Know Nothings Run Riot

It is beyond stupid that people are crying foul about Obama's planned speech on Tuesday. What's Obama's message?

"Stay in school."

Yes, it is that simple. And now, Conservatives are in an uproar about him 'indoctrinating' students into socialist ways. I actually cannot believe I read an article so stupid and vapid in the New York Times:

President Obama’s plan to deliver a speech to public school students on Tuesday has set off a revolt among conservative parents, who have accused the president of trying to indoctrinate their children with socialist ideas and are asking school officials to excuse the children from listening.

The uproar over the speech, in which Mr. Obama intends to urge students to work hard and stay in school, has been particularly acute in Texas, where several major school districts, under pressure from parents, have laid plans to let children opt out of lending the president an ear.

Folks, I don't know what else to say other that, "holy fuck?!?" I mean, it's not like he is going to deliver a speech on the irrefutable logic of the socialist dialectic, you know? He's just going to urge kids to stay in school.

Is it really this bad? Wait, don't answer that. I know the answer. We are well and truly fucked.

Sean Paul Kelley September 3, 2009 - 9:28pm

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( categories: USA: Domestic Issues )

That's just...

...fuck, I dunno all I can come up with is "astonishing". The degree of construction in their reality is truly impressive - the guy could come out with "don't do drugs" and these guys would think it's a nascent personality cult. Really, um, remarkable...

'course, it's not just them - the degree to which folks of literally all political stripes are pissed at the guy because of their circumstances (largely self-inflicted) is pretty mind-blowing. The one thing that's increasingly clear in my mind is that there's no frickin' way that $400k per annum is enough.

“The absence of any US-Iran bilateral channel...may have the perverse effect of reinforcing Iranian interest in progressing in the nuclear realm so that the US will be forced to take it seriously and engage it directly." ~ Richard Haass

JustPlainDave September 3, 2009 - 9:45pm

People who display fridge magnets

that say "I support the troops" and then throw hissy fits at the suggestion one should support the President are truly frightening.

You could solve today's energy crisis by hooking a generator up to Thomas Jefferson's grave.

"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch September 3, 2009 - 10:58pm

Not surprised, though somewhat amused...

But amused in the "laughing all the way to the apocalypse" sense. Nothing surprises me anymore about this country.

Bolo September 3, 2009 - 10:10pm

why the parents spazzed

I gotta say if Bush did this I wouldn't like it

Help' Obama

President Obama's plan to speak to the nation's schoolchildren in a video address next week erupted into controversy as critics claimed he was trying to indoctrinate America's kids.

FOXNews.com

Thursday, September 03, 2009

The Obama administration is rethinking its course recommendations for students ahead of President Obama's address to the the nation's schoolchildren next week, rewriting its suggestions to teachers for student assignments on how to "help the president."

White House aides said the language was supposed to be an inspirational, pro-education message to America's youths, but its unintended consequences were evident.

Among the activities initially suggested for pre-K to 6th grade students was to "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president."

Another assignment for students after hearing the speech was to discuss what "the president wants us to do."

The suggestion about writing letters has since been changed to: "Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals."

more at Faux

Tina September 3, 2009 - 10:23pm

But would it have irritated you

for JFK to have said, to have asked, the same things?

I think the man is floundering in search of some consensus that just isn't going to happen. Unfortunately, the fleeting opportunity to stomp the crap out of conservatives while they were down has passed for Mr. Obama. I hope at least that he regrets his naiveté by now.

chalo September 4, 2009 - 1:38am

yes, it would have bothered me.

I don't like the idea of the cult of politicians. I would feel more comfortable with them replacing president with America. I guess time will tell if he learned any lessons, and another damn speech won't be the answer. ;)

Tina September 4, 2009 - 12:22pm

Right

and, irrespective of what he says, he has no business intruding himself into a school day. He can put his thought on the web, and children can read it if they like.

http://mauberly.blogspot.com/

mauberly September 4, 2009 - 2:37pm

so then,logically, you would have objected to this:

intrusion into a school day(even if it hadn't been September 11)

and anti-Bush parents would have kept their children home

_{I feel the American worker has been sacrificed to the capitalist idols in the ancient Mayan fashion. - Sue Lamb, NYT reader}

nymole September 4, 2009 - 3:03pm

I dunno. I am somewhat receptive to the notion that it is...

