Barack Obama’s Education Speech: The Not-At-All Socialist Indoctrination

You mean those same shamelessly fraudulent, amoral lying teabaggers who brought us death panels, birther wackos, Kenyan muslim birth certificates, Joe the Plumb Bob and “keep your socialist guvmint hands off’n mah Medicare,” tried to MISLEAD us on this?

NOOOO!

This has truly been one of the most disgusting RW spectacles of lunacy, paranoia and fear-mongering.

How are we supposed to deal with these people like normal, sane human beings?

It has been revolting and the Republicans should be ashamed of themselves but they seem to completely lacking in any sense of shame.

Well, okay. Since signing a petition asking for an investigation into possible connections between the Bush and bin Laden families now disqualifies people from public service, will all Republicans in government who made the lunatic suggestion that the President, elected with vast support from the business community, wanted to indoctrinate our youth into socialism now resign?

Will Joe Klein, who believes that Van Jones should have resigned call on Greer to step out of politics for violating a clear “bright line?”

Well it is a much improved speech to the school children of this Nation. The theme of “what you need to do in school” is so much better than the original version “what you can do for me, for the President of the United States”.
.
I am truly glad that Barack the narcissist Obama chose this new and improved variation over his other more “personal” message. Perhaps you should also read this version which was released earlier on by the White House, Michael. This is what started the backlash from parents. This article has the link to the “Teacher lesson plan”, which starts off with;
Who is the President of the United States?
What do you think it takes to be President?
To whom do you think the President is going to be speaking?
Why do you think he wants to speak to you?
What do you think he will say to you?
.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20090903/pl_ynews/ynews_pl888_1
.
Perhaps it is what it is, Obama’s continued effort at sensationalism. Creating a “crisis” when one doesn’t even exist.
.
Have you ever seen so much drama in just the first 8 months of a new President’s Presidency?
.
I think it would be wise if Obama took a “sabbatical” from the Press, and simply concentrated on the job at hand. You know, the RECESSION, the War on Terror, or perhaps coming up with a more rigid vetting process for appointees?

kristiia, the monsters who intentionally perpetrate this vile, vicious, outrageous right-wing manure have no conscience. They are amoral. They live only to mindlessly destroy Barack Obama. No low is too low for these cretinous liars

Being amoral and lacking all conscience, these jackals are incapable of ever experiencing shame.

Just ask Family Values-promoting prostitute-monger and GOP Senator David “Diaper Dave” Vitter (R-LA).

Guys, let stay on topic here, which is the bald-faced, shameless, despicable right-wing lying about and vile misrepresentation of the President’s innocuous “stay in school and learn” speech to American school kids.

The Jones thread is elsewhere.

This Glen Beck obsession of yours is starting to concern me.

Rather than any lefty, neo-socialist, communitarian brainwashing, President Obama’s speech to your kids reads like a paean to individual striving and free market capitalism, the sort of thing that Ayn Rand and Barry Goldwater might have signed onto.
.
Yeah, see, that’s why the whole thing was ridiculous from the very beginning. We knew Obama was going to be talking about personal responsibility and the need for education.

Damn,

I so wanted my kids to be indoctrinated into socialism.

Looks like I’ll have to do it myself.

Sartre believed in individual responsibility too, so this could still be some sort of communist plot. I think CNN ought to put all their crack reporters on it for another week or two.

[...] Michael Scherer at Swampland [...]

This is what started the backlash from parents. This article has the link to the “Teacher lesson plan”, which starts off with;

Who is the President of the United States?

What do you think it takes to be President?

To whom do you think the President is going to be speaking?

Why do you think he wants to speak to you?

What do you think he will say to you?

Truly, I think this speaks for itself.

There are people who were literally scared that there was an associated lesson plan that asked “Who is the President of the United States?” Think about that. No wonder they love Sarah Palin.

Fabricating things about health care reform isn’t enough? It is disgusting that conservatives are using young students as political pawns and absurd that having the President of the United States address them on the subject of staying in school (reeeeal controversial…) is regarding as “out of bounds.”

So because they disagree with Obama the premise is unconscionable, but it was OK to have both Bushes and Reagan address school kids? Sure…

http://www.political-buzz.com/

[...] original here:  Obama’s Speech to School Kids: A Capitalist Homage (Time Magazine) Tags:  barack barack-obama from-view mostly-faded noise point school-children [...]

OMG!!!! it is a speech about staying in school. giving back to this great country of ours. no different than a thousands points of light, not leaving a child behind, not asking what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. they are all great thoughts and ideas. you who are so far right, you cant see somewhere in the middle. the middle ground is what has made this counrty great, not the left not the right, but the middle when both sides have given a little in what they want. something we seem to have lost sight of over the last 20yrs or so. I am blaming both side. they have forgoten what has made this country great, when we gave up a little to get something else. for those who are of the religious right remember that the bible talks about giving to those less fortunate than yourself. to help someone stand on there own. its sad to see such BS over a speech telling kids to stay in school, to learn, to be the best that they can be. to give back to our country. whats wrong telling kids that what they do now will effect themselves for the rest of their lives as well as the rest of us in the future. heck i have talks with my daughters friends about what are they going to do for their future plans. (schools, careers,) i hope i challage them to be better. I do this so they wont end up like me without an college education. in a job that has no future for me. yes i could have gone back to school, yes i chose not to for personal reason that have taken place in my life. i let things pull me in the wrong direction. now i live to make sure my daughter dosent have to face those choices in her life. I expect great things from her.

Michael Scherer:

Rather than any lefty, neo-socialist, communitarian brainwashing, President Obama’s speech to your kids reads like a paean to individual striving and free market capitalism, the sort of thing that Ayn Rand and Barry Goldwater might have signed onto.

