From the Tempest in a Teacup department

[professionalhenchman]

This bit of news that's been around the media today: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/04/obama.schools/index.html
Heaven forbid that the President speak to kids to encourage them to stay in school. *rolls eyes*. I'm heartened by the fact that even the commenters on NPR who usually espouse conservative positions were having trouble taking this one seriously. At least one commented that there's a distinction between "Death panel conservatives" and most conservatives - I hadn't realized that "Death Panel conservative" was the new label for the conservative lunatic fringe (as opposed to the liberal lunatic fringe, but they haven't been as loud lately.) I'm just boggled that this has as much play as it does. It makes me worry about the state of political discourse these days.
[Edit - Anonymous comments are now screened, and will be deleted for anyone who doesn't bother to sign their name to the comment.]

Comments

More descriptive adjectives, please

[(Anonymous)]

While I generally agree with your sentiments, I wish you would learn to express them with some more appropriate adjectives. Everything can't be adequately described with the few that are demonstrated here.

Joe N., Indianapolis, IN

[terpsichoros.livejournal.com]

This is the first I've heard what the message actually was. Given some of Obama's actions, including abusing the NEA to encourage artists to make propaganda supporting Obama's health-care campaign, it's rational to have a very high level of distrust in the circumstances.

[terpsichoros.livejournal.com]

Oh - also more worrisome than the fact of the speech (though Democrats attacked Bush 41 for giving a speech to be broadcast during school sessions) is the content of the curriculum guide from the White House, which suggested students write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.

Maturity allows one to change their mind

[(Anonymous)]

At least we now have a president who is willing to listen to criticism and adapt his presentation accordingly, rather than one who, regardless of what anyone said, was only willing to "stay the course." Obama promised in his campaign that he would listen and talk to those who opposed him. This is another proof that he is keeping that promise.

Joe N., Indianapolis, IN

[groblek.livejournal.com]

Given that the suggestion of asking kids to come up with ways they can help is in the context of an appeal to them to stay in school & do well, the obvious interpretation is that they should come up with ways to help the president achieve that specific goal. Not the best choice of wording for the handout, but still nothing to get terribly worked up over. And I'd feel the same way no matter who's president - as far as I'm concerned, this sort of thing is just a part of what presidents do.

As for the attack on Bush 41 for the same thing, I'd have been just as puzzled about why that was a big deal then, if I'd been politically aware at the time. As is, I was one of the school kids being broadcast to, though I can't say it was particularly memorable. Which may speak to the effectiveness of such things.

[terpsichoros.livejournal.com]

It's still vaguely worrisome, in part because there seems to be an attempt to inculcate an attitude of "your elected representatives are more important than you", what with the "why should you listen to the President, etc" question which remains on the supplemental materials.

I'm also amused that the speech is being given before school starts for lots of people. When I was a kid, school started on the Wednesday after Labor Day, not Tuesday. Even though it seems that every school district in California starts in August now, there are still lots of schools which keep the wednesday start day.

[buffaloraven.livejournal.com]

Really? Which schools? The majority of schools that I know of are back in class.

[terpsichoros.livejournal.com]

I read several newspaper accounts of school districts which return to class on the traditional first day of school, the wednesday after labor day. Which was, incidentally, the first day of school for the 5 years I was in school in Delaware, and the 8 in California.

[dancingguy.livejournal.com]

IIRC, LA schools start Thursday. I think that's also true for New York.

[dancingguy.livejournal.com]

Given that the suggestion of asking kids to come up with ways they can help is in the context of an appeal to them to stay in school & do well, the obvious interpretation is that they should come up with ways to help the president achieve that specific goal.

No, it's not.

First of all, we don't have a copy of his speech, so none of us have any real idea exactly what he's going to say. Second of all, neither you, I, nor almost anyone else in the world knows what Obama was planning on saying back when those "educational materials" were being written.

Third, President Obama scheduled this talk for the day before his joint address to Congress (and those are a big thing). It would take an incredibly "trusting" individual to fail to wonder whether or not President Obama was planning on a tie-in between his speech to the kids, and his speech to Congress.

President Obama has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not deserve the benefit of the doubt (see, for example, what he says about lobbying rules, and lobbyists, vs. what his Administration has actually done). It should shock no one that he's not getting it.

[groblek.livejournal.com]

Quite frankly, that sort of thinking is exactly why I'm despairing of political discourse these days. I think that drawing those sorts of conclusions on as little data as everyone has is making mountains out of molehills and quite ridiculous. And I'm quite sure that if President Bush 43 had proposed a speech of this sort, there'd be a similar hue and cry from the Left, which I'd find just as deplorable.

Trust your children

[(Anonymous)]

Of course some people make up their mind about opposing a speech BEFORE the speech is given. That's really supporting freedom of speech. They have their right to speak against it. Obama, as president of the entire nation, has a right to speak to the entire nation, even the children. Previous presidents (whom I opposed) have spoken to our school children (when my children were in school) and I never thought of keeping my children from hearing them. Any parents opposed should keep their children at home and should be sure they don't watch TV, listen to the radio, view the internet, twitter, text message, etc.(ever again) because they might hear something offensive to their parents ears. Our kids are smart enough to sort out the real stuff. It's amazing that some come from such biased parents and still come out OK. I instilled good values in my children at home and through church activities and worship (yes, I'm an evangelical Christian), and allowed them to express those values to their peers (in public schools). Some folks are afraid to let their children ever be challenged by differing views. You'll have to let go one day. What will they do then? Start trusting your children now.

Joe N, Indianapolis, IN

[groblek.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I think this is the first time I've ever got anonymous comments on an entry - I wonder whose search I turned up on. I think I'll have to ponder whether to disable anonymous postings on this, as the people who haven't been willing to sign a name to the posts don't seem to be adding much useful discussion.

Follow up

[dancingguy.livejournal.com]

From the Washington Post:

When critics lashed out at President Obama for scheduling a speech to public school students this month, accusing him of wanting to indoctrinate children to his politics, his advisers quickly scrubbed his planned comments for potentially problematic wording. They then reached out to progressive Web sites such as the Huffington Post, liberal bloggers and Democratic pundits to make their case to a friendly audience.

Translation: if you liked his speech, you should thank the conservatives who jumped down his throat about it, because it would have been exactly what they warned about, if they hadn't jumped on him.

How's it feel to be used? Because the Obama Administration is relying on people like you to be chumps, and push their line when they get caught.

Re: Follow up

[groblek.livejournal.com]

I can't say I feel used at all - I'd take the same position regardless of whether I liked or agreed with the president (If this had been George W. Bush, for example.) To be clear, my position on this is that making a great hue and cry over the speculated contents of a planned speech, based on little evidence, is jumping far too soon to conclusion. Had President Obama actually delivered a speech of the sort people were afraid of, then I'd have expected an outcry, and even agreed that it was justified. As it is, to me it looks like everyone went flying off the handle over nothing, and since no one ever saw a copy of the original speech, there's no way for us to know if it was justified or not. In general, I don't believe in condemnation based on speculation with little evidence, no matter who's doing it.

As for liking the speech - I didn't bother to watch it. I cared about the one he was delivering to Congress. As far as I'm concerned, the speech to schoolchildren wasn't worth paying attention to. Quite honestly, I don't actually think that sort of speech has much impact - at least the one by George H. W. Bush didn't on me as a kid.