I'm going to take a contrary view, even contrary to my firm conviction that the less government the better off we all are. I've finished reading the text of the President's address to our nation's school children a couple of times; I've read the article about when President Bush addressed the kids and the Democrats' got all bent out of shape .... so though my reading involves the different spectrums of thought, I guess my writing is much narrower.
I'm trying to figure out if the outcry we are hearing is simply 'political payback,' 'parental avoidance of responsibility' or genuine disgust for what seems to be the intrusion of government. In some ways it appears to me a bit contradictory to say our President [regardless of who is filling the office] has no right to speak to our nations children when the very school system he is speaking to is run by the government [and in a measure financially run by govern.]with our tax money, however having said that I do believe his address should be without political persuasion ... and having read his address, I believe that it is. Someone needs to call our kids attention to their educational responsibilities ... we are becoming more and more a technical culture, and education is no longer a choice but a necessity. Yes, it is good for parents to do this, and they should, but what is the harm in hearing the man who has been democratically elected to the highest office in our democracy, echoing the same message. Ah! hah! I think I've discovered something ... 'echoing the same message' ... maybe that message isn't being sounded so clearly, maybe we need to also be holding parents, guardians, etc. accountable for how their kids seem to be accepting personal responsibility for their education....[okay, fellow libertarians back off, I'm only speculating here, and being a grandparent that's a liberty I've earned after raising my own kids.]
I'm not meandering here, the examples that the President gives are good illustrations of what kids can overcome and can achieve ..... and I think its good that they are accountable not only for themselves but for our country. It seems like its been far too long since, not only our kids, but we have been challenged to remembering the lives we live not only affect ourselves and our families but also our country. The greatest thing that I really love about the current 'teaparties' is the willingness of adults to stand up for what they believe ... let's give our kids that same opportunity one day by today challenging them to get an education.
I'm trying to figure out if the outcry we are hearing is simply 'political payback,' 'parental avoidance of responsibility' or genuine disgust for what seems to be the intrusion of government. In some ways it appears to me a bit contradictory to say our President [regardless of who is filling the office] has no right to speak to our nations children when the very school system he is speaking to is run by the government [and in a measure financially run by govern.]with our tax money, however having said that I do believe his address should be without political persuasion ... and having read his address, I believe that it is. Someone needs to call our kids attention to their educational responsibilities ... we are becoming more and more a technical culture, and education is no longer a choice but a necessity. Yes, it is good for parents to do this, and they should, but what is the harm in hearing the man who has been democratically elected to the highest office in our democracy, echoing the same message. Ah! hah! I think I've discovered something ... 'echoing the same message' ... maybe that message isn't being sounded so clearly, maybe we need to also be holding parents, guardians, etc. accountable for how their kids seem to be accepting personal responsibility for their education....[okay, fellow libertarians back off, I'm only speculating here, and being a grandparent that's a liberty I've earned after raising my own kids.]
I'm not meandering here, the examples that the President gives are good illustrations of what kids can overcome and can achieve ..... and I think its good that they are accountable not only for themselves but for our country. It seems like its been far too long since, not only our kids, but we have been challenged to remembering the lives we live not only affect ourselves and our families but also our country. The greatest thing that I really love about the current 'teaparties' is the willingness of adults to stand up for what they believe ... let's give our kids that same opportunity one day by today challenging them to get an education.
Well, I guess the load is off my chest, please to feel free to agree or disagree, or turn in another direction .... or get upset and simply go away; though I hope you don't, and I'd really love to hear from you. I love to hear differing opinions, you'd be surprised how much growth and change I've experienced through other's views. Have a great day.
p.s. ..... for your reading consideration; "Laura Bush backs Obama on school speech." Tuesday, Sept.8 09 ... Associated Press. 'REpublicans get rolled ... and deservedly So' by Neal Boortz, http://www.townhall.com/ .... Sen.Lamar Alexander [R-TENN; and former Secretary of Education] spoke on the Senate floor today in a speech that supported the need for the President to address our school children.
The speech itself was certainly innocuous and otherwise unremarkable. The original teaching materials, however, seemed a little over the top viz. support for the president as opposed to getting an education. This bit came on the heels of another video shown to schoolkids in which celebrities "pledge" to "follow" President Obama and/or act in accordance with a political agenda, and a lesson plan about forcing parents to fill out the census. Suffice it to say, there were a lot of people who wondered whether civics was giving way to the perpetuation of a personality cult.
ReplyDeleteCheers.
Sherm....
ReplyDeleteI agree that the lesson plan was a stupid idea, and the other video you are speaking about was of the same ilk. Our culutre is so hungry for the truth, they just can't see it ... cults always try to fill the void.