“What we got here is... failure to communicate.” from Cool Hand Luke

“President Obama was halfway through his speech, trying to dispel what he called "bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform." Then he ran into Rep. Joe Wilson's agenda for the night. His plan would not insure illegal immigrants, said Obama. ‘You lie!’ rang out in the chamber.”
(Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/09/AR2009090903585.html)

What a difference a day makes. Just Tuesday, our brothers and sisters on the Right were railing against Prez O’s welcome-back to school speech. And then with a full assemblage of Congress, the Prez had the audacity to think he could dispel the half-truths and outright lies about healthcare reform that have worked people up into outrage and fear. Fortunately for all Americans and anyone else in the world who watched, heard or read about the speech throughout the world, we all now know: President Obama is a liar. Let’s look at the bold lies he told our children on Tuesday, or at least those who got to hear what he had to say in those schools that were not cowed by the ‘patriots’ who demanded censorship.

“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.”*

Almost from the get go he’s setting the stage for his ‘socialist’ agenda. I can see it in those words “what’s expected of all of you.” Anyone who has followed the education debate over the past 30 years knows who and what we expect to be responsible for education and where the problems in education lie: the parents, the school buildings themselves, the teachers, and, as nefarious as they are, the teachers’ unions. But expectations of the youngsters themselves?

For over 25 years I taught in public secondary school. Every year I knew I would be the problem in my classroom. If I just cared more. If I were just smarter. If I just had more interesting lessons. If I just devoted more time to my job. If I just, well, could simply fill my room with knowledge the kids could absorb without effort, thought or involvement, then maybe the measurable outcomes would be better.

“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.”

Wait just a minute here. Prez O wants our kids to be responsible for being the active ingredient in their education? How can this be? Is he telling our kids that their primary job as kids is to be students and to work HARD at that job?

In closing his speech he told our kids “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.”

Ah ha! There it is! “So don’t let us down…your country.” Here must be where he’s telling the kids to pledge the blind allegiance to his socialist agenda that one commenter of his speech blogged
“THE GOVT. IS IN TYRANNY AND ANYONE WHO SUPPORTS OBAMA EITHER SUPPORT HIS SOCIALIST POLICIES OR WATCH TOO MUCH LIBERAL NEWS, WHICH WOULD EXPLAIN WHY THEY ARE MISINFORMED OR UNINFORMED. THEY DO NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION OR THE WELFARE OF THE COUNTRY, JUST THAT A 'COOL' PREZ IS IN OFFICE. WHAT DOLTS, WHO REFUSE TO RESEARCH WHAT HE AND LIBERAL CONGRESS IS DOING EVEN TO THEM. LIBERALS ARE LIKE REBELLIOUS TEENS WHO DO NOT COMPREHEND ANYTHING EXCEPT THEIR OWN GREED. THEY WHINE WHEN STUNG WITH THE TRUTH AND SPREAD PROPAGANDA. AMERICA WILL NEVER BOW DOWN TO ANY PREZ FOR THEY SERVE US, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. “ (source: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/09/07/obamas-long-awaited-back-to-school-speech/tab/comments/)

I think all caps mean someone is screaming so this person is one of those screamers who thinks that by talking loudly his or her ideas will be heard better. Hmmm.

So Prez O told the kids to do well in school. To take their job as students seriously, maybe even as seriously as they take the clothes they wear, the hairdos they adopt, the music they listen to, the video games they play. What right does he have to do that? I mean he is only the articulate, intelligent, commander-in-chief, president of the United States and leader of the free world. What would he know? And to call out those kids to do their best. Outrageous. What a thought.

Oops I think I’ve heard something like this when another one of the liberal, self-serving, socialist, greedy Democrats already walk down that path as he said
“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what, together, we can do for the freedom of man.”
John F Kennedy’s inauguration in Washington on January 20 1961 (source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2007/apr/22/greatspeeches)


I can see how these ideas can get someone’s knickers twisted, especially since we have now an entire generation who has ‘known’ that government is the problem and the private sector is our savior, or as the movie WALLSTREET taught us, “Greed is good.”

Prez O should be commended for his speech to our, yes they are OUR, children. His mother was a single mother and he not only graduated from high school but also from college, and he did it through hard work. His wife, Michelle, is in the first generation in her family to graduate from college, and she too did it through hard work. He told our children “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.” I don’t think he meant for them to discover destructive behavior for themselves or others whom they come across, but rather paths that will bring them income as well as satisfaction. Our children must realize they ARE the most important ingredient in their education. They possess the raw material, their active and engaged minds, to maximize their understanding of the vast information available.

What our children too often see is what I call the Jerry Springer mode of discourse and civics. In one of my psychology classes we were discussing Freud. As we talked about the ideas and insights he’d written and the thoughts that had grown out of his work, one of the young women said, “Yeah, so who’s Freud? It’s just his opinion.” At that moment, I realized how pervasive trivialization had become, at least for her, and perhaps for others who are steeped in our slam-bam culture.

I know many of my brothers and sisters in the United States are concerned about our country. I am, however, concerned about our inability to consider deeply what it is we believe and why we believe it. I think we now simply think that it’s our option and well, all options are equal in their validity. I would suggest that is not true, and all the screaming in the world will not make it true. Many years ago, I read a book called The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker. The only thing I remember from it is that we get all twisted by ‘false’ fears, the murderous stranger always lurking for example, and miss the really important problems that beseech us, like say our aging infrastructure or climate change. I see the current obstructionist talking over one another in interviews and screaming at public meetings to be fueling false fears. What we end up with is ‘a failure to communicate.

source for all Prez O’s speech quotes: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/07/obama-speech-to-schoolchi_n_278763.html