You do understand that liberalism is about those things, too, right?
.
You are aware that liberalism is about using the power of government to level the playing field for individual entrepreneurs and small businesses who are up against vast corporations and entrenched interests, I hope? Are you cognizant of the fierce defense of the Bill of Rights and individual liberties represented by organizations such as the ACLU? You do know we’re in favor of freedom and private property, correct?
.
Not quite Vladamir Lenin.
.
No, not quite. We’re not actually socialists, we’re liberals, Michael Scherer. Only the rightists think that “lefty” means “neo-socialist” (whatever that is these days). We’re the folks who think it should be legal to break copy protection on your dvd’s, and that the government has no business spying on Americans. We’re for privacy, free speech, individual rights.
.
We’re “communitarian” alright, if by “communitarian” you mean “unwilling to see our fellow Americans die pointlessly overseas, or suffer in order to prop up the stock prices of giant insurers, or drown in the flooded streets of New Orleans”.
.
We just don’t think that the guy who owns the farm upstream gets to build a dam on the river and perpetually thereafter charge the people downstream to drink. We don’t believe that actually constitutes a “free market” in practice. We just don’t like monopolies and trusts, and want the government to step in when things are out of balance…and when Americans are enduring systemic tragedy through no fault of their own.
.
…And when it comes to “the freedom of each American youth to fail or succeed on their own tenacity and merits“, we’d just like to see that principle applied as much to the beneficiaries of legacy admissions programs at Ivy League universities as to kids who grow up in the projects. We look at our local and national political systems, our financial system, our corporate boards of directors, and especially our press corps, and we hardly see a system of meritocracy at work these days. Can you?
.
I know that you’re writing this piece in sarcasm, but it has a really odd inflection about it, as if you don’t really personally know these things about us.
.
Ayn Rand and Barry Goldwater don’t really represent individual striving and free markets, they represent justified monopolies and legitimized cartels. They represent private police brigades physically forcing individuals back into the mines. They represent the freedom afforded those considered to be citizens in an Apartheid system, while we represent the values of judging each American as an individual.
.
Unlike Rand and Goldwater, we don’t believe markets are truly free when the state is powerless to force some people to accept other people’s money at lunch counters, or that individual striving is meaningful in a system with fixed outcomes for elites. They are for freedom in theory, we are for freedom in practice.
.
You know these things about us, right, Michael Scherer?
.
It’s just an odd, habitual inflection of yours I’m reading?

Goldwater was into the “states rights” race-baiting stuff whereby the tea baggers of the 1960 formed a collectivist-socialist group based on denying the ability of the non-whiteindividual to buy a home where he wanted, sit in any bus seat he wanted, and drink out of any water fountain he wanted. This “states-rights” facade, based on the bleatings of reknown GOP Communist Lee Atwater, also sought to deny the non-white individual any ability to “succed by their own tenacity or merits”.
He also ran a program called “Operation Eagle Eye” that was formed to deny the non-white individual the ability to cast a ballot in a Socialistic attempt to keep whitey on top and everyone else clinging on to whitey’s bootstaps and licking his boots.

Matt, when have you seen wingers fail to use anyone as a political pawn if they think it will help them? Is there any, any, group that is out of bounds for them? If so, I haven’t seen it.

[...] like the commentary at Time Magazine’s political blog Swampland: Rather than any lefty, neo-socialist, communitarian brainwashing, President Obama’s speech [...]

I, for one, was COMPLETELY freaked out that any teacher would ask a student who the President is. That’s just scary.

It’s almost like them asking students if they know that we have three branches of government….

No wonder over half of Americans don’t actually understand how our government works or what’s in the Constitution.

I definitely agree on how you’re perceiving this speech. Many individuals are ignorant enough to judge on true moralistic ideas. In this case the president is addressing not only the children/students of the country, but America as a whole. And by doing so, the president is able to inspire many students to fulfill their educational needs by putting in toil and uttermost determination; and of course eventually that hard work will pay off. But unfortunately many of these people only lie within the surface of this speech and are not truly capable of giving note to the underlying essence of it.

I get the feeling that Mikey is still not quite ready to embrace the reality-based community.

further to what bentonf said…
.
It’s not just Obama. Any, ANY, democrat is going to take these kind of shots. Witness John Kerry’s “Purple-Heart Band-Aids” of 2004. Totally repugnant. Every serviceman, servicewoman, veteran, and service family member should have voted against the GOP right there and then. Sadly, this wasn’t the case and hate wins a 50.1% to 49.9% election.
.
Time to get *Fired Up* .

Normally, interviews are supposed to consist of one person asking the other party questions in order to glean information about the person and/or subject being discussed. What Glenn Blech had with SP was a masturbial [is that a word?] love-fest, not an interview.

It takes harsher pushback from those who are *educated* to tell people that what they see and hear from (many on) the right is misleading and/or flat-out lies. I disagree with so-called objective journalists that allow stuff to be thrown out unchallenged.

You know, I keep looking at the lesson Plan Rustydog has listed there, and I keep mulling it over and over in my head. What could possibly be there that could be so objectionable? Then it occured to me. Every one of those questions encourages the children to THINK, to use whatever reasoning skills they have to come up with the answer. It’s not a digestion of talking points or spouting back of various facts, it asks the kids what they think might happen and what all this is about. If getting a child’s brain to reason is now objectionable to right-wing minds, then this country has no future.

Re: “Who is the President of the United States?”
.
Y’see, from 2001-2009 we were unsure whether the answer was “George Bush” or “Dick Cheney”…so we’re not about to fall for those trick questions again, see?

Awesome summary of modern liberalism, Stuart.
.
Now, toss in a grammatical correction in Michael’s post, and you might actually get him to read it…

Obama school speech: worst fears realized. Brainwashing, Bolshevism and blasphemy. Protect your children!

See:

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/09/07/obama-brainwashing-obama-brainwashing/

[...] [...]

It is a sad commentary on the Press and American Public when the President addressing school children becomes a full blown political hot button.
I am quite frankly disgusted that it took a release of the text to quiet down the manically repartee which engulfed the media and assaulted our ears and eyes day after day.

I do not believe any of these people who feigned alarm truly believed Obama was going to make a PUBLIC speech with a view to indoctrinating anybody. Such things happen in small Banana Republics which do not have Robust and thriving democracies.

