Jim Geraghty has before and after screen shots of the memo helpfully prepared by the Department of Education to aid teachers and students in getting the most from President Obama’s in-classroom video address next week.
Comparing and contrasting the two versions, Jim writes:
It appears there are two versions of the preparatory materials for the president’s address to schoolchildren floating around, one with language urging teachers to have students write letters to themselves about how they can help the president, and a second changing that to letters to themselves about achieving their short and long-term education goals.
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It looks like somebody at the Department of Education woke up, smelled the coffee, and realized they would have a lot of angry parents on their hands if homework assignments included requirements to pledge to help the Obama administration. In light of this, I expect the president’s remarks will be pretty uncontroversial. But this legitimizes quite a bit of conservatives’ skepticism and wariness, because it means some folks in the Department of Education didn’t realize what an atrocious and inappropriate idea it was.
What could go wrong? Besides the obvious comparisons (just imagine how Naomi Wolf and the rest of the HuffPoers would be blowing gaskets if such a classroom video appearance by the president was was happening prior to this past November), as Steve Green writes:
Yes, the speech itself will almost certainly be harmless. I don’t expect anyone’s kids to be coming home and berating their parents for being against this program or that agenda. I do expect Allah has it quite right, that this speech will be just another Daddy Speech, meant to encourage my son to work hard in school.
But you know what? The President of the United States — whether an Obama a Bush or a Lincoln — is not my son’s daddy. That’s my job. We’ve had enough nannystatism, and enough daddystatism, too.
The other thing I object to is a big portion (an entire portion?) of a school day being devoted to the President and His Works and Admonishments, for no reason other than he seems to think it should be. There’s no national emergency, this isn’t an inauguration or a joint address to Congress. It’s the President deciding, for reasons entirely his own, to take over the public school system for twenty minutes or an hour or a day.
And, yes, I object to that.
Can’t say I blame him.
I have to assume the original speech is being re-written as well. The original speech and the original guidelines were 2 sides of the same coin. Obama staffers obviously saw this as a campaign activity and treated it like any other speech in front of adoring fans.
Why doesn’t he just pass a law requiring Obama screen savers on every PC and Mac ?
Silence = Acceptance
Obama is trying out every trick in the book to see what he can get away with …
So don’t be silent, draw the line in the sand …
This con man must be taught a lesson …
Leverage the Tea Party movement and contact the school boards and attack this problem at the school board level. Demand that the teachers and and principal NOT put the President on the classroom TV or anywhere else in the school.
The Department of Education (Ministry of Truth) by passed all elected officials at the state and local levels to DIRECTLY address principals and teachers.
If I were a parent of children in the public school system, thank God ours are not. I would request that the school set up a opt out room for children whose parents do not want them to attend. With no penalty. Or they can just have their children not attend that day, I would ask for an alternative assignment for my child instead of the letter. Perhaps an letter to the President on how he works for us, not the other way around.
What bothers me most is the new “I pledge” video that was shown at a public school in Utah. It starts out okay, seemingly benign but it then changes. Ultimately ending up with asking your children to be like the celebrities who pledge to be a servant to Barrack Obama. Excuse me? I don’t think so…
The important things are to (1) contact your superintendent (they were bypassed and the Obama folks went straight to principals) to ask about plans / object, and (2) make it clear you’ll keep your kids home if they plan to show Dear Leader’s speech as this will reduce their average daily attendance based funding (at least here in California).
Our President has made a serious misjudgment when it comes to the ferocity by which the majority of Americans love and defend the rights and freedoms, which define our great Country. However, it is amazing how misguided he is in not understanding that our determination to protect and defend our own children is even more rabid.
It is clear that this President assumed that by tossing out a litany of new programs (intended to “remake” America) we would be so overwhelmed and confused that we would not be able to focus on the details and potential damage his plans would bring… Too bad he doesn’t know our real history… Too bad he was too busy “seeking out” and surrounding himself in the company of radicals who believe as he does, that our Constitution is “fundamentally flawed” and who share his desire “remake” America because while he and his followers believe that they’ve “begun the work of remaking America”… WE THE PEOPLE have begun the work of systematically preventing and dismantaling his every effort.
He managed to slip the Porkulous bill through, but we woke up to that joke. We’re paying close attention now… to everything… and his tanking numbers are evidence of just how many of us are not pleased with what we see… and in the height of our alert he dares to go after the minds of our children.
Cap and Tax, ObamaCare, Omnibus… rhumors of another Porkulous bill… What, Mr. President… Did you think by throwing all of this at us at once we’d be too distracted to see you slipping in the back door of our schools? What, you’ve found that you can’t win in a battle of wits with us adults so you just think you can slip around us and go after our kids?
Bad move Mr. President… BAD move.
We are losing thousands of jobs… we are struggling to pay our mortgages, we are battling against your battery of socialist plans and we remain ever vigilant against the threat of terrorists who still want to destroy our Country… Thanks for all the “Hope and Change” and all that but… but don’t for one minute underestimate our capacity to multi-task and to defend viciously those things we hold dear… ESPECIALLY when it comes to our children.