These remarks (Obama back to school speach) hardly strikes me as the indoctrination (socialism) that some parents feared the President was going to make and that so worried them they would not allow their children to listen
Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event
Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009
The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today. I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning. I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning. Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster." So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.  Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox. I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve. But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.  Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team. And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it. 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. Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork. I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.  So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse. But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country. Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right. 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. Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.  Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall. And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college. Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.  That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter. Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things. But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try. That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.  No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals. And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country. The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other. So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country? Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.  The red scare. Mere mention of the politically loaded phrase conjures up images of masses of people assembling with pitchforks and parading “anti-American” individuals before a committee in the Senate or House of Representatives.These days, President Obama has become the chief target of a witch hunt. Socialism, and communism are words that today are bantered about by the right wing of the GOP with as little regard as to what it applies to much like Goldberg’s alleged liberal fascist labelers. The term red scare in effect refers to the fear that many in the western world had in regards to communism, the term red pertaining to the red flag of the Soviet Union. Even though the red scare for most purposes ended by the late 1950’s it continued well into the 1960’s and in some ways to present day politics. Red-baiting is the act of accusing someone, or some group, of being communist , socialist or, in a broader sense, of being significantly more leftist at their core than they may appear at the outset. The term is used mainly with the intention of discrediting the individual's or organization's political views as dishonest and/or haphazard. The implication in red-baiting is usually that the target represents an ill-intentioned external force which has no proper place in a given political party , coalition , or union | Since you are obviously not real bright permit me to enlighten you. When the lesson plan was sent to principals on September 3, 2000 it read like a campaign advertisement for “the One” without and discernable inspiration for the kids above wash your hands and keep trying. All the rest was praise on high to Obama. As these talking points were all parents had to go on the questions started…The talking points have been revised twice since the White House finally posted the text after noon on Monday. Amazingly it looks in sharp contrast to the original talking points…How many times in all the criticism do you think that got re-writen?
The last “ruler” that took over large industry, the banks, health care, bankrupt his country…BUT…He did get the trains to run on time. And he was not a communists, no Benito Mussolini was no communists…A despotic Fascist Yes, but not a communists!
Educated Americans remember Obama’s campaign pledge to the effect that America is the greatest nation in the world, and he intended to change that! They also know that capitalism and free markets made America the strongest and richest country in the world.
And they don’t want to lose that to a Fascist Oligarchy as demonstrated by Obama and the admitted Communists he surrounds himself with.
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 | Also: I recently read a column that pointed out that MANY Presidents before Obama have directly addressed remarks to schoolchildren, with no apparent intention of indoctrination/brainwashing/whatever...AND with no hue and cry arising as a result of those actions.
And that column also pointed out that Bush2 had been [infamously] in the act of reading to schoolchildren at the very moment that "9/11" went down. |
| Re this: "When the lesson plan was sent to principals on September 3, 2000 it read like a campaign advertisement for “the One” without and discernible inspiration for the kids above wash your hands and keep trying. All the rest was praise on high to Obama."
Aside from the typo regarding the year (it's obviously not 2000), I'm scratching my head. I have not seen the text of such a "lesson plan," and if one had been sent out, and if it had reinforced the conservatives' agenda, then it would have been widely-published, along with the accusations of 'brain-washing."
It is also pretty-typical of extremist politicos (on both side of the fence) to characterize anyone who doesn't agree with them as being "stupid," as was done to you. It's happened to me, too: When I was at the university's freshman orientation in 1970, a member of the SDS told me, when I expressed a lack of enthusiasm for campus riots over the war, that, "If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem!" I took that as a personal threat. And his behavior had the opposite effect that he'd intended, as it tended to make me lean more to the Right than I might have otherwise. At the moment, the conservatives, IMO, pose the greater threat to progress and growth in the USA, but the fact is that both sides can get pretty "wack-a-do." |
 | pissycat - thanks for the great comments and the link |
 | For the most part, I agree ... too long and too much for one sitting. In the words of the California Senator, "I'll be back". :) |
 | goes to show the amount of time and energy the right wing neocon minority will use to spread their propaganda... laughable to say the least. |
 | I'm not the biggest Obama fan in the room - I hope that I never become a defender of the power and the status quo!
