As a teacher, I can't really ignore this one.
It is absolutely disgusting the amount of backlash the president's speech about valuing education is getting.
Education in America is in a deplorable state and the answer is not some feel good new program or more testing or even higher teacher salaries. Hell it's not even more money. Money is nice, but money is not the best way to make your kids learn. Parent involvement is.
When parents get involved, specifically when they insist their kids make good grades and study, the difference is obvious. Kids whose parents care about their education will almost always be the kids with the best grades, and usually they're also the kids with the best behavior. But our national history has recently involved a lot of excuse making and low standards. Kids don't do homework anymore, and when they screw up in class often their parents make excuse after excuse.
So when the president of the United States, a man whose mother sacrificed for his education, a man who busted his ass to get where he is, comes on TV and tells our kids the answer to success is in hard work and setting high standards, we should all be nodding our heads and throwing text books in our kids' faces.
Isn't that why we all quote former presidents? "Ask not what your country can do for you" "There is nothing to fear but fear itself". Aren't these things we love to teach our kids? Are there not certain principles that transcend political and personal bullshit?
The president's speech amounted to "Work hard and don't allow yourself to fail". How the hell is that a political issue? At this point I think if the man commented on how blue the sky is today there would be a chorus of angry people screaming about how he's ignoring rainy cities with his blue-sky elitism.
Instead of bitching about some manufactured drama, parents everywhere should be cheering him on. They should be pointing to their kids and saying "See? If you want to be successful you have to work."
If George Bush had given this same speech I would have said "You know, the man's kind of an idiot, but for once he has a point."
But nope. We're going to just cheer on our descent into stupidity.
seriously. and thanks for writing this. It makes me so sick and angry, too. WTF is wrong with these people?
ReplyDeleteActually, President Bush (the first one) did give a speech to school children, and the Democrat controlled congress flipped out, called for a GAO investigation, held hearings, accused the president of trying to indoctrinate the school children, and of using NEA resources and our tax dollars for political purposes.
ReplyDeletePlus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...
As for the speech, you can bet it got a careful re-write after parents started getting upset.
Scared white people. That's all this is.
ReplyDeleteI find it amazing that the same types of people that argue FOR religion in schools are saying things like "I don't send my kids to school to be brainwashed" in reaction to the President's speech.
It's almost impossible that they could be that stupid.
I speak for myself. I did not flip out when Bush talked about the importance of education. I think people who get angry over nothing on both sides are stupid.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know if the speech got a rewrite or not, but I kind of doubt it. The people doing all the bitching hadn't even read it yet. Most of them had no idea what they were supposed to be upset about.
And you're right, Jack. It is an interesting juxtaposition that a lot of these people are also in favor of religion in schools.
ReplyDeleteI've heard Obama also has plans to force all students to take a loyalty oath each day, where they are forced to place their hand over their hard and pledge some sort of allegiance to his socialist agenda...
ReplyDeleteDo they still do the President's Fitness Challenge? I can only imagine what would happen if a president tried to do that in this day and age. Either FoxNews or the HuffPost would be flipping out, depending on the president.
I am one of the objectors...and Jack's caricature of the opposition couldn't be more wrong. Sort of typical. Anyone who expresses opposition is immediately branded a racist or a religious fanatic. Whatever.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it is not that it is Democan vs. Republicrat...it's that it serves one purpose...to glorify the state and exalt the presidency.
It supports the fallacy that the president has a national role in education...and he does not. That is not within his constitutional authority.
Of course, I don't really have a dog in the fight...I'd cut my arm off before I sent my kids (should I be so lucky) to any school.
Down with Big Brother!
Oh no, you don't sound fanatical at all.
ReplyDeleteGood grief. So the president is not a role model in your eyes? That's all this speech is about, using his bully pulpit to encourage children to succeed.
Did you miss that? The part about working hard for success? Do you teach your kids something else, or do you just sit them in a room with a textbook and a television and go play golf?
