The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Still, he's a good public speaker, and we haven't had that for a while.

He can read a teleprompter in a convincing fashion. Get him off the teleprompter and he does not do well.

[BarTopDancer]

Some Parents Oppose Obama Speech to Students

Some parents said they were concerned because the speech had not been screened for political content. Nor, they said, had it been reviewed by the State Board of Education and local school boards, which, under state law, must approve the curriculum.

“The thing that concerned me most about it was it seemed like a direct channel from the president of the United States into the classroom, to my child,” said Brett Curtiss, an engineer from Pearland, Tex., who said he would keep his three children home. “I don’t want our schools turned over to some socialist movement.”

Paranoid much?

I'm sure there were/would be parents who were/would be if Bush had spoken to students. I know he read them stories but I don't recall if he ever did this.

We are a divided country and this type of behavior is not helping. Same with the 2012 stickers (though I'm sure if a Republican is elected for 2012 the 2016 stickers will appear).

[Morrigoon]

Heaven forbid our children get brainwashed into believing in the value of a good education. They might start *gasp!* "learning" things, and talking about evolution and sh!t. No, you're right, they should be kept home, safe from such atrocities as being directly addressed by the top elected official in our nation.

[scaeagles]

Have you seen the literature from the department of Ed that goes along with his speech?

I would not object to my kids seeing it. I would want to be there, though, to see what he is saying and be able to help my kids with anything I objected to. My kids go to a private school and it has already been announced the elementary school will not be viewing it.

[Betty]

Funny. I posted this in the WTF news.

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Have you seen the literature from the department of Ed that goes along with his speech?

Nope, do you want to share it with us?

I would not object to my kids seeing it. I would want to be there, though, to see what he is saying and be able to help my kids with anything I objected to. My kids go to a private school and it has already been announced the elementary school will not be viewing it.

What would you object to? Going to school to get a good education?
Would you explain to them why you object or just tell them that Obama is evil and damaging our country beyond repair and they should think that way too.

I remember my dad clearly explaining to me why he felt the way he did about political issues. If he disagreed with something he'd explain what the the issue was, what the current path that he object to was and why he objected to it. It clearly helped me form some critical thinking skills and trying to understand the other side even if I didn't agree with it.

[scaeagles]

I don't trust Obama in the least. I can't tell you in advance what I would object to because I haven't heard it. It depends on what he says. My younger childern wouldn't necessarily get certain nuances that could certainly exist in what he says.

What I object to specifically about what the department of ed sent out is the proposal that students write essays about how they can help Obama. That's creepy. Like I said, I don't object to it if my younger children listen to it, but I want to be there so I can discuss with them any problems that I have with it. Something tells me if after the Iraq invasion Bush addressed school children and about whatever and the department of ed sent this out the left would be absolutely howling. And rightfully so.

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I don't trust Obama in the least. I can't tell you in advance what I would object to because I haven't heard it. It depends on what he says. My younger childern wouldn't necessarily get certain nuances that could certainly exist in what he says.

What I object to specifically about what the department of ed sent out is the proposal that students write essays about how they can help Obama. That's creepy. Like I said, I don't object to it if my younger children listen to it, but I want to be there so I can discuss with them any problems that I have with it. Something tells me if after the Iraq invasion Bush addressed school children and about whatever and the department of ed sent this out the left would be absolutely howling. And rightfully so.

Oh. I thought you were actually going to share the literature (or a link to the literature) from the Department of Ed instead of rambling on. But the outrage then lack of proof is par for the course. I believe someone (GD? JW?) is waiting for a breakdown about issues you had with someone. Can't remember who or what now but I've seen them ask for it and you state you're too busy to provide it.

You also didn't answer my question about how you are going to discuss it with them. To make it easy for you:

Would you explain to them why you object or just tell them that Obama is evil and damaging our country beyond repair and they should think that way too.

I'm sure that people would object to Bush speaking and my reaction would be the same as it is now.

Whatever happened to "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country".

[scaeagles]

How will I discuss it with them? Again, it depends on what he's saying, so I can't tell you. Should he come right out and say "Tell your parents you want the government to ensure your health for your entire life" might meet with a severe and profanity laced outburst, while "Stay in school" would be something to the effect of "yeah, pretty obvious, and I've told you every day of your life when you procrastinate on your homework how important school is - in fact, we pay extra for it because we think it's so important".

At the top of this page are links to pdfs of the department of education suggested activities pre, during, and post speech. It's just creepy. Anything from describing this as an historic event (a President telling kids to stay in school is historic?) and wanting comparisons to other historic Presidential moments to essays about how they can help Obama to asking how the President will inspire them today. Creepy.

[BarTopDancer]

I just looked over both sets of literature (Prek-6 here and 7-12 here). It looks like a normal Social Studies or Government lesson to me.

Who is the President. Why is he speaking to us. How can we make our country a better place.

Replace Obama with Regan and I suspect you'd be singing praises about how wonderful it is that he's speaking to students and that they are running these lesson plans. Right? Right.