BUT that doesn't mean that attacking EVERYTHING Obama says or does makes any sense, either. A stay in school message is a no-brainer. Even the biggest Obama critic should not feel compelled to swing at every single pitch.
It's a shame that people let politics - especially politics at a distance, like we see on blogs on the internet, give them an excuse to act like subhuman jerks.
Trumain's comments below are a good example of this - "It is obvious you are not real bright" is a HORRIBLE thing to say to someone, and I doubt he'd say it to your face or my face. For some reason, hiding anonymously behind one's keyboard seems to give some folks permission to act like that.
When I read the language of the speech, all the hand-wringing and Hitler Youth references seemed pretty funny... Thanks for great pics to accompany this blog, by the way! |
|  right wing neocon minority will use to spread their propaganda.  |
 | Since when is calling a marxist a marxist red baiting? |
 | The message Obama posted on whitehouse.gov yesterday was excellent. There is no reason any parent should be concerned about his child hearing that message.
However, I am convinced that without all the controversy, the message would have been a lot different. Obama may well be a socialist, and totally unprepared to be president of the United States, and a crook, but he isn't totally stupid. Occasionally he gets something right.
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| Paranoia... that's why many fear the presidents speech to school children. They are paranoid about ANYTHING President Obama does or says and are determine to make our President fail. How can that be helpful to our nation?
How can a speech that encourages the young to study and learn and make their own decisions be considered as something bad. Well you can be sure someone will think it's bad.
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 | The issue should not be that he is giving a speech, it should be the first set of questions issued by the Dept of Ed that made the focus of indoctrination vs. education.
What is lost in the media coverage is that the Dept of Ed had an agenda which they quickly backed off of and replaced with less inflamatory questions and activities. The media and Obama has redefined this by placing the emplasis on the objectors who don't want Obama bringing politics into the classroom when the issue was the Department of Education follow up activities that did just that.
The issue is being redefined but what cannot be lost is that over the objections of concerned parents the agenda changed.
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 | Well, I think it's cool that he's addressing students to do well in school. I think every President should do the same. With Obama being black, he serves as an example to African Americans, and people from ALL races and backgrounds, that anyone can achieve great heights by doing well in school. Nobody should feel inferior to anyone else because of their race, sex, or background.
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Truth...truth... truth... and Facts...facts... facts... It seems everyone knows them, and like snowflakes, no two are the same. Why is that? Could it be that we each interpret the truth and facts differently to match our own preconceived mindset?
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 | I have no issue with a President or Leader talking to students about the importance of a solid education and personal responsibility in making it happen. He is known as and extreme left Democrat so of course there are those who question his message.
The original releases from the White House about what he was going to discussion and the outline that was to be released to schools contains or did contain prep questioning that some felt was leading because most teachers are liberal and many teachers have stiffled any discussion other than that of liberal thinking. There is rarely any real dialogue that isn't one sided about the issues in our educational institutions - Kindergarten thru College.
My husband and daughter are teachers who are conservative. The liberal views with the union and the assumption that everyone is liberal permeates the culture. They keep their mouths shut to keep the peace because God forbid you disagree or didn't vote for the Dem candidate. During Election time, the kids were infiltrated with Obama good, McCain bad and we saw it all the news of children being chastised by teachers for not agreeing or having a military family or expressing a conservative thought.
Only 28% strongly agree that he is doing a good job and 52% do not support him at this point. He has built a lot of mistrust in a short time due to his support of bringing this country into massive debt beyond measure and his promises of transparency is non-existent - smoke and mirrors, slight of hand. |
 | You are MOST welcome.
It was a good message but really How DARE he tell children the path their lives take depend on THEM!!
