Politics
What’s so great about being stupid?
Remembering George H.W. Bush’s live speech on education to students in 1991, in which he asked a question still unanswered, “What’s so great about being stupid?”, school districts in Texas, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, are scrambling to protect our nation’s future. Fearing the children will learn Obama is: president, black, smart, reasonable and does not currently have horns or a tail; many districts have decided not to air the program. Others will require that parents sign permission slips before allowing the children to view the controversial program about the need to work hard and stay in school.
Following in the footsteps of Reagan and Bush One, Obama plans to speak directly to students. His address will be shown live on C-SPAN at noon EDT Tuesday and could have been seen by students unedited, uncensored and without benefit of Fox news providing speculation of what the President really was saying. Having grown tired of attending town hall meetings, totally bat-shit crazy parents all over the country are now demanding their school officials protect their innocent children from hearing such outlandish and unproven ideas involving hard work, goal setting and taking their school year seriously.
In Florida, GOP chairman Jim Greer released a statement that he was “absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology.”
“As far as I am concerned, this is not civics education–it gives the appearance of creating a cult of personality,” said Oklahoma state Sen. Steve Russell. “This is something you’d expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.”
Arizona state schools superintendent Tom Horne, a Republican, said lesson plans for teachers created by Obama’s Education Department “call for a worshipful rather than critical approach.”
Seminole County parent Steffani Martino, whose daughter is a student at Lyman High in Longwood, FL, said she might have her teenager skip school Tuesday. “I don’t side with anything Obama agrees with,” Martino said.
One program note: The White House plans to release the speech several hours beforehand, online, so parents can read it.
Photo Credit: Carrie Devorah / WENN.com
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Terri Evans says: Congratulations Seminole County parent for encouraging your kid to skip school. Why not go ahead and tell her to drop out just to be sure she doesn’t learn anything at all? I feel sorry enough for you not to repeat your name.
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Cliff Green says: Why release the speech beforehand and online? The kind of parent who wants to keep his or her children from hearing the president’s speech does not know how to get online, and if they should luck up and hit the right buttons, they wouldn’t be able to read it.
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McPickle says: How can our children have any respect for our president if their parents are afraid to let them hear him speak?
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Gita says: Keeping the kids at home will prevent them from what? Seeing the President’s address on streaming internet feeds? hearing and seeing him on the evening news shows?
Recto-cranialis is a terrible disease, really. Also known among the secessionists in Texas, as a “bad case of dumbass.” (Can we say that in print?) -
C Smith says: Leslie and commenters should move to Korea or Venezuala so that when their leaders speak at learning institutions the option of not watching is not there.
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“For the record, the subject of President Obama’s address will be on the value of education. If by some wacked out, right-wing stretch of the imagination his speech is a socialist propaganda tool, I hope it includes at least this one subliminal message: Stop being so ignorant.
When citizens have legitimate concerns, complaints, or disagreements with presidential policies we are encouraged to engage in debate and open dialogue on those issues. Thankfully, everyone is free to exercise the cherished right to free speech and thought in this country. But when basic privileges that every previous president has been afforded, like speaking to school children without his words being prescreened, and, frankly, protection from being shot, are either questioned or altogether disregarded for President Obama then the situation becomes dangerous.
It is dangerous because these are the same seeds of derision that fostered the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War and the same kind of publicly endorsed indignity that allowed the institution of Jim Crow to flourish for so many years in this country. It is dangerous, too, because there is no way in heaven or hell that the American people will stand silently by and allow our nation to ever again descend to such a moral low ground.
This proliferation of disrespect has reached a level that has exceeded what should be considered safe and tolerable behavior toward a President. By ignoring the problem and hoping it will somehow just play itself out, I fear that we are in fact giving the green light to disgruntled conservatives and political extremists alike to continue stepping up their abhorrent actions. The good news is that people harboring such noxious sentiments appear to be isolated to a relatively small segment of the population. The bad news is that their antics consistently get them airtime on the evening news.
If this lack of respect was displayed in most U.S. corporate workplaces, heads would roll and the offenders would be warned and sent to sensitivity training at the least. Unfortunately, the leader of the free world seems to have less protections than the typical American office worker. I am ashamed that President Obama is being treated this way, but I am also immensely grateful that he is strong enough to bear this burden for all of us. Thank you, Mr. President, and please watch your back.“ – From Newsvine http://sitafa.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/03/3222752-what-ever-happened-to-respect-for-the-president
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austin mcmurria says: I’m way too heavy to weigh in on this one. But i would like to hear Brenden’s slice on this subject. Brenden buddy, are ya out there? Quit ironing your brown shirt and give us a comment, pal.
