I don't really care where I am when I bring out my hickory switch.
"So far as I can tell, the
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 11:16 ET by dogwonthunt"So far as I can tell, the biggest danger to kids in this whole thing is that a lot of the parents complaining aren't smart enough to raise them very effectively." john harwood.
i recieved my edumacaucasion from a FREE (taxpaid) government school system. so, if i's naut smar' 'nouf ta tech me kedz, whoose i shud be blamin?
brainwashing
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 11:24 ET by dogwonthunthow many movies have people with their eyes pinned open, forced to watch programming. put a kid in a closed classroom with a tv in front of them, nothing else to do but watch and listen to THE ONE, have the teacher then instruct a course on the video of THE ONE . . . rinse and repeat.
how many movies have
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 11:29 ET by Jack BauerAnd not only movies. Season 2 of CHUCK, Fulcrum use a eye pinning device to attempt to brainwash Chuck with a cavalcade of TV images beamed into his brain.
But Chuck turns the tables and it kills them all, except our hero.
Clockwork
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 11:43 ET by ArchConservativeClockwork Orange.
Strapped in a movie theater by the State and forced to change his behaviour and his ways.
arch -- just remembered The
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 12:08 ET by Jack Bauerarch -- just remembered The Parallax View -- Warren Beatty, but can't recall whether the evil corp pinned his eye lids back.
RON BROWNSTEIN: There are
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 12:27 ET by Jack BauerHang on a second. When Clinton was President? Wasn't there some guy in between Clinton and Obama who was President?
Oh yeah. George Bush. Now did liberals have "mechanisms" to keep them in a state of agitation for 8 years.
Well, as MoveOn.org used to BOAST at how they could rally anti-Bush sentiment, using these same mechanisms, then I guess that has to be yes.
How so unfair for conservatives to use the same mechanisms. Bummer huh, Brownstein?
Moon Cheese
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 13:03 ET by Jerry MackIf Obama announces that he can solve the worlds hunger problem by giving them moon cheese, his supporters will stand and cheer. Anyone that disputes it will be called a racist, right wing wacko or a person opposed to ending hunger.
Binky Braveheart aka JasonC is not a partisan people!
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 11:35 ET by JWFBinky is not a partisan hack. He is not full of the Obama gushy love. He is an original thinker! Really. Stop giggling. He comes up with all of this on his own. No, really. Oh, ok go ahead and laugh.
from Ace of Spades -
Now what were the terms Binky used?
No. Binky is not following the Democratic response to any challenge: call names. He is independent! He thinks on his own! Oh, now you are laughing again.
This namecalling isn't coming from the Democratic fringe. This came from party leaders, congressmen, and well-known commentators. AND BINKY BINKY BINKY OH DEAR SWEET MANA FROM TEH HEAVENS BINKY!
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
Here's the speech, released
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 16:34 ET by mamabearHere's the speech, released today:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/
There isn't a partisan, socialist word in the whole thing. The speech and the lesson plans are optional, no school or teacher has to use either one. If you really object to your kids planning educational goals or thinking about their commitment and responsibility to their own education, by all means keep them home from school. Then think for a minute about what THAT teaches them!
A whole lot of hysteria over nothing.
and what dept of education has done
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 16:40 ET by katainkentby putting out that lesson plan is against the law.
My children are not in school because their teachers have broken the law and chosen to strike anyway.
I think, pointing out these things to my children, has been an excellent learning experience. This nation is a Nation of Laws.
___________________________________________
We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. ~Thomas Jefferson
kata... Priceless point
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 16:50 ET by bigtimerkata...
Priceless point you made here.
'Go Green...Recycle Congress'
Kata ... you demonstrate the
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 16:54 ET by celatorKata ... you demonstrate the most important truth in all this discussion: PARENTS are the most important teachers children will ever have. Period.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
"putting out that lesson
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 20:44 ET by mamabear"putting out that lesson plan is against the law"
Ah, if only that were true. The law establishing the DoE prohibits any direction or control of curriculum, but it does not prohibit the DoE from supporting state agencies by providing educational materials that they can choose to use.
In fact, the DoE offers over 1500 lesson plans and educational resources on it's FREE site-- Federal Resources for Educational Excellence. It includes lesson plans on biology put together by the NSF, primary documents made available for free for schools from the Library of Congress, etc. etc. It has been around since 1998 and was recently redesigned and relaunched in 2006.
Here are some highlights:
The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden
examines the job of a president, the balance of power with the Supreme Court and
Congress, and ways presidents have communicated with the public.
Features include the battle sword of... (National Museum of American History, supported by Smithsonian Institution)
Helping Your Child Become a Responsible Citizen
describes what "strong character" means and how parents can help children develop
it. The booklet includes 18 activities, chapters on "dealing with media
pressures" and working with... (Department of Education)
Kids' Page: Central Intelligence Agency
provides lesson plans on problem solving, gathering and analyzing information,
myths about the CIA, the role of intelligence in war, codes and
code-breaking, and the importance of... (Central Intelligence Agency)
and
Tips for Parents on Keeping Children Drug Free
tells what your children should know about drugs by the time they reach the
third grade, ways to help your child stay drug free in the middle and
junior high school years, and how to... (Department of Education)
So my question is... is all of this illegal? Is the DoE really not allowed to provide support materials to teachers? Are you going to petition to have the whole thing taken down? Or is it just illegal when Obama wants to say something?