*rolls eyes* |
| I think this is a statement about the down fall of society. When people feel that encouraging their children to be truant rather then listen to a speech about staying in school and doing their homework. I find it no different then feeling people who are unemployed should allowed to die because they don't have health insurance. When people talk about the debt that Obama has supposedly enforced on us they need to ask why the country got in this shape to begin with. The worst recession since the Great Depression began back in 2007, Obama isn't the root of this evil, he inherited it from George Bush. |
| <<== wants to grow up and become a communist just like Obama |
| jadedruid...History evades you doesn't it... The worst economy since the Great Depression was caused by Democrat Jimmy Carter! |
| jadedruid...History evades you doesn't it... The worst economy since the Great Depression was caused by Democrat Jimmy Carter! Sorry to disallusion you but the current GNP is lower then with Carter. Unemployment is higher then with Carter. Housing forclosures higher then with Carter. Check your statistics rather then spouting rhetoric |
| Jude...Carter caused the worst economy since the Great Depression...Even the little blame that the left can assign to Bush...And that is all the weak minded do...Pales in comparison! |
| Ummm... you might want to check your stats. The GNP under Carter was just over $3 trillion, the US GDP never dipped below $14 trillion in the current recession.
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| msesth3r wrote "...In the words of the California Senator, 'I'll be back.' :)"
Good quip! But please allow me a small correction, as he's my Governor, not my Senator. (Sometimes we call him, "The Governator.") |
| Prissy, You have not seen a lesson or talking points and I hit a 0 instead of a 9 Here is the web site that you cannot find! http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/bts.htmlThis is the first time in American history the D.O.E."Requested" all schools watch and use their lesson plan. Now let's see what else you do not know...How about 1991 (hope I got all the number keys right this time)... Would you believe when the president of the United States gave a speech to schoolchildren, there were all out investigations and congressional hearings? Think this relates to Obama’s speech today? Think again – the year was 1991 and Democrats were protesting President George H.W. Bush’s address to school children!Yet, many of these same Democrats today state that conservatives are over-reacting to Obama’s campaign speech to our schoolchildren. |
| 
bed time story for the kids |
| "The hate-mongers and political pundits looking for trouble where there is none need to give it a rest. Public education is one of the pillars of our free society. We support it with tax dollars because we appreciate its inherent value. We should worry when the president is not interested in promoting education." So it's come to this? People fear a president's interest in public education so much they'll pull their kids out of class? a good read from the teacher - bush's speech http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=106506344 |
| Liberals invade D.O.E. and use it as a weapon against America's youth...A first in American history...And those liberal fascists are proud of their efforts to destroy America's republic! |
 | OK my head is about to explode at that logic. How does tripling in six months the debt that the Republican administration racked up over 8 years force us to pay off what we already owed. That's like saying you;re going to be forced to pay down your Visa debt by running up just as much on Mastercard, Discover and AmEx While I have little sympathy for those who seek to legislate, but head exploding is quite apt for someone who is expected to provide protection in the form of funding for two wars, repair a long ignored infrastructure, do something about standing room only classrooms, save existing jobs while creating new ones, increasing fire and police protection and do something about all these starving souls we trip over on our way to work and instead of paying for all of this they want tax breaks or to push the cost off onto the next few generations. The bill didn't triple, the full cost came due. How is it that ignoring cost or not fixing problems equals balancing the budget?
My State is a prime example of exactly how this fuzzy math got us in deeper. We got riped of in a energy scheme at the state level at the same time we were going to support local governments with an unpopular ( is there such a thing as a "popular" tax?), but one of the most fair taxes (a car tax is fairer than "vice" taxes or even property taxes. If a person can afford a luxury vehicle then they can afford a luxury tax, those buying economy will pay economy) that would have freed up the state to concentrate on its own bleeding wallet. A really bad actor acted as if he had the solution and convinced the people he could do better by repealing that tax and replacing the local funds out of state coffers (which were already empty because of the energy scam). The ante of this shell game was taken up a notch when the economy of the nation went south and federal funds were no longer a given. Twice he was denied just pushing the debt off on future generations and so he did the only thing he could think of, threaten to close the only state services making money for the state to save costs (like I said, he's an actor, not an accountant).
