Monday, September 07, 2009

President obama's speech to schoolchildren

Here is the text of President Obama's speech to our nations schoolchildren scheduled for tomorrow: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/07/obama.school.speech.pdf. Man, somebody needs to point out to me what is so evil about this. Maybe it's this:
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. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Yeah, that personal responsibility thing... I can see why parents are all up in arms about that. Most of us don't want anything to do with it either (please note the sarcasm here).

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

As we discussed on Facebook, the uproar was not over the content of the speech. The content was unknown. The uproar was because people did not TRUST the president. You can make a case that people should trust him, but you cannot deny that many people do not.

I doubt there will be any uproar over the content that we now know. You may hear some people, however, who think the content may have been altered because of the uproar.

That's what opposition is for: to keep the party in power honest.

dan said...

Randy,
I understand the trust issue. Name me a politician that CAN be trusted. I don't trust any of them, or anyone else for that matter (not on every issue). And I do not agree with Obama on a lot of things either. I am neither Democrat or Republican or any other party. But what irritates me so much is the incessant criticism and fear-mongering that seems to have reached new levels against this administration. I know it happens on both sides, but it seems that is the conservatives ONLY response to anything. They have no stance on any issues - they are just AGAINST anything the Democrats want to do. You know, I could care less if it's democrat or republican - I just wish somebody would actually address some of the problems and quit nit-picking everything the other side is doing.

Free speech is a constitutional right in the US, but incessant criticism and fear-mongering are signs of shallowness and immaturity (imho). The thing I DO like about Obama is he seems to want to at least think deeply about the issues, regardless of partisan politics. But what do I know.

dan said...

Like I said, I don't like when it takes place on either side. It's one thing to hold people accountable, but it's another for politicians (and the media) to spend all their time just trying to keep "the other side" from being able to do anything. Thanks for the link.