That anyone would raise a concern about the Obama speech– and express their feigned concerns with a straight face is stunning.

Little surprise that online criminals can do what they do and get away with assaulting and brutally violating law abiding folk for years.
Why? The obvious appears murky to so many, how much more criminals like Eve Sharon Moore aka Shay Riley of the “Black Female InterracialMarriage blog” and her accomplices.. felons schooled in the art of criminal stealth, illegal phonetaps, armed robbery, criminal stalking and malevolent assaults, deceit, misrepresentations, lies and unrelenting viciousness against me and other unwitting law abiding Americans.

As for the Obama speech, I am glad we have finally put to rest another “great big” far Right fear mongering and wolf crying scream.

Now we wait with baited breath for the next cry.
The way I see it, Beck has been so successful in the Jones matter he might get the permanent position of the “Chief Rightwing screaming Misinformer.”

http://theblindspotsofgod.wordpress.com/

It is a sad commentary on the Press and American Public when the President addressing school children becomes a full blown political hot button.
I am quite frankly disgusted that it took a release of the text to quiet down the almsot maniacal repartee which engulfed the media and assaulted our ears and eyes day after day.

I do not believe any of these people who feigned alarm truly believed Obama was going to make a PUBLIC speech with a view to indoctrinating anybody. Such things happen in small Banana Republics which do not have Robust and thriving democracies.

That anyone would raise a concern about the Obama speech– and express their feigned concerns with a straight face is stunning.

Little surprise that online criminals can do what they do and get away with assaulting and brutally violating law abiding folk for years.
Why? The obvious appears murky to so many, how much more criminals like Eve Sharon Moore aka Shay Riley of the “Black Female InterracialMarriage blog” and her accomplices.. felons schooled in the art of criminal stealth, illegal phonetaps, armed robbery, criminal stalking and malevolent assaults, deceit, misrepresentations, lies and unrelenting viciousness against me and other unwitting law abiding Americans.

As for the Obama speech, I am glad we have finally put to rest another “great big” far Right fear mongering and wolf crying scream.

Now we wait with baited breath for the next cry.
The way I see it, Beck has been so successful in the Jones matter he might get the permanent position of the “Chief Rightwing screaming Misinformer.”

http://theblindspotsofgod.wordpress.com/

ML, I’m sure, was being facetious….

Greer’s now saying that, after viewing the speech text, that he will allow his kids to watch the speech after all. Methinks this will somehow get lost in the drive-by aftermath.

I read (pp) the text and can’t for the life of me understand the backlash, other than the fact that a man of Kenyan descent will speak those words. Perhaps it’s ’cause at least one “man of the cloth” really really hates him in Jesus’ name.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/09/07/ktvk.az.rally.church.ktvk

It is nice to see him treading lightly. What other American president has:

Bowed to a foriegn leader.

Apologized for america’s sucess

Threatened CEOs with punitive taxes for “making too much”

Fired CEOs of private corporation.

Taken over finanicial industry

Taken over healthcare

Taken over major corporations

And the list goes on and on.

For the records the National Socialist Party in Germany:

Threatened CEOs

Fired CEOs of private corporations.

Took over finanicial industry

Took over healthcare

The National Socialist Party in Germany was also reffered to as the NAZI Party.

Took over major corporations

Much of the overreaction was to the question that ahs now been excluded from the lesson plan:

What will you do to help the president of the United States?

The reaction was ridiculous, but this question could have been better phrased and avoided a lot of unnecessary angst.

What a country! Where else can “I like arugula” be interpreted by some as “President hates lettuce growers”?

“The theme of “what you need to do in school” is so much better than the original version “what you can do for me, for the President of the United States”.
.
Yes, Rusty, much like the comment you wrote here was much better than the original version where you confessed to wearing women’s underwear and killing neighborhood cats.
.
What’s the weather like in your alternate universe?

Every defense of liberalism comes back to the race card. The Civil Rights bill was passed over 40 years ago. Now the push by liberals is to create new victim groups. The goal now, and expressed by Obama, is not equal opportunity but equal outcome.

Yes, there is still the remnants of racism in this country. It doesn’t come in scale to any where near the proportions that the left suggests. One portion the left fails to address is that one of the growth industries inside liberalism is the promotion of race. Also the liberals cannot explain how blacks immigrate to this country, sometimes with little but the clothes on their backs and successfully manage to gain an education, become successful in business and in general live the American dream while American born blacks claim that racism holds them from achieving those goals. Meritocracy may not be perfect but it certainly outperforms we have seen that has provided by any liberal ideal.

Also before you genuflect before the ACLU, you might look honestly at the cases they are quick to jump on which have an overwhelming tendency to be left-wing causes. Or maybe you can explain why liberals and the ACLU allow speech codes to reside at college campuses. Why is sensitivity training a college course for incoming freshman. If they protect the right of free speech, why do liberals believe that also means the right not to be offended? Or their collectivist attitude toward the 2nd amendment or their push to restrict private religious speech.

And your market analogy of the farmer selling water runs a bit cold as well. A farmer can’t stop the river flow upstream to profit by selling water to downstream residents (As it should be.) But the liberals have no conscience about land being confiscated or water diverted so crops die and drinking water disappears because the EPA has determined that the wing toed humped back buzzard fly might be endangered. Horror strikes liberals only at someone making a profit.

As always the idealism of liberals never truly matches the reality of their actions.

This reckless partisanship foolishness by the fringe right wingers in my Republican Party has converted me from a Republican to a Democrat.

Want intelligent discourse about healthcare? Forget it. Who cares if the truth is that the US simply MUST get healthcare costs under control or government spending will continue to explode?

Does it matter if the a political adopts the fascist technique of drowning out debate by yelling, screaming and spreading unabashed lies to a gullible public? To me it does.

Claiming a First Amendment “right” to defeat the First Amendment’s objective of real public discourse on the big issues of the day while spewing rubbish is the epitomy of unpatriotic and un-American conduct.