You take this logic and put it on the national scale and then ask me why I'm an independent. |
 | ken, the deficit spending by the Obama Administration is NEW spending. It's not paying down the deficit. It's not paying off any loans or otherwise. It's entirely new spending largely going to special interest groups who got him elected.
Increasing Fire and Police protection isn't the Federal Govt's job. Fixing Infrastructure is only the Federal Govt's job for Interstate transportation. These starving souls you speak of have the highest standard of living for those that live in poverty anywhere in the world but still, not a Federal Problem. This is one of the reasons why the our country is bleeding red ink so badly. The Federal Govt his insinuated itself into every issue and siphons money off the top before any local governments or agencies see the money that could be going to actually help people.
BTW your example of California's getting hosed by Enron is a great example why I don't want the Government involved in health care. When someone doesn't have some of their own skin on the table they aren't as concerned about doing what's best for everyone. |
| If Hussein cares soo much about the U.S. why is he destroying the economy? |
 | I guess a "bad faith" conversation is one where we believe the other person's words are just a smoke screen to hide their real intentions. Like, if you say people need better public education, and I'm absolutely sure that your real aim is to lock my family in a concentration camp. |
| I don't think dealing with two issues simultaneously is within his capacity. Frankly I don't believe he could chew gum and fart. I've looked at this loser's hole card and I would just love to play poker with him.
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| But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you FEAR SELLS - The Republican strategy was based on nothing but fear. Fear of change, fear of hope, fear of a skinny man with a funny name. Fear of socialism, fear of a tax increase, fear of government. Fear of anything that looked, sounded, or might be perceived as foreign. It was an offensive, demagogic strategy that is tearing America apart. THE FEAR OF CHANGE, THE BIG BLOGGING PICTURE |
 | Is this the peoples cube?
Good stuff. |
| And let's run with the Hitler comparisons for a second: |
| And yet the lesson plan that asked the children to write letters about how they could help the president was quickly changed wasnt it?
So if they (the department of education) didnt see it as bad I.E. some form of political indoctornation, why where they so quick to change the lesson plan?
Because they realized they had f'd up! Thats why and they saw the lesson plan for what it was! Politics in our schools!
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| BTW, are we sure that wasnt the second draft of Obama's speech after all the upset and protest? No we are not. We are sure of nothing that comes out of the White House anymore.
How can you trust a man who calls for transparency in his presidential campaign...yet has so much covered up in his own past? In the type of friends he keeps, his own background...
How can you trust a man who avows to being a christian during his presidential campaign (with a questionable pastor), then once elected becomes a Muslim!
Its no wonder so many people dont trust this guy! |
| Mike Hewitt isnt sharing his blog with anyone...so its stupid to list it like you are. No one can read the bloody thing but friends and family...LOL |
| There may be a lesson plan for grown-ups in the contrived controversy about Barack Obama's back-to-school pep talk to students. It would be to do your homework, just as the president told the pupils. And one formerly outraged Republican, Florida state GOP chairman Jim Greer, who had said the president was trying to promote socialist ideology, relented after reading the text and said it was appropriate http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090909/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_school_daze_analysis |
| spaceeagle wrote on Sep 9, '09, edited on Sep 9, '09 Since you are obviously not real bright permit me to enlighten you. Obviously, trumain, YOU aren't real bright:
The lesson plans – one plan for pre-K-6 students and another plan for students in grades 7-12 – provided specific activities and assignments for children to do before, during, and after the president’s speech. The pre-k-6 plan instructs teachers to ask children “Why is it important that we listen to the President and other elected officials…” It further directs teachers to have children consider the following while listening to Obama’s speech:
* “What is the President trying to tell me?”
