Though I do understand the concern on the part of some parents regarding the President’s planned speech to schoolchildren this week, I still can’t help but feel that it’s the type of panicked mob mentality response that’s often the case of much ado about nothing.
While it might have been more prudent to speak directly to children with their parents present and thus choose an early evening broadcast time, it shouldn’t be a necessary consideration. He is, after all, the President and hopefully has their best interests as his primary goal.
Parents who are up in arms against this speech may have the experience of the liberal political pressure that’s aimed at students on many college campuses, but the White House has assured us that this televised speech is in response to the large dropout numbers and meant to encourage kids to work hard and remain in school. My only negative concern might be that if the idea of a college education is touted as being necessary, it might make those who have chosen other paths or who honestly do not have that option open to them feel less meaningful. But this is speculation on my part; I don’t know how the address is laid out and neither does anyone else.
Otherwise, it’s the same inspirational b.s. they’re hearing; only this time, maybe they’ll listen.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
I have read the President’s speech and I agree with his comments. I am a conservative republican and I did not find any problem with what the President will say in his speech to the students. There is no brainwashing or indoctrination in his comments. We have problems in our schools and that needs to change.
Are we becoming so stupid in this country that commonsense has disappeared? There are too many people that are blindly following people who have their own agenda.
There are too many checks and balances in place in our system of government to protect us against some of the ridiculous statements such as Obama wants to become a dictator and our government will turn into the communist government. If we allow that happens, we the people have failed.
Yes, I have problems with some of his policies but I will not listen to this craziness that has been put forward lately. We are spending too much time on these petty side issues, instead of getting down to the business of making this country better.
I’m wondering if perhaps many conservatives are not retaliating for the vocal abuse that was heaped upon the Bush administration, often unwarranted and of the same timbre as this. Sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. I do not agree with many of the policies of this president, more in the means and methods than of the intents, and yet realize that as you say, we’re wasting time and energy if we try to thwart and oppose his every move just because it’s the other party.
I think we’re seeing something very similar to what many referred to as “Bush derangement syndrome” where there was a segment of the population that became overly vocal and vitriolic. I think the loudest of the anti-Obama crowd have reached a point where no matter what this administration days or does, there is an extreme overreaction and they frequently cite the treatment of President Bush as rationale for over the top behavior.
What is just as, if not more disturbing is that there is an equally loud group of liberals and progressives and many in the media who are reacting to each and every outburst, therefore making every protest even more “newsworthy” and distracting and fanning the flames of us versus them.
Every time I hear the cable news networks talking about any of this — whether it’s birth certificates, angry town hall meetings, death panels or the back to school address — I can just visualize the politicians who ought to be working on the actual issues wiping their brows and feeling thankful that everyone is distracted by these time wasting activities and not pressing them to come up with solutions and information for us.
You know where I stand pretty much. I’m not affiliated with any party but I’m somewhere in that socially liberal/fiscally libertarian realm.
If I were trying to move something like health care reform along right now (and I am a big advocate for reform — not necessarily of every facet of the proposed reform — I’d be trying to find some issues that most Americans can agree on.
I think everyone can agree that the costs for coverage and for prescription drugs are too high and there are a lot of ways they could be reduced. I’m pretty sure that quite a few of us agree (including me) that those of us paying for health insurance shouldn’t just have to pick up the tab for those who don’t have it and aren’t willing to pay for it, but I personally believe that a large number of uninsured means our costs are higher anyway, since we do indirectly pay for all of those emergency room visits.
It’s a shame that the need to address the illegal immigration problem was handled so badly a few years ago. Spokesmen like Tom Tancredo (formerly the congressman for my district – thank you very little) were extremists and painted the whole issue with a racist sounding brush so that liberals automatically polarized away from it. But it is a real problem and the huge number of people here illegally is breaking our school systems and literally causing hospitals and emergency rooms in places like California to shut down.
I think what the pharmaceutical industry has been allowed to do in terms of pricing, marketing, influencing medical professionals and lobbying Congress borders on criminal. I recognize that medical advances have always come from private industry, but most of the “new” drugs these guys are developing and marketing (it makes me nuts every time I see a TV ad for a drug) are not miracle drugs curing cancer and fighting disease.
I’m also baffled at why the Democrats won’t pursue tort reform as a means to help lower medical costs. The response Howard Dean (who I love) gave which amounted to — this was just one more dragon we didn’t think we could attempt to slay — rings hollowly to me.
I believe reform must ensure that people with pre-existing conditions can be covered and not be penalized. I believe medical insurance must be made mandatory for everyone because the uninsured are still getting treatment, only everyone else is paying for it.
And I believe that some form of insurance exchange must be established as an alternative to employer provided coverage. I’ve got great coverage from my employer, but at some point, I’d actually like to be able to leave my job and right now that wouldn’t be an option if for no other reason than that Scott and I couldn’t afford to buy our own insurance.
Sorry for rambling on here, but since I know only smart people visit you, I figured it may be one of the only places on the internet where it’s safe to express some thoughts and ideas and not risk being responded to in all capital letters.
But to your actual point — all of this fighting over non-issues really is a huge distraction and a waste of everyone’s time and I wish it would stop.
Had to look up the “BDS” and I agree that there’s a lunatic fringe at either end of the political scale. It’s odd how the extremes can be so very far apart yet desirous of the same ultimate goal for America and its citizens. I also believe that more and more folks are falling towards a middle ground that eventually will be able to communicate with each other in less than a screaming rage.
Just got a chance this morning to read The Speech and it’s just the usual “stay in school” with a more eloquent spin. It’s too bad that a President’s proposed speech to children could be conceived as political gesture and have to be offered for public approval first, but as I mentioned, the punch of college classrooms is so politically charged that maybe this is what put some more “normally normal thinking” people into a tizzy.