A Republican was a lying hypocrite. Oh noooohhhzzze!

Anyway, that was last week’s fake outrage. This week it’s the number of “czars.” Get with the program already!

Taken over bailed out major corporations

‘The reaction was ridiculous, but this question could have been better phrased and avoided a lot of unnecessary angst.’
.
Could it have been? Do you really think it’s possible to avoid the phony outrage we’ve seen? If that phrase had never been written, do you really think they wouldn’t have found something else to howl about?
.
These people are determined to find a reason to be offended — they WILL be offended no matter what the administration does. They relish it. They have repeatedly shown a willingness to invent reasons for outrage (death panels) when they can’t find real ones.
.
These same people scream with outrage that Van Jones called gopers a$$holes. They edited out the part of the very same speech where he called himself an a$$hole. Maybe their delicate sensibilities really were offended. But if they’re so sensitive, why is it that they don’t have a problem with calling Obama a racist and a Nazi?
.
It’s possible that some of these people may actually have a real problem with Obama’s speech to be concerned about. They’ve spent months painting Obama as a malevolent, virtually demonic figure. How are they going to explain to their kids that the evil spawn of Satan they’ve been shrieking about is actually the normal, reasonable guy talking about how to do well in school? The dissonance between the propaganda and the reality could be pretty powerful. Some kids could come away from the speech with new insights about mom and dad.

SZ, thanks so much for that.
.
And freeinpa…in response to this:
.
Yes, there is still the remnants of racism in this country. It doesn’t come in scale to any where near the proportions that the left suggests.
.
As a white male who was born in the South and has lived here almost all of my life, I must say that you are sadly and horribly mistaken. Maybe it’s different in Pennsylvania. (Which, last I heard, was a blue state.)

As a high-school teacher myself, I was glad to see the questions. Never underestimate the ignorance of students. I don’t mean stupidity–they aren’t stupid–but ignorance, as in lack of knowledge. I bet if I asked a hundred random adults how many branches of government we have in the U.S., I’d get an error rate in the double-digits.

WHYYY on earth would ANYONE want their kids forced to answer the question “Who is the President of the United States”?? children do not need to know who the president is; its propaganda!

Honestly, this is just ridiculous. Telling kids to stay in school is somehow a political message???? I guess every public school teacher/principle who has ever tried to stop kids from dropping out of school should be sued for forcing their beliefs on children.

This is retarded.
.
Bowing to a foreign leader? How about past presidents who have met foreign leaders from cultures where bowing is a formal gesture of greeting, such as Japan?
.
Apologized for America’s success? I’d like a cited quote, please, as for when and where this happened.
.
Threatened CEOs with punitive taxes? How about most of Congress at one point or another in 2008?
.
Fired CEO of a private corporation? Yes, after that corp. voluntarily took federal funds which clearly had stipulations attached to them, one of them, I believe, that the gov’t could replace the CEO under certain circumstances.
.
Took over the financial industry? So President Obama took over the financial industry of America? The whole thing? A big load of hyperbole, this one.
.
Took over healthcare? No, he’s arguing that we need to reform health care. NO ONE is arguing for the government to take it over. Unless you consider “regulating” to be the same as “taking over.”
.
Taken over major corporations? See my comments on the CEOs, above–the corporations willingly submitted to being under gov’t control in exchange for a huge amount of money so said corps woudn’t go bankrupt.
.
Go study the Nazis some more and then come back and see if you can draw clear lines between the Nazis and the current President of the United States.

Whatever the speech was to be initially, after all of the outcry about the “lesson plan” and speculation about the speech, it would have been foolish of him to put forth a speech that could remotely be suspect. Had he immediately released the text & rescinded the “lesson plan” much debate would have been pre-empted . Not to do both quickly was foolish.

Yer dreamin if ye really be b’lievin’ tha’ woulda’ shut down th’ cretinous rantin’, bu’ I’ll give ye th’ benefit o’ th’ doubt tha’ ye just been havin’ yer head buried in th’ bilge bucket all these months since th’ election an be complete’ ignorant o’ th’ constant bleedin’ nonsense th’ ri’ an’ th’ MSM been chiggerin’ ’bout.
.
Nothin’ – no explanation, no facts, no reason, no truth, no change, no stab at intelligent reasonin’ be goin’ t’ stop these scum monkeys fr’m flingin’ their sh*t, nor stoppin’ th’ typical alien a$$probe fantasists tha’ be makin’ up th’ Republican Party an’ th’ MSM fr’m eatin’ it up wi’ a siver spoon an faithful regurgitatin’ in a frenzy o’ projectile diarrheac spewin tha’ covers th’ entire nation wi’ their vile, putrid filth.
.
None o’ ‘em are actual capable o’ havin’ an independent thought in any o’ their pitiful, pustule-leakin’ excuses fer brains!

.

The hypocrisy of this whole situation knows no bounds. The truth of the matter is while former presidents were critiqued for giving a speech to school children as a partisan matter, none of the criticism reached this level of buffoonery. If someone has evidence of this please provide it. When people are willing to be quoted as saying they don’t want their children exposed to a “socialist agenda” in the NY Times, you know we’ve reached a tipping point. This is more than policy disagreement, more than a different vision for governing the country; people are hysterical and slap happy and are looking for clues of whatever nefarious scheme they think that the administration will implement. I don’t blame pundits, or talk radio hosts. I blame the individuals. If you are that easily swayed by factless sniping/propoganda then that says something about you and your willingness to be manipulated because you disagree with someone’s policies.