* “What is the President asking me to do?”
* “What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about?”
The plan continues, “Students can record important parts of the speech where the President is asking them to do something. Students might think about: What specific job is he asking me to do…Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?”
This is normal discussion for GOOD teachers with students on ANYTHING they've seen or read, especially in literature. Perhaps you haven't been fortunate enough to have had an education yourself, though, so perhaps I shouldn't be too hard on you.
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| spaceeagle wrote on Sep 9, '09, edited on Sep 9, '09 Liberals invade D.O.E. and use it as a weapon against America's youth...A first in American history...And those liberal fascists are proud of their efforts to destroy America's republic! trumain, you are talking so far out of your posterior that it's stinking up the whole site. There have been speeches by presidents presented at schools my whole life. The first one I recall was one by President Kennedy when I was in 1st grade. Teachers would bring in televisions from the audio/visual department for important speeches by EVERY president. As I said, though, perhaps you weren't fortunate enough to have an education.
Oh, and at least I'm man enough to show my face.
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 | I loved the speech........but I'd have wanted to be in the classroom for what followed as well.......and frankly, hiring a self avowed marxist into your administration, listening to a preacher who hates the US for twenty years.....hanging with Ayers, who hates america......taking over banks and car companies and firing CEOs? Telling people you wont raise taxes on them while trying to pass bills that raise taxes on goods and services? Come on dude.......wake up. Course you dont have too.......you dont live here now do you? |
| Exactly the point. The Dept of Ed forwarded these lesson plans to schools with a set of questions and activities that some teachers bristled about because they felt uncomforable with it. Administrators and Boards of education got upset because the federal Dept of Ed bypassed them with a set of instructions that were written to sound like the projects were mandates instead of optinal suggestions.
If teachers aren't asking these kinds of questions of their students, then perhaps there NEEDS to be a federal mandate. These kinds of questions help the student determine whether or not the student is comprehending what was said. It helps the students to realize whether or not they were paying attention or comprehending as well. I suppose next you'll be screaming that it's unconstitutional for children to be tested in school. No wonder so many Republicans seem so un-educated.
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 | I am disheartened that folks fall for the propaganda that is circulating at present.
But it is inevitable. It matters not which side is in power, the other demonizes the one in power..
The very same folk who were screaming about the left's portrayal of Bush when he was in power, are the ones believing this stuff.
Sad really.
Don't you people realize that all of this trash is just a distraction from tuning into to the issues that are important?
If you want to participate in the governing of this country, in a real way, watch CSPAN. There you can see exactly what is said and what is being proposed without a new media spin on it. Read the bills. Write or call your congress person's office.
Otheriwse, you are just part of the machine that dumbs us down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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| I think the average kid is barraged with thousands - yes, thousands - of messages every day, from ads on billboards to internet ads to television and subtle propaganda in textbooks.
I was. YOU were, if you're young and competent enough to be reading THIS. Compared to most all of the commercial messages, the Obama thing was lightweight. How many of those messages do kids affect the potential listeners or viewers?
Plus, does anyone REMEMBER when they were a kid in school? I saw a guy on television today saying he heard kids yesterday talking about how touched they were that the President cared enough to tell them to stay in school - What planet were these folks interviewing kids on? I want to know where the 11-year olds are who would find that cool enough to listen?
conservatress and her ilk are insincere. They don't really believe Obama did anything wrong. They oppose FIRST and think SECOND. Last week, they decided that Obama talking to schoolkids was the equivalent of child molestation, and then when the harmless speech came out, they felt obligated to continue to find fault.
It's okay. A stopped clock is right twice a day, but the vast majority of the time, it's wrong... |
| You mean like the indoctrination that has been in schools since the 80's that rewrite history?