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jingle davis says: Anybody with a functioning brain, and I proudly count myself among that group, should be damned nervous that so many people seem to be so clueless these days. Talk radio, Fox and others of their ilk are doing a fantastic job of stirring up the stupid who pay no attention to what’s actually going on. As somebody smart once said, people are entitled to their opinions but they aren’t entitled to make up facts. Sadly and frighteningly, that’s exactly what the radical right is doing. My moderate Republican friends (and I have plenty, including close relatives) are just as concerned as I am. If so many people prefer bloviating to truth, what’s to become of us?
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McPickle says:
Jingle; This is exactly what I’ve written to a group of friends. This is beginning to get scary. How many are believing this junk? I can picture Rove sitting back and chuckling at his machinations.
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An update: Since this story published, more schools have been added to the list of those caving to the be-stupid-like-your-daddy/bliss-of-ignorance/you’ll-like-it-better-with-your-head-in-the-sand campaign including some schools in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Dakota, Arizona (note: for students, this list is not in alphabetical order) – others states are leaving the decision up to teachers.
Fortunately for the anti-ignorance/pro-working-hard-to-stay-in-school forces, videos banned by parents and schools have tremendous appeal to young people and the President’s speech is expected to be downloaded by most students within minutes of being told that they cannot watch it. -
isn’t it grand irony that parents who are not allowing their kids to hear this speech will hear it anyway on the net…oh what delicious sweetness! Our President Obama got it over again all those racists non thinkers.
as for the country of jim crow…perhaps succession is still an option?
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Diane says: If a Republican president had chosen to give a speech on this topic to the nation’s schoolchildren, and some parents and schools had opted not to show it to children, the right would soundly denounce them all as being unpatriotic. I fail to see how Obama can say much of anything that will poison children’s minds any more than, say, watching “Real Housewives” or playing Nintendo.
I’m also appalled at this recent act of histrionics by the right. Yesterday, at the Decatur Book Festival, I was working as a volunteer and mentioned to two other volunteers that a local NPR radio personality was there. One volunteer was impressed, the other said he’d never heard of her. I said, “I guess you don’t listen to NPR.” His immediate, indignant response, “I would NEVER listen to NPR.” His favored radio personality is Rush, and he proudly told me that he “thinks for himself.” But he doesn’t read the AJC.
So many right-wingers have told me they think for themselves, I think it must be something that the radio hosts tell them. But how can they claim to be thinking for themselves if they don’t even listen to or read opposition information? Whenever they point out all the stuff that mainstream media hasn’t reported, I usually tell them that I read newspapers and listen to NPR and I’ve heard all of that on the radio. Facts don’t seem to matter. I’m really TRYING to be open minded, but this is the kind of stuff that really disgusts me.
I mean, why was this dude volunteering at a book festival if he doesn’t read?
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Melinda Ennis says: And we dared to hope that there had been a positive and defining shift in this country when Obama was elected! Apparently, it was a precursor to the uncovering of a deep ugliness that still exists and seems to be proliferating. I thought we had hit the bottom with Palin’s death panel BS—but this latest is not to be believed.
As an earlier commentor said, this is beginning to make the McCarthy era look like the good old days. -
Beth Nelson says: In my mind it has now been confirmed – stupidity and paranoia are running rampant in this country. I can not believe there is anything to debate about this – our president, elected by a majority of our citizens, wants to encourage school children to do well in school. By the wildest stretch of my imagination I can not come up with anything controversial about this. I am a teacher, and my students will be watching this speech on Tuesday!
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This is the silliest issue I can ever recall. As Jingle says, it is also appalling to most reasonable and thoughtful Republicans. People who object to the fact that Obama wants to encourage kids to study hard and stay in school are really the radical fringe. They are getting more attention than they deserve, and they should not be taken seriously by school districts or the media. Many of these parents are fearful that their children will be indoctrinated into socialism if they merely listen to Obama. Even if the president planned to encourage these children to become socialists — a ludicrous idea that is as far from the truth as anyone could imagine — why do these folks think he is so persuasive? I wish he were. If he could convince people so easily, we would already have legislation that truly reformed our health care system.
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Here’s the text of the President’s Speech to Students (from http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/)
Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School EventArlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009The 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. -
Now that I’ve read the speech, I can see why the wingnuts wanted it banned – the American path to success wasn’t simply faith-based, wealth-based or class-based: goals + hard work + keep trying.
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Cliff Green says:
Rush and his ilk have started calling the Associated Press, among other outlets, “state-run media.” Well, I’ll be damned if I can find it. Over the weekend, one of the network news broadcasts put on a woman who said something to the effect that “Obama is in favor of abortion and gay marriage” and she didn’t want her child hearing that in the president’s stay-in-school-and-work-hard speech.