As a grandmother of 6 almost 7 and a mother to 7 children I had wished that a president would os spoken to them as the president will on Tues. All he is asking is for their responsibility in school Not to sluff of and hang with their friends instead of doing their homework to strive for a better life than what they have now. Not to sit in front of the computer and waste time and to respect their elders. In other words lets get back to the days of when the child respected their elders and never dreamed of talking back or sit in front of a xbox and play games all day even tho they have a huge science test to take in the morning. The kids of today need to have the family morals brought back to them they have gotten the run of the world and I do hope they listen because I am looking at my future as an elderly person when these kids of my childrens ages are going to be in charge of the america as I know it now and it scares the hell out of me. If we had kids decide their own futures maybe they would stay in school and thrive for a better life than they have now, I right now see hardly any students that want to better their lives. Kids today feel that we have money trees growing in our back yard. I want a better future for my kids than i got. I want my grandkids to also have a better tomorrow. At the rate we are going today my grandkids will not have a future. All students need to stay in school and yes the things you learn in the classroom will prepare you for the future.

What the hell is the point in posting this here? We all pretty much know the despicable right-wing attack was total bull.

A real journalist would confront the crapmeisters with the reality of the speech and make them explain their fearmongering. Then a real journalist would give the story wide general circulation, not publish a little post in a blog largely read by a segment of the public that already understands the reality..

Beck and Palin should not even be mentioned in an article on The President’s speech. They are both, but especially Mr. Beck (Mr. Hate!) , so beneath Mr. Obama!

Another response to freeinpa:

Also before you genuflect before the ACLU, you might look honestly at the cases they are quick to jump on which have an overwhelming tendency to be left-wing causes

Oh please, you’re talking about the same group that defended the freedom of speech of the homophobic Westboro Baptist Church. Not exactly a left-wing position.

It’s intriguing to me that, with regard to a speech about the importance of education, how many of the commenters insist on displaying an abysmal LACK of education!

I used to be a predictable Republican voter. The childish and petty “arguments” displayed here by “Republicans” are why I no longer wish to be associated with my party (the association goes back to Eisenhower).

Truly, my party has left me. And unless there are some positive plans and effective leadership from credible people, it will continue to leave more and more Americans. And America will be the worse for the Republicans’ actions – or inactions.

Parents who decided not to send their children to school to hear the President’s speech showed the same kind of “indoctrination” they said they were afraid they would hear from the President. They allowed themselves to be manipulated by Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Gingrich, et al, without stopping to think how in the world could they could have possibly known the content of the President’s speech if they had not read it. They were lambs led to the slaughter house, and the children were the victims.

It is disturbing that anything and everything that is said on cable TV, radio, and on the internet is believed as true without checking facts. Anybody can say anything, twist it according to their agenda, lie, leave out words, and people take it as true, when there are so many ways of checking for accuracy before reaching conclusions, or, in this case, using common sense. We all need to think for ourselves and not let commentators think for us.

This time, the right wing “commentators” unmasked themselves. Their unified, planned attack on the President regarding this speech, clamoring it as “indoctrination”, and starting an outrage among parents over something that was complete speculation, is proof that their agenda is a merciless attack. Who can take them seriously?

Those parents who fell for this should take a step back and think again. Their children might thank them for it.

I sat through Kennedy’s speech in grade school and wouldn’t have remember a word of it if it hadn’t been for the music teacher creating a song out of the phrase, “Ask not what your country can do for you…”.

It was sung to the tune of Hooray for the Red, White and Blue. I still remember that damn’d song. I wore that song out and annoyed the hell out of my parents. The school offered an ice cream social for the class that sung it the loudest. Now that’s what I call indocrination. No public outcry then, except for my mother who said “screaming ain’t singing”.

Every parent should already know, kids don’t retain too much of any lecture that’s longer than 10 seconds. That’s why parents have to repeat everything no less than 21 times before kids actually get it unless corporal punishment is involved.

I’m no psychic but I’d bet there’s going to be a lot of finger snapping and first name callin’ to keep students from falling face forward after the first 5 minutes of listening to this very handsome talking head. Next year the white house needs to add a cartoon character, a booming bass backbeat or gameboy sound track if they really want to capture the minds of America’s grade schoolers. Flow-ology will take them alot further than psyche-ology

“I have another take. For the most part, whatever people say I believe that many readers would rather focus on the personalities and the “horse race” than policy detail. America has become a nation of Fans who want to root for their favorites and don’t really want to spend time getting to know the issues and details. Just give us a good slogan we can organized a cheer or jeer around, but please don’t bore us with details. And, don’t ever require us to read anything longer than a People Magazine article.” — TJ in Boulder, UT
.
This is why ‘news’ has become a variant of the entertainment industry, why infomercials are the most dominant component of late night TV, why the NFL and American Idol are the most successful programs, why 15 second commercials with sex or sports themes have far more impact on a product’s success than it’s quality, and why political campaigns (and governance) are run more like a series of pep rallies than a coaches film room (or heaven forbid a civics debate club).

I am an independent. I vote for the person & policies I believe will best serve our country. When Mr. Obama first came onto the national scene I knew nothing about him. I heard he had written two books. One can learn a lot about a person from what they write. Half way through “Dreams from my Father” I felt like I was listening to a very conflicted young man. By the time I finished both books, my thoughts were even stronger so I went to the net and researched him and his associations throughly. All of the concerns subsequently brought out by the media were there and more. Any journalist worth his salt should have found the same troubling things. It took forever for even part of them to come to the public light, even Fox. While a lot of the right have reacted very negatively, the left is no less guilty, not at the very real concerns but of vilifying anyone who dares disagree with their view. I’ve never seen such rabid hate for their fellow Americans who have just as much right to their beliefs and to express them. Will I become a conservative now? No…..I will continue to investigate the person ( the media is not the place to do it) and their policies and vote accordingly. Shame on persons from either party that practice hate.

Huzzah to the Orlando Sentinel columnist. Wish more papers in more states showed this sort of common sense.

Do we have any idea how this sort of thing is playing in the electorate?

Heard Laura Bush defending the President on CNN, too.

[...] out of school. (And still are! School starts on Wednesday for public students in New York City, so Obama cannot eat the brains of the schoolchildren of Brooklyn [...]