"choose to use"
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 22:26 ET by katainkentWere it my choice, yes. I would seek to eliminate the DOE entirely and allow the States to control their education programs independently. However, I fully understand I am in a tiny minority on this opinion.
So, that not being an option, I would say that :
1) the material needs to be moved to the 'suggested materials website' and all references to "what does the President want" & "how can I help him" stripped. Children should come to understand their correct role in government, the original lesson plan strayed considerably from that. The whole thing was all about Obama.
2) People should be allowed to 'opt out' as they are from all other material that does not mesh with their families teachings such as already do for sex ed (which I personally don't have a problem with).
It is rediculous that Parents be mocked for wanting to actually DO THEIR JOB. Those articles above that you've linked (most of which go to other sites) - I contend that we have done twice the job educating our children on all those subjects. The most refreshing thing that has come out of this is that there are far more parents out there that care than I originally thought. I had all but lost hope that parents were paying attention to what was being fed into the public school system. I can only hope more parents will stay that engaged.
At least with a Republican president I didn't have to worry about the liberal teachers bringing such tripe into the classrooms because they despised Bush (and Reagan, when I was in school). Its bad enough I have had to deprogram the global warming / world ending hysteria and the rest of the politically correct garbage they come home with without having to deal with this new phenomena of outright mindless agreement with the government. Here I was thinking that teachers were just going 'against the man' when I was in school. How naive of me, now that I see how its come around with a Democrat in power.
I have no fondness for either party, mamabear. Putting (D) there changes nothing for me.
___________________________________________
We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. ~Thomas Jefferson
Good morning kata
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 08:52 ET by cocodrieOur minority is not so small but there is a segment of society that wants the government to raise their children for them. The nicest way I can say it is "The Dept Of Ed is a boil on the butt of America",
Jesus Loves You so much He died for you
Your position is at least
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 16:50 ET by mamabearYour position is at least internally consistent, so while I disagree I can respect it!
I think the mockery comes, and rightfully so, because of ridiculous public statements that are being made and attributed as the reasons parents are keeping their kids home. Greer, as an example, called the speech socialist indoctrination before reading it. That makes him look stupid, and it makes the people he purports to speak for look stupid as well.
If you keep your children home because of a principled stand that federal government shouldn't intrude on education, more power to you. If you are keeping your children home because you believe everything that the internet tells you about Obama, I say shame.
One thing I came across when goggling at the crazy stuff the internet tells me about Obama was a news report, I think from Wisconsin, that mentioned that the principle of one school was not allowing parents to request that their children be excused from the speech. He said that because the speech was purely educational and not political, it was not something students could opt out of.
I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that. Are parents allowed to pull their kids out of purely educational lessons-- what if my personal belief is that algebra is a tool of the devil? Can any presidential address be condisered non-political, even if it's contect is completely scrubbed clean?
I hope as many students hear the speech as possible, because I think it's awesome, but even my unabashedly liberal sentiments are a little uncomfortable with that ruling.
if you think that is the source of the mockery
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 19:19 ET by katainkentthen you are as naive as I was at 19.
___________________________________________
We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. ~Thomas Jefferson
You are seriously starting to get under my nerves.
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 16:56 ET by JWFThe lesson plan was released a week ago and people complained.
They have had a week, A WEEK, to edit the speech AFTER people complained LAST WEEK.
Are you stupid? Seriously, I saw it. I am sure there were others. Why can't you?
Or did you see it and you are just trolling thinking we are all stupid and won't notice.
Sure, you can assume that
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 20:47 ET by mamabearSure, you can assume that they were going to say something insidious, but you have no proof or reason to think so other than your own preconceptions. The Secretary claims the language that everyone freaked out about originally referred to helping the president reach his goal of having the highest graduation rates by 2020, not helping him raise an army of socialist zombies. Everyone had a hissy fit, so they took the whole thing out. You can say they are lying, but where's the proof?
Have we just met?
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 21:53 ET by JWFThere isn't a partisan, socialist word in the whole thing.
Who said they were lying? Who looked for partisan, socialists words? Who assumed they were going to say something insidious? Who made preconceptions? Who is talking about socialist zombies?
Not me. Search my posts. Go ahead. I see you, mamabear, bring everything up in response to me.
I said -
a. you annoy me.
b. they had a week to edit the speech.
c. that's it. I made no assumptions, no accusations, no insinuations.
d. apologise to me for assuming I said anything more.
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
Okay, I'll play. Why do
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 22:02 ET by mamabearOkay, I'll play.
Why do you care whether they edited the speech if you don't think they changed something objectionable in response to criticism?
And what did you mean by "I saw it?" What is "it"?