...distasteful for politicians to be inserting themselves into schools for partisan purposes. I'm a lot less critical of the notion that the office of the Presidency should occasionally be seen to be involved in the nation's schools. Kids should think that what they do is important enough that the President of the United States, whoever that might be at any particular point, would visit - if not their particular school, a school like theirs.

JustPlainDave September 4, 2009 - 3:31pm

so, then Tina, at home, it's better to

ask a kid-(not in an aggrieved tone) why don't you help this house (or this family) wash the dishes, rather than "why don't you help me wash the dishes?"

I think not.

(a)
Yes, there is a cult of personality about politicians, and particularly Obama but
(b)
This isn't it.

_{I feel the American worker has been sacrificed to the capitalist idols in the ancient Mayan fashion. - Sue Lamb, NYT reader}

nymole September 4, 2009 - 2:42pm

I would

just feel more comfortable with them asking kids what they can do to make America or their community stronger or better instead of focusing on the president or one person. I guess I would be really happy if they focused on the presidential fitness challenge and what kids can to do to be and keep healthy. I don't have a problem with presidents addressing kids, I think they should engage them.

Tina September 4, 2009 - 2:57pm

Here's a *.pdf of the

questions: http://agonist.org/files/active/2/prek-6.pdf pretty innocuous stuff.

^{"All men's gains are the fruit of venturing."}

-Herodotus

Sean Paul Kelley September 4, 2009 - 3:01pm

sometimes I think "just homeschool everybody"

(not that I am saying that's what you mean at all)

and both the extreme right and left(if there are any still out there) will be happy.

It seems to me in this situation it's a short step to "He's not my President" said by someone who didn't vote for him.

Of course that has been said by many on the left about Bush- and probably not such a good thing to say- but because of hanging chads.

Where does it end, I wonder?

But then not engaging very much any more in political issues and rereading old novels instead has been my way of reacting to the talking heads lately.

_{I feel the American worker has been sacrificed to the capitalist idols in the ancient Mayan fashion. - Sue Lamb, NYT reader}

nymole September 4, 2009 - 3:12pm

Wow. Way to empower the kids and teach them that their...

...voice matters. From writing assignments about how they can help serve their country to assignments about how they can serve themselves and their goals. From helping serve an office all should hold in esteem and believe they could potentially hold, to bending over so the small goals of the system can take hold. Jesus - what kid gets really fired up by their "short-term and long-term education goals"?

All I can say is that the exposure that I have had over the past few years to the primary education system tells me how comparatively fortunate I have been in my teachers. Irene Stirton, I don't know whether you're still on this mortal coil, but you rocked my third grade and that made an awful lot of the difference - thanks.

JustPlainDave September 4, 2009 - 8:43am

well maybe

folks are lil afraid of his change huh?? hard to say-- ESIMI

Justin Time September 3, 2009 - 11:02pm

Well, at least Obama wasn't planning something like this:

Via: Deleting the Bush Personality Cult from history

Salon.com, By Glenn Greenwald, September 2

National Review's Jay Nordlinger -- and others at that magazine -- are upset that a school is showing a year-old video in which various celebrities spout feel-good platitudes about public service, and -- for a fleeting second -- Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher vow to "be of service to the President." This sentiment -- a desire to serve the President -- is something conservatives would never adopt, apparently:

When I read about that celebrity video where they say, “I pledge to be of service to Barack Obama,” I thought that the people do not deserve to be American citizens, because they have no idea what America or a liberal republic is. . . . Also, it strikes me that "I pledge to be of service to Barack Obama" is the product of a thoroughly secular mind, which is another marker of contemporary America. . . . Did conservatives ever say “I pledge to be of service to Ronald Reagan”? I never heard it -- and the notion is preposterous.

I'm always amazed -- even though I know I shouldn't be -- at people's capacity simply to block out events, literally refuse to acknowledge them, when they are inconsistent with their desire to believe things.

_{They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm.}

Raja September 3, 2009 - 11:24pm

Oh shit, what the hell was that? Enough to...

...scare the holy bejesus out of me...WTF??? We be in deep doodoo and that ain't no shit!

www.iauthorbooks.com
http://iauthorbooks.blogspot.com/

Celsius 233 September 4, 2009 - 9:58am

Well, maybe he wasn't, but so what? Obama is...