It's all indoctrination... It is up to parents to guide their children... |
| Thirteen years after Obama's "Back to School" speech, another controversy ensues Dateline September 08, 2022 Reagan City, C. D The White House President and Premier Sarah Palin has announced this morning that she will be giving a speech tomorrow from the Oval Office to be aired, via satellite, to all public and private schools. The speech, tentatively entitled, “The Glorious Conservative Revolution and Your Responsibilities to the Cause,” will be required viewing and will begin shortly after the Pledge of Allegiance to the New Republic is completed. Meanwhile, an underground organization, the ACLU – made illegal several years ago by the New Right Constitution -- has begun a sinister campaign against Mrs. Palin’s speech, claiming that such indoctrination is unethical. Minister of Information, Rush Limbaugh counters that communist infiltration has made the group, not only illegal, but irrelevant. “If they don’t like the idea of the President and Premier speaking to America’s children, they should pack their things and go,” said the Minister, adding, “They will, of course, leave the children.” Shortly before his arrest on “pre-criminal social endangerment” charges, Examiner reporter Jorge Luna queried whether the government should complain about the controversy considering the fight put up 13 years ago when Barack Obama gave a “Stay in School” speech also aimed at children. Limbaugh responded again, informing this reporter that the mention of “that black spot in American history, pun intended, is also illegal.” Conservatives are being encouraged to celebrate the speech, and the anniversary of the Great Liberal Purge, by beating a gay person, an abortion doctor, or a minority (Check to assure they are not a party member first), or by contributing to the Committee to Re-Elect the President/Premier (CREEP). Donations are tax-deductible and count towards the mandatory minimum obligation. In other political news, in response to the still-faltering economy, the National Right-Wing Assembly has announced further tax cuts on those earning $250K or more. The effective rate will be lowered, effective tommorrow to 1.5%. Treasury Minister Sanford announced the rate change saying, “It’s time that we rich folk stop paying our hard-earned money into the national coffers when less-influential and less-important people still have extra money in their pockets.” h/t http://www.examiner.com/x-948-Miami-Law--Politics-Examiner~y2009m9d8-Thirteen-years-after-Obama |
| If Hussein isn't stupid (and I don't think he is) then he is deliberately destroying the economy (or making the senseless attempt to restructure the economy in the marxist mold) while trashing whatever remnants remain of The Constitution. |
Comment deleted at the request of the author. | Since you are obviously not real bright permit me to enlighten you. When the lesson plan was sent to principals on September 3, 2000 it read like a campaign advertisement for “the One” without and discernable inspiration for the kids above wash your hands and keep trying. All the rest was praise on high to Obama. As these talking points were all parents had to go on the questions started…The talking points have been revised twice since the White House finally posted the text after noon on Monday. Amazingly it looks in sharp contrast to the original talking points…How many times in all the criticism do you think that got re-writen?
The last “ruler” that took over large industry, the banks, health care, bankrupt his country…BUT…He did get the trains to run on time. And he was not a communists, no Benito Mussolini was no communists…A despotic Fascist Yes, but not a communists!
Educated Americans remember Obama’s campaign pledge to the effect that America is the greatest nation in the world, and he intended to change that! They also know that capitalism and free markets made America the strongest and richest country in the world.
And they don’t want to lose that to a Fascist Oligarchy as demonstrated by Obama and the admitted Communists he surrounds himself with.
you are really gulible we really don't need you do we-wow you are really well how can I put this in a friendly way so easy to indoctrinate sad really sad that people like you get a word in- |
| Since you are obviously not real bright permit me to enlighten you. When the lesson plan was sent to principals on September 3, 2000 it read like a campaign advertisement for “the One” without and discernable inspiration for the kids above wash your hands and keep trying. All the rest was praise on high to Obama. As these talking points were all parents had to go on the questions started…The talking points have been revised twice since the White House finally posted the text after noon on Monday. Amazingly it looks in sharp contrast to the original talking points…How many times in all the criticism do you think that got re-writen?
