"Hey, Mr. President, leave those kids alone! "

a href=”http://www.cnbc.com/id/27597185″Cliff Mason at CNBC:/a br /br /blockquoteYou can’t teach American kids civics by forcing them to do community service work. We’re stubborn, in fact, that’s our singular national virtue. For a guy who spends so much time decrying cynicism, he sure seems to be pushing a program that will make the next generation even more cynical than me and my millennial buddies, and we’re a tough act to follow. Call me a skeptic, but this “Ve haf vays of making you serve” program just doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that encourages civic-mindedness. In general, coercion doesn’t tend to produce good results. br /br /Here’s to hoping that “national service” itself was a cynical ploy on Obama’s part and he’ll forget all about once he takes office. Hey, Mr. President, leave those kids alone! /blockquote