...very bad juju. He's Bush wrapped in an articulate package! WTF? We don't need that! We need leadership; so, you tell me; where is that? I garunfuckingtee it ain't him!

www.iauthorbooks.com
http://iauthorbooks.blogspot.com/

Celsius 233 September 4, 2009 - 10:04am

It's worse than you know...

Tea Party Group: Obama Is Both Goebbels And Mengele

TPMMuckraker, by Zachary Roth, September 4

So as you may have heard, the Tea Partiers are set to get back in the news next weekend with a big "March on Washington" to protest health-care reform, the bailout, climate-change legislation, and all those other intolerable encroachments on freedom that the Obama administration is planning.

The Tea Party Patriots -- which, along with the corporate-backed FreedomWorks, is the prime organizer of the march -- have worked hard to portray their movement as a reasonable, principled, non-violent opposition. Among the confirmed speakers for the rally are GOP lawmakers who are leaders of the conservative movement like Jim DeMint, Mike Pence, and Marsha Blackburn.

But sometimes the darker side of the Tea Party scene slips out.

[...]

But the New Boston Tea Party hardly offers the kind of reasoned, respectable opposition that the Tea Party Patriots attempt to embody. Currently, the site's lead item -- about the president's planned speech to school kids next week -- is entitled "Dr. Barack Goebbels Obama, Chief Reichmaster Tuesday September 8, 2009." Another recent post, based on the false "death panel" rumor, discusses Nazi doctor Josef Megele's human experiments on concentration camp inmates, before declaring: "WE NOW HAVE ANOTHER DR. MENGELE, AKA BARACK HUSSEING (sic) BARACK MENGELE."

_{They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm.}

Raja September 4, 2009 - 6:07pm

These are the same people

These are the same people that scoffed and laughed when Obama suggested properly inflating your car's tires to help fuel efficiency.

Silent Autumn September 3, 2009 - 11:38pm

Dunno, we need more dropouts to do shitty jobs...

Really, especially if there is a crackdown on illegal immigrants and employers of illegal immigrants... So, they can shoot themselves in the foot,if they like to do so... The reality is that some kids are not "smart" enough and probably SHOULD get the f out and do something else with their life.

creativelcro September 4, 2009 - 12:02am

There have to be places for stupid people to make their way

After all, half of everybody is below average, and the average isn't looking so good these days. But all the new American economy offers even to people of average abilities and qualifications is a horribly raw deal.

So average people burden their average kids with educational paths that don't help the kids nearly as much as they build up debt and raise young people's expectations to unreasonable levels.

Homely people shouldn't train themselves as professional models; disabled folks shouldn't train themselves as professional athletes. Yet we encourage below average people to pursue careers in engineering, medicine, management, and other fields where they don't really have any business.

The least we could do is channel ambitious but slow-witted young folks into careers in law where intelligence doesn't really enter into it.

chalo September 4, 2009 - 1:55am

I'm with you two

I returned to teaching two years ago and carried in with me the idea that I was going to shove readin', writin and learnin' into every kid and every class. It doesn't happen. There are a lot of slow-witted, slack-jawed kids out there who absolutely refuse to crack a book or entertain a thought contrary to whatever crap their equally slow-witted, slack-jawed parents crammed into their little noggins years ago.

Color me badly disillusioned.

"Lord! What Fools these Mortals be!"

Doug Richardson September 4, 2009 - 9:16am

As a teacher (ESL) for 5 years (Thailand)...

...I sympathize. While ESL isn't the 3 R's it's at least an indicator of trends. I loved my bright bulbs, understood the non-enthused and fought the slacker/disrupter's to a stasis. I feared they were the norm in our world and my fears proved correct. So sad, too bad, but I'm always looking for the bright bulbs and teach for free to those that care. I hope you can get on with your gift and continue to give it to others.

www.iauthorbooks.com
http://iauthorbooks.blogspot.com/

Celsius 233 September 4, 2009 - 10:16am

Funny, I didn't know that...

..."know your proper place" was a plank of the progressive movement. Never really figured it for neo-Victorian, but live and learn.