The last “ruler” that took over large industry, the banks, health care, bankrupt his country…BUT…He did get the trains to run on time. And he was not a communists, no Benito Mussolini was no communists…A despotic Fascist Yes, but not a communists!
Educated Americans remember Obama’s campaign pledge to the effect that America is the greatest nation in the world, and he intended to change that! They also know that capitalism and free markets made America the strongest and richest country in the world.
And they don’t want to lose that to a Fascist Oligarchy as demonstrated by Obama and the admitted Communists he surrounds himself with.
you also have the gall to insult the blog you take my breath away- |
| Obviously, trumain, YOU aren't real bright:
The lesson plans – one plan for pre-K-6 students and another plan for students in grades 7-12 – provided specific activities and assignments for children to do before, during, and after the president’s speech. The pre-k-6 plan instructs teachers to ask children “Why is it important that we listen to the President and other elected officials…” It further directs teachers to have children consider the following while listening to Obama’s speech:
* “What is the President trying to tell me?”
* “What is the President asking me to do?”
* “What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about?”
The plan continues, “Students can record important parts of the speech where the President is asking them to do something. Students might think about: What specific job is he asking me to do…Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?”
This is normal discussion for GOOD teachers with students on ANYTHING they've seen or read, especially in literature. Perhaps you haven't been fortunate enough to have had an education yourself, though, so perhaps I shouldn't be too hard on you.
well said spaceeeagle |
| Well yeah, I'll step up to the plate and admit ignorance on the subject. I had heard that Obama's speech was the problem and at no time did anyone mention that it was just an innocent ploy for additional material. Can anyone, without vague references or out of context snippets, give examples of this indoctrination? |
| EMAIL FROM AN OLD FRIEND
The older I get the more I realize that I had been fed so many myths over so long a time by so many in politics and in the media etc, and that for those on the left and those on the right, there is no sane talking to each other. Each side is fully convinced it has Truth on its side.
I steer away from posting on just about anything political so as to avoide getting truckloads of mail objecting to this or that post, but I like what you say here. The comments especially instructive on the split in American sensibilities.
thanks |
| And I will interpret this as a "No Jesi, I will continue to throw down venom when I choose and when called on it claim to be the aggrieved instead of the aggressor." You can't admit you're wrong, can you? It would kill you do admist such a thing, wouldn't it? I'd like to see you and all your other phony compadres come clean and have the gall to show your faces. You like anonymity, though, don't you? It helps you to cause all kinds of problems spouting phony horse manure.
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| I'm so confused, I thought that RED states were FOR socialised medicine  |
| When you feed the pigeons, they keep coming back. I just tell it like it is.
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Comment deleted at the request of the author.  | Amazing. You know what comes next, right? Book-burning. Or book-banning, anyway. They'll be marching on libraries demanding they be purged of any book with even a hit of a left-wing idea in it.
And if you're a teacher who tries to advocate things like logic abd critical thinking, well be prepared to be labeled subversive.
