Posted on 08 Sep 2009 at 9:25pm By GavinoPrevious Democratic Presidents like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton had their policy detractors but neither man sparked such widespread public suspicion of their political motives as Barack Obama has in the first eight months of his leadership.
With government spending ballooning out of control and a takeover of health care in the offing, many Americans worry that their government is weakening the economy and eroding their traditional liberties. President Obama confounded these feelings with an ill-conceived and, ultimately, unremarkable televised address to public school children today, supposedly intended to encourage them to work hard.
When news of the plans first seeped out of the White House last week, Americans smelled a rat. It is not the first occasion that a sitting President has addressed school children but parents wanted to know the purpose of this address and how it would be managed. To many, the answer was alarming.
In what sounded to some parents more like a directive from a Politburo than a lesson plan from the Education Department, teachers were prompted to follow the back-to-school address with a written exercise on what their young charges could do to help President Obama. While some parents cast a non-suspicious eye on this move, others saw it as an attempt to indoctrinate a vulnerable and captive audience and gain support for the President and his liberal agenda.
After outrage was sparked, the White House backtracked and altered the question to one asking about the schoolchildrens’ short and long-term goals. Nonetheless, kids were pulled out of classes by concerned parents and some school districts opted not to show the address at all. School principals and Parent Teacher Association leaders around the nation were left to make the call on running the address, seemingly transforming those who complied into de facto apparatchiks of big government.
Big Brother or Big Patriot?
As the President’s speech was being released on Monday to dampen public fears, the Washington Post provided more fodder for the idea that liberals use the education system to further their political goals. In its “Kids Post” section, under the headline, “Ever wondered why kids have to go to school?”, the Democrat-supporting newspaper explained that, “For one thing, a healthy democracy depends on people who are informed about many issues. Citizens vote, and they take part in other civic duties – and educated people are likely to make better choices.” Wonder what choice that could be…?
Judging by town hall protests and school boycotts, President Obama has already lost the trust of large swathes of America as he stumbles from one crisis to another. Is it time for him to invite Jimmy and Bill to the White House to learn how they achieved their short and long-term goals?
I think many people, even some who voted for him, a waking up to who President Obama really is – at worst a comitted Socialist, at best a naive, inexperienced Pol. It will be interesting to see what his standing with the American people is on the healthcare debate.