But squarely, this was the lesson plan proposed after the question from Obama’s original speech “what you can do for me, Barack Obama, the President of the United States of America”.
.
Who knows what other propaganda he had proposed until the public out-cry occurred.
.
My guess was that the children would have been subjected to more liberal ideals or “Communitarianism”. You know Communitarism which is a compacted pile of bull-crap from Communism and Socialism?
.
But thankfully, yet again, Conservative Parents demanded to know what the speech was about BEFORE it was given to their children. It wasn’t until that pubilc concern was expressed that we now see the improved “Work hard in school” speech.
.
Just saying is all.

And I’m going to have to turn mine into a godless heathen all by myself. The speech disappoints on so many levels.

I think this whole thing has been blown completely out of proportion, yet it highlights a much more serious issue. It seems that in the realm of politics, critical thinking is dead in this country. It is always clear from blog comments, from public discussion, and even from our polarized news outlets that everyone has chosen one of two banners to rally behind, and that we are no longer looking at things issue by issue, to decide what resonates with us. The majority of republicans will look to FOX, and latch on to any hypercritical story they run without taking a moment to think through it and see if there is merit. And a lot of democrats will blindly accept any decision Obama makes. Either attitude is dangerous. If you aren’t thinking through his policies, decisions and actions one by one, and are just making assumptions, then hate mongering against the other side like you have some clue what you are talking about, when you are really blindly following the party line, you are useless. Plus you are adding to growing divisiveness that has made our government so ineffective for the last few years.

Oh my God! The wingnuts were right!

Obama’s speech is over. I can see 5th graders streaming out of the local elementary school. Their arms are outstretched and their eyes are glazed over like zombies.

I think they’ve been hypnotized! They keep chanting: “Must help Obama. Must become a socialist. Must kill grandma. Must help Obama”.

Run for your lives!

I wonder if Glenn Beck is going to claim credit for forcing Obama to omit his planned “Socialist Manifesto” references. Thank Jeebus Beck has our back. It’s storming here so I had to hold off on my planned prayer circle jerk. Lightening strikes and all that.

Your comment is an example of exactly what others have been posting in this blog. I suspect you did not read the advanced copy of the speech, or you would not have referred to it as eating the “brains of the schoolchildren of Brooklyn”. The President’s purpose was to inspire our nation’s children to expand their brains, work hard, do their best, not be afraid of failure, and pursue their goals. If you, and parents like you, see this as negative, I cannot help but feel sorry for you.

Both Presidents Reagan and George HW Bush gave similar addresses to school children. It is a President’s prerogative and duty to inspire the nation’s children to excel. Obama is no different.

Shandy, I completely agree with you. It is a sorry statement that facts are no longer relevant in this country. Innuendo, fabrications, half truths, hysteria, speculation, commentary before the event as if it had already happened, all that is blindly believed as truth on both the left and the right. No one stops and takes a moment to investigate thoroughly before reaching conclusions or before making up their minds. That is because their minds are already made up and they will not change no matter what. This is total and blind fanatism, no different than cult followers.

Sadly, these are voters, and this scares me. The reaction to the President’s speech scares me to the core. If masses can be manipulated this way, like zombies, what is left when election time comes? These voters will leave the thinking to the manipulators and will base their vote on the garbage they are fed. Where has voter education gone?

Great headline! I’m no fan of the current republican party but love Rand. She very well might have liked the speech that President Obama gave to school kids, but I would hesitate to say she would approve of his economic plans. The garbage being generated by this speech is absurd. He has a good message for kids and I applaud him giving the speech.

As to his economic and health care plans, I would urge a slower pace and utilization of free market principles. More government is not a viable solution.

Allow groups to form for the purchase of insurance, pass legislation preventing discrimination by health insurance companies, mandate that all individual citizens carry insurance and provide coverage only for those that qualify for medicaid, are all valid steps. Almost none of the above is in the current plan which is a disaster. But, then again, so is the current health insurance system!

As to the economy, the current congress and all senior senators and representatives were part of the problem. I have no confidence in their ability to “fix” it.

Yes, strive individually, but don’t forget the kicker.. do it for your country – Statist to the core.

Scherer: “But the message about serving country is hidden deep beneath another one” is incorrect — it isn’t beneath, it is the overarching message.

And don’t forget the document put out beforehand by Obama’s dept of education… “to discuss main ideas from the speech, such as citizenship, personal responsibility, and civic duty.” Two thirds about your duty to to the State.

Ayn Rand and Barry Goldwater don’t really represent individual striving and free markets, they represent justified monopolies and legitimized cartels. They represent private police brigades physically forcing individuals back into the mines. They represent the freedom afforded those considered to be citizens in an Apartheid system, while we represent the values of judging each American as an individual.
.
Unlike Rand and Goldwater, we don’t believe markets are truly free when the state is powerless to force some people to accept other people’s money at lunch counters, or that individual striving is meaningful in a system with fixed outcomes for elites. They are for freedom in theory, we are for freedom in practice.

This has to be the most incompetent straw-man against Ayn Rand’s view of politics I’ve ever encountered. So, you believe that using violence to impose your whims on innocent people – that’s real freedom, and banning the use of violence against innocent people altogether is somehow just freedom “in theory”? That’s the Cirque du Soleil of mental gymnastics.

President Obama gives some good practical advice. The problem is not in the “what”, but in the “what for?” Buried in the platitudes is the real message:

“And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

“You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

“We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.”

There isn’t a dictator that ever walked the face of the earth that wouldn’t laud those words. The collectivist overtones are unmistakable. The president’s message is fundamentally anti-American, running completely contrary to the individualist premise that this country was founded upon, and that unleashed the reason-driven, entrepreneurial energy of free people pursuing their own goals for the sake of their own happiness and their own lives as an end in themselves … the energy that resulted in the astounding general rise in the standard and quality of living.

The president’s purpose is not to advance his political agenda, per se. It is to establish the necessary prerequisite ideas for his (and any future socialist’s) agenda, the servile population. Any leader attempting to inculcate in the young the sense of duty and service is a leader who wants and intends to rule their lives. The danger in Obama’s message is clear to anyone who understands the power of ideas. Individualism leads to the United States of America. Collectivism leads to Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia or any number of stagnant, poverty-ridden tribal societies – or to a socialist America.