That's what happens when people become so afraid of ideas that they don't dare let their children hear them or read them |
Comment deleted at the request of the author. | 
So, get on out there and burn those books, everybody. Do what I say, so that I can become an all-powerful talk show host- and give voice to your fears and values, of course. I'm talkin' to my people about gettin' special "Sarah's Burn List" stickers to slap on the ones I selected and make them easier to find. Better still, don't buy the books before you burn them. Get them from the library, instead, which would save you lots of money. *wink* h/t cosmicrat - thanks dude |
 | You invited me to view your post from my own post here: Goodbye, All That: How Left Idiocies Drove Me to Flee by Ron Rosenbaum http://geopolitics.multiply.com/journal/item/521?mark_read=geopolitics:journal:521&replies_read=4In my post, Mr. Rosenbaum discusses why he is stepping away the left which he clearly views as, “A movement of Marxist fringe groups and people who are unable to make moral distinctions”. I have read several other articles from Mr. Rosenbaum and he is by no stretch of the imagination a right-winger. As a matter of fact, in the article linked above he writes, “I want to make clear that saying goodbye to idiocies on the Left doesn’t mean becoming a conservative, neo- or otherwise”. One of the most succinct paragraphs: “Goodbye to the brilliant thinkers of the Left who believe it’s the very height of wit to make fun of George W. Bush’s intelligence—thereby establishing, of course, how very, very smart they are. Mr. Bush may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer (I think he’s more ill-informed and lazy than dumb). But they are guilty of a historical stupidity on a far greater scale, in their blind spot about Marxist genocides. It’s a failure of self-knowledge and intellectual responsibility that far outweighs Bush’s, because they’re supposed to be so very smart.” Today, I find it surprising that one would go through such great lengths to accomplish what this post attempts to accomplish. Even though in two of Obama’s campaign offices, the workers had flags of Che Guevara hanging on the walls, were they were wrong in drawing the parallel between Obama’s hopey-changy and Castro’s revolution? Before something can be changed and made new, the old must be destroyed. This is revolution. This is a “shut up” article. It is intended to shut dissidents up or at the very least, direct those “liberals” who just haven’t quite come to admit what their worldview actually represents to feel good about the current communist hopey-changy revolution. It really is ok to come out of the closet and admit to it now. The proof is overwhelming and everywhere for all to see. "Throwing history down the memory hole enables the Left to detach itself from past failures, appear forever fresh and new, and perpetuate an ideology that by virtue of natural selection should have perished long ago." ~ Daniel J. Flynn |
| It really is ok to come out of the closet and admit to it now. The proof is overwhelming and everywhere for all to see. FOX NEWS IS GETTING THERE ASS KICK ! Factor Fox News isn't just bad. It's un-American. NEWSWEEK : Published Oct 17, 2009 From the magazine issue dated Oct 26, 2009 "Any news organization that took its responsibilities seriously would take pains to cover presidential criticism fairly. It would regard doing so as itself a test of integrity. At Fox, by contrast, complaints of unfairness prompt only hoots of derision and demands for "evidence" that, when presented, is brushed off and ignored." "That Rupert Murdoch may tilt the news rightward more for commercial than ideological reasons is beside the point. What matters is the way that Fox's model has invaded the bloodstream of the American media. By showing that ideologically distorted news can drive ratings" |
Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner. Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner. Comment deleted at the request of the author. Comment deleted at the request of the author. | Typical right wing scare tactics.
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| What matters is the way that Fox's model has invaded the bloodstream of the American media. By showing that ideologically distorted news can drive ratings" Part of The President's in State of the Union Address "Unfortunately, too many of our citizens have lost faith that our biggest institutions -– our corporations, our media, and, yes, our government –- still reflect these same values. Each of these institutions are full of honorable men and women doing important work that helps our country prosper. But each time a CEO rewards himself for failure, or a banker puts the rest of us at risk for his own selfish gain, people's doubts grow. Each time lobbyists game the system or politicians tear each other down instead of lifting this country up, we lose faith. The more that TV pundits reduce serious debates to silly arguments, big issues into sound bites, our citizens turn away. " No wonder there's so much cynicism out there. WHAT ABOUT BLOGGERS ? RED BAITING - NEW RED SCARE?
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| "Any news organization that took its responsibilities seriously would take pains to cover presidential criticism fairly. It would regard doing so as itself a test of integrity. At Fox, by contrast, complaints of unfairness prompt only hoots of derision and demands for "evidence" that, when presented, is brushed off and ignored." How can a few fringe people be right and the rest of the American government be covering up the issue.
I don't know what's more ridiculous, the fact that these theories are mustered up, that people buy into them, or that they get picked up by otherwise legitimate news outlets.
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Comment deleted at the request of the author. | Typical right wing scare tactics |
 | Scare Tactics Have No Party......It's Soft Core Terrorism |
 | I remember Obama's speech there and the scare tactics some in the GOP leveled at it. Thanks for posting the whole of his remarks. |
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