Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Obama's School Message
I'm a Howard Stern fan. I know he has his detractors but he has a solid following. Love him or hate him you must give him credit for sticking around for as long as he has. I think Howard is entertaining and funny, but I also think he is extremely intelligent and insightful. During one of his recent broadcasts the topic of Obama's speech to school children came up. Obama delivered a speech specifically for the students of America that was to air around lunchtime. The speech was basically about not letting circumstance dictate the direction and eventual outcome of your life. Adversity must be met head on, a truly simple and invaluable lessen which is the basic principals of which America is built upon. The controversy came in as there were many parents reportedly pulling their children out of school in order to avoid seeing the speech. Why would they do this? Isn't the President addressing the youth of America a pretty important thing? There has been a whirlwind of supposed reasons for this but Howard was able to cut through the bullshit and be straight. It is a race issue. He contested that people are still uncomfortable with having a black president and as such react this way. I know that it is a sort of easy reason, but to me its true. When a President like JFK or Reagan had a speech to deliver, you better believe that parents weren't pulling their children out of class. Bear in mind that this was completely non-political, non-partisan, non-agenda piece that was meant to do nothing but inspire children to push themselves to their highest potential. Howard pointed out what a disgrace it was that this happened. He is the President of the United States, he deserves respect. I hated George W. Bush for all the same reasons as most people, however, I always respected him and the office that he represented. Some interviewed parents said they were didn't want their children to hear the speech because they couldn't be sure that Obama's speech would inappropriate or not. He is the President with Ivy league speech writers helping him, I'm fairly certain that he isn't going to say anything politically-incorrect or offensive. I know you might be thinking I misinterpreted what these parents were saying. but you'd be wrong. There actual excuse, whether it be fabricated or not, was that they couldn't trust that his words would be something school children should hear. I'll say it again, HE IS THE PRESIDENT. I agree with Howard that it is unfortunately a race issue, and it is despicable. What message does these parent's action send to children? They are essentially demonize Obama and turning him into a villain instead of an ally. What message does it send to other countries? As the unofficial pace car for the world, we set the tone for the world. The world often looks to us as an example. What does it say when "we" don't even trust our leader to speak to school children? These "Americans" should be completely ashamed of what they did, I know that I certainly am.
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I feel like we as Americans do not know how to compromise anymore. Though I do think that a good portion of the parents who took their children out of school to avoid hearing his speech could have done so because they are racist, I also believe that some parents do not want other political 'views' to be taught to their children. When listening to Sen. Ted Kennedy's funeral, I noticed that many people pointed out that he could work with people from all political backgrounds- not just Democrats who shared every single one of his viewpoints. When was the last time we saw Republican, Democrat, and Independent politicians working together on legislation, or the last time we saw a debate that didn't just end up being a he-said, she-said? We have the right to be liberal, conservative, whatever, but we also must be open-minded and understand that there are certain issues that require us to unite and work together in order to solve the problem (health care, anyone?).
ReplyDeleteYou bring up an interesting point here, Brian, about what the state of our world is when "we" can't even trust the President to talk to school children. Interestingly enough though, I bet those same parents would have felt different had it been George Bush speaking instead of Obama... is that due to race? I don't know. Is it logically? Definitely not. There is no conveivable reason for parents to not "trust" in the words of the President...
ReplyDeleteKerrie, you hit the nail on the head when it's comes to American's lack of compromise. These days something's either right or wrong, there is no middle ground. It's frusturating. I can see your point about parent's not wanting their children subjected to political speechs. However, this speech Obama gave was a completly non-partison speech that was essential just a pep-talk. And to your last point, I think everyone would benefit from more politicians working together, regardless of political affiliations. Everyone has to push THEIR agenda. There is too much ego in politics.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. No one made a big fuss when other Presidents addressed there children, why should it be any different for Obama. Hearing a speech isn't going to drastically change a child, it might have influence but parents still have way more influence over there child than anyone else. Itsn no different than trusting what a teacher is teaching a child. Not many parents go to a school and ask to hear everything a teacher is going to say for the day before they say it. Lets face it teachers spend alot of time with kids. Sometimes even more than the parents so how is it any different for Obama to teach something.
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