Today I want to take a couple of minutes to briefly discuss President Obama’s Address to America’s Schoolchildren that took place yesterday, the full text of which can be viewed here.
This address caused incredible controversy even before it was delivered. The conservative media outlets were ablaze with angry parents threatening to keep their kids out of school in order to prevent Obama’s “socialist indoctrination.” This despite the fact that the White House released both the subject of the speech and the actual text of the address in advance. And of course, I have to assume that when Reagan and Bush 41 addressed schoolkids in a similar fashion, they were simply being patriots and not messengers of “conservative indoctrination.”
What is this “socialist” message Obama spread to our impressionable youth yesterday? In short it can be summed up as, “work hard, stay in school, make no excuses, and be responsible for your own actions.” Wow, I can definitely see what all the fuss was all about. In fact, if these aren’t conservative principles, I don’t know what are.
But here, I’ll let President Obama share his message in his own words: “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 — none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying.” Sounds good to me.
I recommend everyone click the link above and take the couple minutes to read the president’s remarks. Whether I agree with him politically or not, Barack Obama is a role model for the nation’s kids. He was raised by a single mom, had to move around several times, and had to overcome racial barriers. The fact that he overcame all of that to become President of the United States is a story he is obligated to share with America’s children.
The message delivered in this speech is one for which us Republicans should be applauding him. Our hateful anti-Obama rhetoric has reached absurd levels not unlike the blind Bush hatred of the past several years. We need to do a better job of picking our battles and making an effort to elevate ourselves above such absurdity. Most people are sick of the ignorance displayed by Republicans. How about we try disagreeing in a gentlemanly manner, focusing on actual differences in policy, instead of appealing to passions and inciting hate. I know that is far too much to ask, but “dare to dream,” right?