As for who on the Right would applaud this speech, I don’t know about Goldwater. Many conservatives uphold the altruist/service-to-the-country doctrine. But Ayn Rand championed the supreme value and rights of the individual to the pursuit of his own happiness, and a government as protector of those rights, not government as master. She would not have approved of Obama’s message.

http://principledperspectives.blogspot.com/2009/09/presidents-school-speech.html

[...] The heat of the controversy on Obama’s Education Speech isn’t cooling down yet. When searching on google for three keywords, “Obama,” “Education Speech” and “Blogs,” 27,600,000 result showed up. That just shows how people are still interested in the topic. Some criticize the speech was the introduction to socialism, while others defend Obama. [...]

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/09/07/barack-obamas-education-speech-the-un-socialist-indocrtination/#respond

Michael,

President Obama is about as much for personal responsibility as Bush was for free markets. It is pure lip service, with no basis whatsoever.

Sure, he’s for education and personal responsibility, as long as we keep public schools going instead of privatizing them, and don’t become too successful or make above a certain percentile income, or want to engage in fully free trade, or we are a medical insurer and want to be able to choose what insurance policy to offer and at what price, or a doctor who wants to choose who we can treat and on what terms, or we are a financial trader and want to trade however we wish, or we are an American and don’t want to buy a U.S. car company, or want to do business without cap and trade, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

There is not a single individualist bone in Barack Obama’s body. The only reason he says this is to sound good, and to have a few rich capitalists around to plunder for funds when today’s generation grows up.

Actually, now that you mention it, Atlas Shrugged did have a place for Obama: as the bureaucrat-turned-dictator Wesley Mouch, paying lip service to freedom only so he could slip a noose around our necks.

President Obama is no individualist.

Jeff Montgomery
http://funwithgravity.blogspot.com/

I apologize for including former Speaker Gingrich among those clamoring against the speech. He spoke highly about the President’s words, and encouraged the nation’s children to read the speech and heed its message. This was a refreshing message from Mr. Gingrich, and I applaud him.

As we all know, President Reagan also gave a speech to students in 1988. The full text can be found on this link:

http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1988/111488c.htm

At one point, referring to a painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, he mentions how there are some figures whose faces have not been filled in, they are only outlines. He goes on to say: “America is not yet complete, and it’s up to each one of us to help complete it. And each one of you can place yourself in that painting. You can become one of the those immortal figures by helping to build and renew America.”

Isn’t this the same overall idea of helping our country as used by Obama in his speech? Mike, you need to use the same rod to measure both Obama’s and Reagan’s words in order to be fair. If you do, then both Reagan and Obama are anti-American and socialists by your standards. As I see it, their words reflect men concerned with encouraging children to grow as useful citizens, instead of being burdens to society. You dig into Obama’s words, unearthing what is not there, to fit your pre-determined agenda.

In 1991, President George HW Bush addressed students at Alice Deal Jr High School. Towards the end he said: “Let me know how you’re doing. Write me a letter — and I’m serious about this one — write me a letter about ways you can help us achieve our goals. I think you know the address.” Obama tried the same thing this time, ahead of time, and was accused of being manipulative and engaging in government intrusion. (The link below will take you to the full text of President George HW Bush’s address.)

http://blogs.erockford.com/applesauce/2009/09/06/heres-text-of-george-hw-bushs-speech-to-schoolchildren-18-years-ago/

Both speeches, Reagan’s and Bush’s brought controversy, especially President Bush’s. The difference is that Bush’s controversy, although hysterical at times, happened AFTER the speech. The hysteria over Obama’s speech was an orchestrated, planned opposition for the sake of it.

I think that with Obama, a novel is being written where the title was written first, i.e., “Obama: a Socialist, Marxist, Communist, Not to Be Trusted Good-For-Nothing Dictator That Has Ruined Our Nation”. The text is being written to fit the title with every word, every gesture, every move Obama makes or does not make. Believe me, the right wing will make sure the text fits that title, even if they have to make up the events, or stretch the truth until it is no longer recognizable. But, if it fits, it will go in. Sad, sad, sad.

Huh?
–
Do you really believe that Mr.Obama said yesterday the same speech he was going to make as of 9/3/09?
–
I simply could not believe that somebody capable of reading could be that stupid.

Man, I wish I had dollar for every time some Republican crank referenced Atlas Shrugged. I’d have enough cash to finally build that bridge to no where.

adajam;

“You dig into Obama’s words, unearthing what is not there, to fit your pre-determined agenda.”

I don’t know what you think my “agenda” is, but let me say this. I give him more respect than you do. I take him at his word. President Obama and I have something important in common – philosophical astuteness. We are, however, on the opposite ends of the basic philosophical battleground – collectivism vs, individualism. Let me put it another way.

He speaks of “the country” and “the economy” as though they are mystical entities separate and distinct from the individual human beings that make it up. This is classic. They are to be the purpose and the focus to which the president urges the young “to set your own goals for your education”. But what are the “country” or the “economy” except the sum of the individual interests and efforts of its individual members? A pro-American message would be that the children’s’ own individual good, and only their own individual good, is the purpose of their education. When you focus on your own life as the purpose and end of your own actions – to make your own life the best and most fulfilling it can be by your own efforts for your own sake – it is the betterment of the country and the economy that you accomplish. That is because you are the country. You are the economy, just as is every other individual that comprises it.

Yet, in true collectivist form, the President attempts to inculcate in the young the sense of duty and service and a sense of smallness next to a cause larger than oneself – in this case, the “country” and the “economy”. (In fairness, so did McCain, whom I didn’t vote for either.) Just for the record, I do not say he is a Nazi or a Communist. He is, however, a socialist. His operation tactic is to bring socialism through the back door of fascism. This is a decades long trend, which follows the bipartisan path from Wilson to FDR to Kennedy to Nixon to GW Bush. America is being pushed toward its own brand of national socialism, a “soft” tyranny without the brutality of the German Nazis.