This was not FOX News. But is it fair and balance to give this idiot woman equal air time in opposition to our duly elected president and his speech to school children? Not only is the national media not “state-run” it has completely caved in to the loony right. -
Brenden says: Wow, I’ve actually been requested to participate in this important debate. I was going to keep my browser today shut but since Austin wants to know what I think, here goes:
Nothing “wrong” per se with this, I suppose, but it strikes me as the last act of a desperate man. It’s staged political hackery designed to manufacture sense of false imperium, recalling those Roman columns in Denver (WTF?). Barry is obviously hurting in public opinion because he’s occupied all positions and none on the public option. “So let’s give a milquetoast speech to the children encouraging them to work hard ‘n’ stuff. Makes me sound smart and compassionate because I can yammer on with the best of ‘em.” Meh. But should people keep their kids away? Double meh.
But I guess more important to point out the anti-capitalist, race-mongering drivel that sustains your arguments here. Never forget many of you are far more invested in “racists non thinkers” [sic], “McCarthy era,” “faith-based, wealth-based or class-based” than folks like me who can articulate a rational, empirically-sound social policy (albeit the theory requires some nummeracy and intellectual sophistication) independent of conjuring shadowy false boogey-men. Instead of refuting my arguements rationally, your agenda relies upon calling me a “brownshirt” so you can urge the mob to pursue extra-judicial intellectual prosecutions to throw stones my way because I 1) refute your arguments by questioning your premises and conclusions 2) offer tractable counter-arguments and 3) shine a bright light upon the ignorance that represents the longest pole of your ideology.
Austin: You’re welcome!
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Brenden: Given Obama’s lifelong belief in hard work and staying in school, more likely it is just some giving back. He’s talked so many times about personal responsibility, I suspect he was anxious to use the bully pulpit. I suggest it is hardly a last act, for this desperate man who has 3 1/2 years to serve this time around. As for the rest, try not to misunderstand sarcasm and parody for race-mongering.
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Brenden says:
Obama must get a meaningful public option bill from this Congress given the failure of his cap and trade, a major “green” initiative of his. If Obama fails on the public option, the opposition will only grow louder and his own governing coalition will splinter; evidence indicates they may be already. The upcoming fall session will be very consequential for the next 3.5 years. Barry knows it.
And sorry, Lee, to your point of sarcasm: you and many posters here constantly insist upon racist origins whenever commenting on Barry’s opposition. Your commrades here constantly mention an irrational fear that could lead to some vague threat against the president. That Rush, Fox, Hannity, etc., stoke white outrage that with the goal of actual, physical harm befalling the president. These are invidious lies designed to deny the opposition their voice in the debate. Very illiberal.
We oppose Obama and Pelosi, et. al., because their misguided policies will destroy productive sectors of the economy. We resist them with political and economic logic, highlighting a long legacy of failure and insolvency for innumerable worthless gov’t programs. Gov’t unjustly consumes 50% of GDP. That more gov’t means less liberty. Since you cannot defend Barry’s policies on the merits, it’s much easier to call us racists and try to discredit the opposition’s logic as Trojan horse for a new age of Jim Crow. In other words, “Shut up,” you said. That’s fine. I just don’t want you to think you’re getting away with something clever by doing so because it’s really obvious and stupid.
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Brenden says:
Looking forward to reading the awesome, insightful commentary on Barry’s sermon on the hill. Suddenly, I feel an inch taller! C’mon, Dewers, faster!
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C Smith says:
Brenden don’t include all Dewers in the Liberal boat. Begins to sound like you joined their grouping ideas. And Leslie how do you know anything about OBs lifelong ideas? He can’t even produce a birth certificate. Maybe you know where he was accually born.
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C Smith — you want answers spanning from Obama’s lifelong ideas to where he was born? How shall we parry if you’re traipsing all over the floor? The lifelong ideas? Why are you asking Lee? You should ask Obama. And the “birther” thing? Discussed, resolved, Hawaii, over.
Now, as to the point of this whole thread (and Brenden, you’re not shy, so please join in): Do you have thoughts about parents who would discourage their children from the message that they should share responsibility for their own education?
I will look forward to your thoughtful replies, to my own learning moments. I won’t join in again, myself. I’ll leave that to others, if they choose. — Regards
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Brenden: Thank you insightful opinion and prognostication on the political situation in Washington. And for the lesson in racial sensitivity. I will attempt to keep a more open mind when I hear Rush, Fox, Hannity and Boortz stoke colorless outrage. I will also try to be a better liberal.