JustPlainDave September 4, 2009 - 9:36am

The SEC

has been a good place for the fat, dumb, and happy.

http://mauberly.blogspot.com/

mauberly September 4, 2009 - 10:31am

when people start

to rant against Obama (i grew up reading royko in the daily news and distrust ALL polls) ill use the analogy of sock puppets of the left and of the right, and mention that this counter rotating vortex of agit- prop from right and left is to distract people from the process of their disenfranchisement of the lifestyle they have been conditioned to expect and the fact that they have been trained to belive the only way to get ahead is thru debt for things they want but dont need.the shackles of indebtness are stronger than any bonds of iron or steel simply because people have been conditioned so completely they will not even think of concidering the thought that they could or should do with less. W.W.E.B.D (what would Edward Bernays do?)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8953172273825999151#

tavi September 4, 2009 - 1:22am

Thanks for that link.

I watched all 4 parts. Part 4 is particularly interesting for its indictment of politics (and governance) via polling, and of the politics of the selfish overall.

... and don't the Clintons and other politicians look young!

_{They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm.}

Raja September 4, 2009 - 2:03pm

Uhm, erm, ah, oookkkkaaaayyyyyy...

...would anyone be interested in explaining why I would ever hold out the smallest amount of hope for America's future? Anyone?

www.iauthorbooks.com
http://iauthorbooks.blogspot.com/

Celsius 233 September 4, 2009 - 7:41am

actually many, many reasons,

actually many, many reasons, but let's start with the blues.

that shock of understanding one's own existential suffering, it's relation to all kinds of slavery, and the cathartic, bitterweet howl of joy and anger that is a healthy animal response to that slow shock.

scale that up worldwide, for eternity.

thanks, america!

melometa September 5, 2009 - 7:57am

I'm likely oversimplifying to an alarming degree

but I view the majority of this hyperventilation over Obama to be Racists looking for publicly acceptable rhetoric (dog-whistling) in which to shroud their hate.

a Lotta folks just *can't* handle a N****R as President, as 'Leader of the Free World'. Legalities and Laws aren't going to overcome long-ingrained and inbred cultural suspicions and fears...not quickly, and not completely.

There has been, and will continue to be for some time, blood spilt over this. Conservatives are armed and scared...when will they come out shooting?

-5.75,-4.05
"God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time." -- Robin Williams

justadood September 4, 2009 - 10:40am

I remember being criticized

I remember being criticized for "Disrespect" when I pointed out that Bush stuttered and his face was twitching during the 2004 election debates. This right-winger angrily explained to me that everybody should honor, support - meaning never criticize - and respect the leader of their country , whether they agreed with him or not.

Let's face it. It's not about rational discourse, it's about marketing, audience-share and winning. And winning this game means more money and power for the greedy few, and the thrill of being on the winning side for their minions.

moebius September 4, 2009 - 2:22pm

as I continue to rant, slightly off topic......

AOL News has the headline......

Graphic Video Shows What Happens To Male Chicks:
Why Gov't Says It's OK

The only problem is nowhere in the link is the government even mentioned, only the industry , as far as I can see. But maybe I just don't understand that Obama personally approved the grinding up each chicken:-(

_{I feel the American worker has been sacrificed to the capitalist idols in the ancient Mayan fashion. - Sue Lamb, NYT reader}

nymole September 4, 2009 - 6:41pm

CSM has a piece on the topic today worth reading

The history behind opposition to Obama’s speech to students

_{I feel the American worker has been sacrificed to the capitalist idols in the ancient Mayan fashion. - Sue Lamb, NYT reader}

nymole September 4, 2009 - 7:04pm

President urges America's kids to quit school

Bowing to popular pressure, President Obama has changed the wording of his Tuesday speech to the nation's school children. Instead of urging America's kids to stay in school he's going to encourage them to drop out as soon as they can get their grubby little paws on a handgun, noting that education beyond a passing understanding of the 3 R's is completely unnecessary for teenage entrepreneurs in the drug trade or for supplying cannon fodder for the nation's ongoing wars. GOP leaders are reportedly greatly satisfied with the planned changes, viewing this as a huge win for their national lynch mob. NRA reps have agreed, "Anything that acknowledges the Second Amendment rights of 12 year old drug dealers to defend themselves is A-OK with us"; and military recruitment officers are extremely pleased, observing "Dang, it's been hard to get any kid with a brain between the ears to sign up to kill ragheads these days."

Meanwhile, despite the President's efforts, inevitably some children will be "left behind" in school, joyless, abandoned, without hope for the future....