Not the brightest bulb in the cabinet are you?
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 08:31 ET by JWFWhy do you care whether they edited the speech...
I was responding you your post, pinhead.
They had a week after the controversy to remove any partisan, socialist word's pinhead, that is, supposing there were any partisan, socialist word's in there in the first place. So why point it out? Pinhead.
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
let's just investigate
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 08:38 ET by TruthMongerlet's just investigate democrat style:)
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/When-Bush-spoke-to-students-Democrats-investigated-held-hearings-57694347.html
Palin/Prejean 2012
"They had a week after the
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 16:17 ET by mamabear"They had a week after the controversy to remove any partisan, socialist word's pinhead, that is, supposing there were any partisan, socialist word's in there in the first place"
So the reason you are interested in the week delay is that you think they changed the wording of the speech. Is that what you meant when you said that you "saw it" and wondered why I couldn't?
Now you are adding "presuming they were there in the first place," which was not a concession you made in your initial statement. If you overstated something and made an implication that you didn't intend, it's okay to back away from your words and change your mind.
I promise I won't make fun of you or call you any names :)
What is up with this mamabear the democrat water carrier?
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 10:49 ET by JWFFrom Powerline:
What say you mama-Everyone had a hissy fit-bear?
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
JWF
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 11:21 ET by RESTLESS 1I sent this post to pinhead, er, I mean mamabear. Just wanted to make doubly sure she saw it. ;)
"If the man, with the power, can't keep it under control...some heads are gonna roll." -Judas Priest
Democrats were stupid to do
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 16:34 ET by mamabearDemocrats were stupid to do that. Stupid.
I just read the speech Bush gave, and it was a little rougher than Obama's, a lot more about fighting drugs and violence, turning in troublemakers to the teacher, and one kind of depressing moment when he cites drop out statistics and asks students to look around the room, "Which one of you won't make it?"
But the goal is the exact same. Non partisan. Now Bush did mention policy, his "six National Education Goals." I have no idea if that was a source of controversy at the time, but that may have been what set off the furor. It is literally one sentence out of the whole speech, but if the test is that the speech is absolutely neutral and non-political in every way, Bush didn't keep it quite as clean as Obama. Still, nothing to get excited about.
So it is entirely fair to point at the Democrats and say "See, you freaked out too!" But it is equally far to point to Republicans and say "Yeah, and you proved the speech was legal and appropriate, so where do you get off objecting now?"
I thought you were here to troll in the beginning.
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 20:19 ET by JWFNow it is confirmed. You are here to argue for arguments sake.
You are an unrepentent unrelenting troll. The only question now, are you a return troll?
I just granted you a major
Wed, 09/09/2009 - 07:31 ET by mamabearI just granted you a major point there, if you can't see it that certainly isn't my fault!
Personally, I get sick and tired of the "You did it too so it's okay," argument on both sides of the aisle. I hope that my side of the argument manages to be the bigger one and let it go. I fervently hope that when the worm inevitably turns, and a republican president gets up there again to talk to school kids, we keep our whiny mouths shut and let him (or her, I can hope) talk.
I could hope the same for conservatives, too, but somehow our conversation here leaves me feeling less than encouraged.
Uncle Jer thinks I am being too rough on you.
Wed, 09/09/2009 - 11:27 ET by JWFI will take your name off the list. Watch it!
Why three paragraphs
Wed, 09/09/2009 - 14:47 ET by RESTLESS 1when it should have taken no more than "Yes JWF, you are quite correct."?
You see, the epic qualification you made to a simple post, is the reason for JWF's response to you. Sometimes you should just agree, and leave it at that. No qualifications were needed here.
"If the man, with the power, can't keep it under control...some heads are gonna roll." -Judas Priest
I must admit mamabear that
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 14:24 ET by QueenMumI must admit mamabear that when I read your comment, I thought about a similar uproar when parents wanted to keep their kids home from school on the day of the Inauguration. Just something to think about.
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out
of other people's money."
—Margaret Thatcher
Bass Ackwards
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 16:47 ET by srqvetInteresting as there was a lesson plan which included advice to teachers to have the children write how they could help the president (as opposed to themselves, school, community, or country). You must have the speech to write the lesson plan. This means there was a speech from which the original lesson plan was developed. The WH felt the heat and had to redo the speech. Since a speech was not produced in a timely manner we are left to assume obamanure's indoctrination to the children was hastily re-written for publication today.
Harwood, you arrogant, elitist...
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 22:03 ET by PrairieSkya$$!!
Typical libnut...Conservatives (or anyone who disagrees with "The One") are stupid, ignorant, unenlightened, intolerant, racist...Fill in the blank...
Keep talking, Johnny...That sound you hear is the sound of NBC's ratings dropping...Again.
"The problem is not that people are taxed too little...the problem is that government spends too much." ~President Ronald Reagan
The Dems did the same with Bush Sr.
Tue, 09/08/2009 - 08:49 ET by mchris65They questioned the legality of his school speech as well. But I guess the Reps are the only ones who should keep their mouths shut.