Thank you Emily. If all screenwriters would be committed to caring for education, our society would change for the better.
ReplyDeleteThe only way to get a message to the American public is via TV, where most of the programming tells you that you can become a billionnaire by just being brash.
If you've spent thousands of hours of your life listening to - and believing - Story A, it's no wonder you're going to have trouble accepting Story B.
Only proper education can break this vicious cycle.
"and Jack's caricature of the opposition couldn't be more wrong. Sort of typical. Anyone who expresses opposition is immediately branded a racist or a religious fanatic. "
ReplyDeleteCan you prove that? Didn't think so. I've read enough quotes about this President, seen enough footage from his opposers, and heard my own family members talk about him to know where this opposition comes from.
Deep down, it's fear of change. And that change includes, but is not limited to, a black man being President.
Merriweather, sorry to say, but you are part of the problem in this country. You're a fanatic that lives his life in fear.
I feel sorry for you, more than anything.
You say it isn't about Blue versus Red. I call bullshit. I'd bet my left nut, which happens to be my favorite of the two, that you're a Republican.
And I'm guessing you weren't crying about Big Brother when GWB and his mafia were pissing on the constitution for eight years.
Emily:
ReplyDeleteyou rock so hard you scratch diamonds.
Love,
Jeff
Why does education have to be a partisan issue? Okay, war, healthcare, the economy, I can see people getting fired up. But a message promoting education, that's a conspiracy?
ReplyDeleteTrue, when H.W. did the nearly identical speech in 1991, there was the same outcry. What have we learned in 18 years? Apparently nothing.
Yep, Obama's speech got a rewrite and a polish, what a crime.
To Jack...my responses are in brackets.
ReplyDeleteCan you prove that? Didn't think so. [I don't have to. You're the one making an assertion---that people who disagree with the president are raaaaacist fanatics. Can you prove that? Of course not. It's just a way to silence dissent and it spares you the trouble of having to come up with a reasoned response. ] I've read enough quotes [ooooh, you've read whole quotes? ]about this President, seen enough footage from his opposers, and heard my own family members talk about him to know where this opposition comes from. [Since I wasn't blessed with the ability to read minds, I'll have to confine myself to responding to what people actually say. I also don't have a super secret text decoder ring, so when I hear people talk about why they don't want socialized medicine, I can't tell that they actually mean I HATE BLACK PEOPLE! You're so lucky!]
Deep down, it's fear of change. And that change includes, but is not limited to, a black man being President.
*snip*
I feel sorry for you, more than anything.
[Sigh…more mindreading. What change? We're living in the 3rd Bush administration. Did he abolish the antiPATRIOT Act, like he promised? NO. Are people still being "Renditioned"? Yes. Did he end the indefinite detention of detainees without trial? No--He EXPANDED it! Obama is giving us "preventive detention”. What about the warrantless wiretapping? He promised to end it, and now he defends the practice. The war? That's not ending anytime soon. And don’t get me started on the bailouts. Oh...but, people who bring all this up, deep down inside only do so because he's 1/2 BLACK. You really make me laugh.]
You say it isn't about Blue versus Red. I call bullshit. I'd bet my left nut, which happens to be my favorite of the two, that you're a Republican.
[Say good bye to your left nut. I didn't vote for either Bush. I guess your psychic abilities are a tad off.]
And I'm guessing you weren't crying about Big Brother when GWB and his mafia were pissing on the constitution for eight years.