Obama is not unique. Collectivism permeates both major parties to varying degrees. The collectivist mindset has been seeping into American culture for the past century or so, gradually supplanting the revolutionary individualist enlightenment premise of the Founding. It seeps into your own comments, with phrases like “overall idea of helping our country” and “encouraging children to grow as useful citizens” (“useful”, to whom?). It even creeps into Reagan’s rhetoric. This is a very dangerous development, in my view. Ideas move history. Pretending that Obama didn’t say what he said, or that he doesn’t know what he is saying, does not change the facts of reality. He delivered a collectivist message. Collectivism is the philosophical root of all variants of socialism.

“The text”, you say, “is being written to fit the title with every word, every gesture, every move Obama makes or does not make.” Yes, the text is being written – by Obama himself. Collectivism threads through all of his rhetoric … and his policies. The president knows precisely what he is saying, and into what he wants to “re-make” the country. So do I.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying. . . .

its the students choice to be succesful not anyone elses trying to force your useless words talking about bettering your life and saying pretty much that people who drop out will do nothing with their lives is wrong they can decide if they wanna go back to school or work for a GED and still be a very succesful person so its a load of crap what he said and just flat out uncalled for an im just shocked at the fact that he had the right to say that… obama instead of pulling this crap outta your butt stick with actually making the promises that you claimed you would do instead of screawinf with the economy and taxes… just stop with the distractions and stick with your so called “promises” this is the change you had in mind bulls#$t

If the government wants to create a health care plan, and take over financing colleges from scratch, who is going to write the billions of lines of programming instructions, beta test it, and make sure their new computers are compatible with existing computers? Has the adminitration consulted Computer Engineers, Computer Programmers, Telecommunication Specialsit, Computer Developers and Designers to see how feasible their plan is?

Do they know how many man years it will take to implement a computer network that works as well as the existing ones? Will schools and the health care industry have to purchase new computers and update all their existing software and remove existing links to banks and venders? Is he going to outsource these jobs to India, and buy computers from Japan and China?

mikezemack:
You say, and I quote: “Individualism leads to the United States of America. Collectivism leads to Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia or any number of stagnant, poverty-ridden tribal societies – or to a socialist America.”

In your response to me, you say, “Yet, in true collectivist form, the President attempts to inculcate in the young the sense of duty and service and a sense of smallness next to a cause larger than oneself – in this case, the “country” and the “economy”. (In fairness, so did McCain, whom I didn’t vote for either.) Just for the record, I do not say he is a Nazi or a Communist.”

I see a contradiction here. By your definition of collectivism, Obama would qualify as a Nazi or a Communist, if you are cataloguing Obama as a collectivist versus an individualist. You cannot have it both ways.

Becoming useful citizens in no way contradicts individualistic goals. If one is successful, the country prospers. The economy flourishes. The President’s message of staying in school, urging students to strive for excellence may have made those students realize that an education will serve them better than waiting on welfare lines. This is what I meant by “useful citizens”. Useful to society, not looking for handouts, be professionals that will go out and profit, make money, contribute to the economy, and make our country prosper by being successful themselves, individually. One does not take away from the other.

I cannot see your interpretation of the President separating “country” and economy” in his remarks. One is dependent on the other, that is true. As you very well put it: “But what are the “country” or the “economy” except the sum of the individual interests and efforts of its individual members?” Individuals and their individual efforts make up the collective effort. This is what the President exhorted the students to do, succeed individually for the betterment of the country.

You go on to say: “When you focus on your own life as the purpose and end of your own actions – to make your own life the best and most fulfilling it can be by your own efforts for your own sake – it is the betterment of the country and the economy that you accomplish. That is because you are the country. You are the economy, just as is every other individual that comprises it.” Right after this, you continue with the sentence quoted in my second paragraph, about the President being collectivist. I’m going in circles here! See, succeeding as individuals makes the country succeed. Wasn’t this the President’s message?

What is wrong with Communism, or even Socialism for that matter? America has embraced Communism for years but purchasing goods and services from China. Walmart is our greatest supplier of Communist goods and services. Our government, perhaps beginning before President G.W. Bush including President Obama has borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars from Communist China. The only Communist Country America does not like is Cuba for some reason. Maybe it’s the Cuban cigars the rich enjoy so much.

America has many Socialist programs like Medicare, Social Security, and America even educates Social Workers to fill many positions in the Socialist network of associate programs helping those who need family help, counseling, housing, and other assistance. Is public education a Socialist program? At least schools baby sit children until they either drop out or graduate. It is a government mandated Socialist program. It is clear that America depends on Communism and Socialism.

It seems to me that if this administration wants to create a government health care plan they don’t understand that there already is a government health care plan. It is made up of three components: Medicare, Medi-Cal, and Dental-Cal which is a successful program. The government can ad an addition tri-part tier and call it People-Care, People-Cal, and Dental-Care. This tier would be for those who don’t qualify for the first tier. In addition a third tier could be created for those who don’t qualify for the second tier. Each tier of the government health care plan would be based on Household income level. It would be easier to implement, and less costly than creating a new system from scratch! In addition, the government could reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Firstly, the government should remove the Medicare Gap which leaves so many people, elderly and disabled, with costs they can’t endure. They have to make other choices for coverage during this period. If they don’t qualify it poses an undue and difficult financial hardship.

… I apologize for using this forum for an unrelated topic but I don’t know where else to post this such that influential people may read it…

[...] and doing their best to achieve their goals. Nevermind that, as Time.com's Michael Scherer put it, "President Obama's speech to your kids reads like a paean to individual striving and [...]

Obama is obviously capable of becoming a real messiah for american economy and society.

Here I’ve tried to collect all notable tributes paid to Barack Obama by peers: http://www.tributespaid.com/quotes-on/barack-obama

Stupidly Simple SEO works!…

Website advertising activities may include pay per click advertising, ezine advertising, banner advertising, email marketing, video marketing, word of mouth, social networking, search engine optimization, website submission services and so on. By far, …