And for clearing up why you oppose all Obama and Pelosi policy. Seems like a perfect rational stance given the damage done by Reagan, Bush and Bush (I don’t dare mention others who conspired to get us to this place for fear of being illiberal). Obviously, it isn’t about race, it is about anyone who does not agree with you.
On a more personal note, I hope I don’t get away with something clever. That would suggest an arrogance that demeans my readers. I’m sure you feel they same way.
As for insightful and clever commentary, I encourage you listen to Rush, Fox, Hannity and Boortz. No reason to seek solutions to our problems, just leave quo status and for someone else to clean up.C Smith: Any person from a poor and broken home who stays in school, achieves the success in college and post-graduate studies, gives up lucrative opportunities in the law and academics to give back to his community through public service, and is able to balance career, family and friends, gets my respect. If you don’t believe a person of mixed race, named “Barack Hussein Obama” had it tough, had to work hard and not give up, please share with me a story of someone better qualified to speak to our students about the subject.
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C Smith says:
Brenden as you can see it does not take long eloquint remarks to set these people into a ridiculous rant. THE DEW has moved so far to the left that without comments from the likes of you to keep it interesting it would go the way of AJC before it really gets started. My interest in The Dew is anyone can make an instant comment unlike most other news media that report without imediate consequences. Lee Leslie has provided the explanation of his use of “lifelong” which has its merits. With independent views I am willing to give anyone a chance at leadership as long as my right to vote stays intach.
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Brenden says:
Lee: you tow Obama’s line. We have solutions, you just don’t like them. So you say they don’t exist. Or are racist.
Meg: It’s none of my business if a parent wants to keep a child home because of a political speech. Though I don’t suppose I’d keep my own children at home for this as one goes to school mostly for the purposes of being well socialized for a lifetime of adults irrelevantly droning on and on. I somehow made it through a school system rife with leftist political propaganda (not saying Obama’s, er, inspiring speech was such) and look how I turned out.
C Smith: you seem to have independently detected a hard-line, hard-left pointlessly partisan progressive collectivist bent to the posting, commentary, news articles, required reading, historical perspective, etc. Whew, I thought it was just me — good to know I’m not crazy. -
Brenden:
You may have solutions, but you didn’t win the election. Does that not mean anything to you? It does to me. It means that your “ideas” on how to sustain our economy, provide national defense, and preside over our educational renaissance did not resonate with the people. Elections matter. Republicans had their 8 years. Democrats now have their 4 (+?). You should protest over things you don’t like, but Republicans are not in power anymore. You guys aren’t racists for not agreeing with Obama. Your ideas just weren’t strong enough. So they were rejected.
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Melinda Ennis says:
Dear Mr. C. Smith.
If you want to convince people and appear to be intelligent, I suggest you learn how to spell. It is eloquent and intact —-not eloquint and intach. As far as the rest of what you wrote, it is written so poorly that I have no idea what you were trying to say. Perhaps if there had been a presidential speech when you were in school you would have paid more attention in class. -
Brenden says:
Matthew, I’m not talking about Republican problems for Obama. He’s facing resistance from within his own party. Resistance by people who have sense, like many American people, that this public option is worse than a nuclear bomb on the nation’s economy. You’re correct, the Republicans lost and must pay the price for trying to placate the bedwetting leftist Democrat collectivist leadership, rather than fighting them and highlighting their corrupt, destructive ignorance. Anyone of the conservative faithful could have told Dubya that was a bad idea — he was way too much like you guys here! He let me down far more than any of you.
And does only the partisan label matter to you? So if the GOP comes up with a plan to lower cost, increase coverage, support doctors — you will dismiss it out of hand? Nice.
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C Smith says:
Well Ms. Annis I suppose my spelling may not be up to your standards but our country has more problems than spelling. When you reach my age any party that is in control has burnt you in some way or the other. Oh yeah, I’m not trying to convince any one of my intelligence. SHOWS DOESN’T IT.
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C Smith says:
Oh yeah! When I was in school the President got his head blown to bits by a radical from a book suppository building. I wish he had been in there to learn how to spell!
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Brenden, I don’t have an issue with anyone coming up with a good idea. I just think most of the time, most ideas you guys espouse aren’t very good. I didn’t say all were bad. Just most.
Aren’t you dismissing Democrats ideas out of hand too? Are you really partisan too? It goes both ways. I happen to think tort reform is a great idea. What liberal idea do you like?
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Brenden says:
I would support Obama or any other politican who supported the specific reforms I mentioned:
1) establishing a national market for health insurance so I can buy a policy in another state
2) sensible caps on non-economic medical liability
3) NOT expanding insolvent entitlement programs
However, the democrat plan does nothing on No. 1 and pays lip service to No. 2 and drastically violates No. 3. If a republican came up with the same thing, I would also reject it.
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