[Wrong again. This was fun. I spent the last 8 years arguing with Republicrats about this and all I got back was "you're helping the terrorists!" "the world is different post 9/11!" And now...I get to argue with Democans...about the same exact stuff..and all I get back is "you're being raaaaacist!". This is precisely why I will never subject any child of mine (if I'm ever fortunate enough to have them) to the government fool system. ]
I highly recommend you read Camille Paglia's column from yesterday...she has some insight about what is wrong with this country. See if you recognize yourself in any of this:
I always thought that the Democratic Party is the freedom party -- but I must be living in the nostalgic past. … Independent thought and logical analysis of argument are no longer taught. Elite education in the U.S. has become a frenetic assembly line of competitive college application to schools where ideological brainwashing is so pandemic that it's invisible. The top schools, from the Ivy League on down, promote "critical thinking," which sounds good but is in fact just a style of rote regurgitation of hackneyed approved terms ("racism, sexism, homophobia") when confronted with any social issue. The Democratic brain has been marinating so long in those clichés that it's positively pickled.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2009/09/09/healthcare/
Read the whole column. She also makes a good argument for why he isn't likely to be re-elected. It's obvious he's imploding faster than Carter. The only reason Carter was able to hold on to his party's nomination in '80 was that his challenger was the distinguished Senator from Chappaquidick. Look for Hillary to challenge Obama for the nomination in '12...he will have a tough time beating her...and he'll lose the general election.
Wow Merriweather. I didn't realize I was part of a conspiracy to brainwash kids. I thought I was just trying to teach them to read critically and think for themselves.
ReplyDeleteYou truly have a dizzying intellect.
"I don't have to. You're the one making an assertion---that people who disagree with the president are raaaaacist fanatics. Can you prove that? Of course not. It's just a way to silence dissent and it spares you the trouble of having to come up with a reasoned response."
ReplyDeleteI can't prove that all of them are. Never said I could. But alot of them are racists. I don't have to prove that to you. You'll either believe it for yourself or you won't believe it at all.
"[Since I wasn't blessed with the ability to read minds, I'll have to confine myself to responding to what people actually say. I also don't have a super secret text decoder ring, so when I hear people talk about why they don't want socialized medicine, I can't tell that they actually mean I HATE BLACK PEOPLE! You're so lucky!"
When did we start talking about socialized medicine? I thought we were talking about Obama's speech.
"Sigh…more mindreading. What change? We're living in the 3rd Bush administration. Did he abolish the antiPATRIOT Act, like he promised? NO. Are people still being "Renditioned"? Yes. Did he end the indefinite detention of detainees without trial? No--He EXPANDED it! Obama is giving us "preventive detention”. What about the warrantless wiretapping? He promised to end it, and now he defends the practice. The war? That's not ending anytime soon. And don’t get me started on the bailouts. Oh...but, people who bring all this up, deep down inside only do so because he's 1/2 BLACK. You really make me laugh.] "
Again, you make too many assumption and draw too many of your own conclusions.
I never said, or at least didn't mean to say, that everybody that disagrees with things Obama has done are racists. I agree with almost everything you said in that last paragraph. I don't think you're a racist for saying that at all.
Again, don't try to spin what I said so it better fits the point you're dying to make.
"Say good bye to your left nut. I didn't vote for either Bush. I guess your psychic abilities are a tad off"
Treat him well, will ya? He likes to be gently massaged between my thumb and forefinger for at least an hour a day to relieve anxiety. During sex, he likes to be squeezed and maybe even slapped a little. Not too hard.
"Wrong again. This was fun. I spent the last 8 years arguing with Republicrats about this and all I got back was "you're helping the terrorists!" "the world is different post 9/11!" And now...I get to argue with Democans...about the same exact stuff..and all I get back is "you're being raaaaacist!". This is precisely why I will never subject any child of mine (if I'm ever fortunate enough to have them) to the government fool system. ]"
Fair enough. Again, I don't think everybody is a racist that goes against Obama. I hate it when black people blame all of their problems on racism, so I'd never do that. I think there are a lot of people that are racist, had it out for Obama from the start because of that, and are working their way backward toward legitimate reasons for disliking him.
Proof? Listen to talk radio. Read the blogs. Talk to my family members and neighbors. Listen to the rednecks. Listen to Limbaugh, Beck, and Coulter. And the people that follow them.