Obama's School Speech vs. Bush's School Speech

The loving liberals seem mystified that some people would rather not have their children subjected to the benevolent word of their Chosen one. As Jason Linkins wrote:

Earlier this morning, President Barack Obama gave his planned address to the nation's schoolchildren. This caps off a ridiculous period of time in the life of our Republic, in which a number of people completely lost their minds at the prospect of Obama talking to children about the importance of education, and the media -- to its great discredit -- pointed cameras at them and treated them as if they were sane.

Why, who wouldn't want their children hear the President of the United States praise the power of education?

Rewind: October 1, 1991, Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington DC

Then President George H.W. Bush decided to give a speech to a group of junior high kids praising the power of education. Unlike Obama, he didn't send out study questions, he didn't push for universal broadcasting and he didn't try to assign writing projects on how the students could help the president. He simply gave a speech where he told the kids to "Block out the kids who think it's not cool to be smart," and "Don't let peer pressure stand between you and your dreams." And how did the left respond?

The Washington Post dropped the headline: "The White House turned a Northwest Washington junior high classroom into a television studio and its students into props," while House Majority Leader, Richard Gephardt, complained "The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students."

But democrats being, well, democrats, decided not to stop at bellyaching.

Rep. William Ford, then chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate the cost and legality of Bush's appearance. On October 17, 1991, Ford summoned then-Education Secretary Lamar Alexander and other top Bush administration officials to testify at a hearing devoted to the speech.

That's right, the noble left who simply want our children to learn and think it was a wonderful idea for the President to address the nation's children actually launched an official congressional investigation when a Republican president did so . . . and Bush's speech was on a much smaller scale. Naturally the General Accounting Office concluded that the Bush administration had not acted improperly, but that didn't stop them from giving it the ol' liberal try.

Barack Obama's Address To School Children

Could you imagine the outrage from the left if George W. Bush had demanded that the public schools close the books and force their students to watch him on television? Well, I supposed there would be no reason for outrage since the teacher's union would not allow for it.

On the surface you may not recognize this as yet another maneuver of indoctrination by the left to create a Hitler . . . I mean, Obama Youth Corps. However, Michelle Malkin has written a brilliant piece exposing the objectives of the administration.

This is a must read:
Obama’s classroom campaign: No junior lobbyist left behind

Some highlights from her article:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan dispatched letters to principals nationwide boasting that “This is the first time an American president has spoken directly to the nation’s school children about persisting and succeeding in school.” But the goal is not merely morale-boosting. According to White House event-related guides developed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Teaching Fellows, grade-school students will be told to “listen to the speech” and “could think about the following:”

*What is the President trying to tell me?
*What is the President asking me to do?
*What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about?

So when the Department of Education directs schools to gather children ‘round the TV monitors for Obama’s pep talk and then do this…

• Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants or puzzle pieces or trails marked with the labels: personal, academic, community, country. Each area could be labeled with three steps for achieving goals in those areas. It might make sense to focus on personal and academic so community and country goals come more readily.
• Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.

…parents have every right to worry about their children being used as
Political Guinea Pigs for Change.

I suggest to every parent that you ask your child how this was handled in his or her school and address any concerns you may have to your school's principle and board.

Are Textbooks Distorting Christianity?

Is the Pope Catholic? Well, maybe not if you're reading public school textbooks.

According to a report by Lauren Green, public school textbooks are being used as "tools for propaganda." Now, we know that's been the case concerning historical distortions by textbook publishers, but now they're turning their sights on religion -- specifically Christianity and Judiasm. According to the report there are at least 500 errors or distortions in some of the most commonly used textbooks in public schools. What? You want examples?

• According to one textbook, Jewish folk "claim" that they received the 10 Commandments from their "Hebrew God," while the Holy Book of Islam actually contains "revelations received by Muhammed from God."


• In another textbook Jesus is identified as a "Palestinian" rather than a Jewish Rabbi.

As with their consistent assault on capitalism and American idealism, public school textbook publishers continue to use a subtle knife to carve away truth.

Check out the full report here:

Losing Their Religion

I Hope Ted Kennedy Remembers To Thank Teachers For The Free Booze

Teachers are losing their jobs all over the country. Financial assistance for their continued education has been cut nationwide. Classroom supplies and support are in . . . well, short supply. Teacher raises rarely match cost of living increases. In short, while the Federal government is doling out record funding for education, teachers are still getting whacked on their financial knuckles. Where is the leadership of the teachers' union?

Well, it appears that the teachers' union has decided to put its money where it really matters: a huge party where rich democrats can listen to speeches and get tanked on all the free liquor their livers can abide. In fact, last month alone the teachers' union contributed $750,000 for the Democratic National Convention. And who can blame them? How can anyone worry about math instructor salaries when Ted Kennedy needs to get Grey Goosed?

The Genius Of Barack Obama

OK, this is old news but it is new me. I just saw these Barack Obama gems on Baldilocks:

While campaigning in New Mexico, Obama said, "On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes — and I see many of them in the audience here today – our sense of patriotism is particularly strong."

Which is almost as funny (or sad) as:

Obama also spoke about his uncle, who was part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz. He said the family legend is that, upon returning from war, his uncle spent six months in an attic. [Note: the Russians liberated Auschwitz]

Ahhhh, and since we're reminiscing:

Obama's Mis-state
Another Geography Lesson From Barack Obama

Another Geography Lesson From Barack Obama

Perhaps the Senator finally understands that there are only 50 U.S. States. Now he just needs to figure out where they are. In discussing his difficulties campaigning in Kentucky, the Senator explained:

"What it says is that I'm not very well known in that part of the country," Obama said. "Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it's not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Barack Obama a senator from Illinois? And doesn't Illinois actually share a border with Kentucky? So, then, isn't Obama's home state closer than Arkansas?

Oh, wait, here's a map:

Obama's Mis-state

Dan Quayle was considered a functioning idiot for misspelling "potato" (which was actually misspelled on the card he was provided). So what should we think of Barack Obama's insight concerning the States of the Union? Sounds like somebody should have been taking some extra night classes at Columbia.

H/T to the Pirate King for this one.

Michigan State Is A Riot

The other Big Ten university in Michigan held a party this weekend that ended with fights, vandalism, arrests and perpetuity in the everlasting world of YouTube. The Detroit News described a scene where:

Partygoers threw beer bottles, women were flashing their breasts to the crowd and some tore down an apartment complex stop sign. Others in the crowd chanted "tear gas us." Police initially used smoke grenades and other devices that make loud noises and emit bright flashes of light to break up the huge crowd. Then they used tear gas.

How refreshing to see that Michigan's uniformed finest were able to fulfill the crowd's lust for tear gas even while under riot duress. And how refreshing to see that, once again, MSU's uninformed finest made so many of us proud . . . proud that we're not Michigan State Alumni.

Sparty On!



WILX Video of Cedar Fest 2008 Michigan State University