I repeat: It’s not the speech, it’s the subtext; Update: Don’t let me, me, me down
Scroll down for update…
Photoshop: Leo Alberti
Tunku Varadarajan is a professor at NYU’s Stern Business School, fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and executive editor for opinions at Forbes.
He thinks I am a “kook” and “crazy” for criticizing President Obama’s education event tomorrow.
Tellingly, he does not address the actual substance of my arguments. But he packs in plenty of ad hominems:
Too Many Kooks
Tunku Varadarajan, 09.07.09, 12:00 AM EDT
Obama’s school speech drives the right crazy.The Silly Season ceases to be “silly” when what passes for political debate in America turns not merely stupid or witless, but certifiably demented.
I write of the kooky reaction of many conservatives–politicians, citizens and commentators in the media–to the plan by President Obama to address the nation’s schoolchildren tomorrow.
Obama will, as we all know, address our kids–plenty of whom need a lesson or two on the subject, since they clearly don’t get it from their parents–on the virtues of study, education and hard work. According to a White House spokesman, the aim of the speech is “to challenge students to work hard in school, to not drop out and to meet short-term goals like behaving in class, [and] doing their homework …” If anyone thinks that’s unpalatable, subversive, Commie and un-American, I’d like to meet for a duel at dawn by the skating rink at New York’s Central Park. (Pick your weapon, Michelle Malkin and Glenn Beck …)
Obama’s original “lesson plan” had been to ask students auditing him to write letters to themselves outlining ways in which they could “help the president.” This seemingly earnest proposal provoked a reaction so vitriolic from sections on the political right that I began to wonder whether I was missing a point–to wonder, in fact, that I, as a recent immigrant to this country, had failed to integrate well enough to grasp the nuances of American political debate.
Yes, you missed the point.
It’s not the speech (as I pointed out last week), it’s the subtext.
It’s the radical activism of the White House Teaching Fellows who designed the education guides tied to Obama’s speech.
It’s the overzealousness of public school educators who have turned classrooms into Obama campaign offices.
It’s the influence of the left-wing social justice crusaders of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge on Team Obama.
It’s the Left’s embrace of Obama Chicago pal Bill Ayers’ pedagogical philosophy of “education as the motor-force of revolution.”
It’s the activist tradition of government schools using students as junior lobbyists to pressure legislators for higher education spending, pro-illegal immigration protests, gay marriage, environmental propaganda, and anti-war causes.
Now, who are you calling “kook?”
***
Update: Speech text released. It’s not about Obama…except, of course, that it is.
Obama, Hygience Czar, tells your kids to wash their hands.
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Categories: Education
I can picture The One attempting to exhort and encourage this student.
Same to you, AN!
I did put Old Glory out, yesterday and today, because this is still my country [despite the machinations of I Won et al].
And I’m going to do whatever I can, so help me God, to preserve, defend, and protect it.
AN, you beat me to it. A psychiatrist would have a field day with this idiot and his “me syndrome”. I think his mother must have had a lot of guilt about her life, possibly for leaving The Won with his typical white grandmother who apparently indulged him and never told him no. How else could he have become so screwed up?
His need to tie in with losers like Ayers and such tells me that deep down he hates himself.
Translation: SHE’S PLAYING FROM OUR PLAYBOOK!!! NO FAIR!!! WAAAAAAAA!!!
I keep hearing that the “teaching guide” that was to be used after Obama’s speech, is identical to the one used when Bush gave a speech. I have been unable to get anybody to cite their reference so I can look at this myself.
Also, does anybody have a copy of the original (unedited) “teaching guide”?
I’m still not letting my guard down. I plan on watching the speech tomorrow with a printed copy of the pre-released transcript in hand. I want to make sure there’s not an unfortunate TOTUS malfunction that leaves him free to roam off-topic. Then again, maybe he’d reveal his true agenda.
And if everything tomorrow goes according to what we’ve now been given, still keep your guard up. This speech is innocuous enough that next time people will yawn and just assume any future speech will be much the same. This is how they work.
Major difference in “stay in school and do well,” vs “I want you to stay in school and do well.” It takes 10 minutes to say it, not 30 minutes.
Man, oh man this backfired big time. My daughter will be in school for this speech and anyone who keeps their child out is un-American and yes, kooky. I think we’ll find out on Wednesday that the number of students skipping school will be rather small.
If you cry wolf…
Shouldn’t that be moonshot missed?
Your daughter? Your business–hands off the rest. And just where is this official registry of student attendance available 24/7?
Thankfully none of my grandchildren attend the state controlled schools and my children did not either. I did but that was before the Department of Education helped.
haha!!! I have to admit being able to log in here is much more important to me than being able to log out!
PS – Whenever I’m called a “Neanderthal” I take it as compliment.
My 15 year old’s economics teacher may show the speech in class tomorrow. I’m not worried because my son will be voting in 2012 so he needs to learn to refute wrong positions and defend his own-and said teacher will be at the rally in DC on 9/12.
My son will be fine.
*smirk*
Obama’s message is intended for inner-city kids from poor households (the Democrat Party base,) not kids who already have their heads screwed on right and do well in school. ACORN doesn’t recruit well from un-blighted white school districts.
no, they are not identical, not even close.
BUSH:
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/kids/guide/
Parent’s Guide
After your child explores the stories on the freedom timeline, use the following questions to extend his/her thinking:
What is the meaning of diplomacy, intelligence, liberty, giving and humanitarian aid?
What are some modern-day examples illustrating these terms?
What is another story or lesson of liberty that could be part of a freedom timeline? Perhaps you and your child could create your own freedom timeline.
Is there someone in your family who went to extraordinary efforts to preserve America’s freedom?
Extension Activity One
Create an ‘ABC’ list centering on the themes of patriotism, responsibility, character traits, or the school motto.
Extension Activity Two
Create an ‘ABC’ type of activity using the student’s name or the school name that centers on the themes of patriotism, responsibility, history, character traits, or the school motto.
Parent’s Guide
After your child explores White House Historical ABC’s, use the following example questions to extend his/her thinking:
Name one of the President’s pets.
Which three of the ‘letters’ were your favorites?
What did you learn about the White House through the White House Historical ABC’s?
Use the letters in your first name to make a list of your favorite reasons for living in America.
Obama: (REVISED)
http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/7-12.pdf
Teachers may post in large print around the classroom notable quotes excerpted from President Obama’s speeches on education. Teachers might ask students to think alone, compare ideas with a partner, or share their thoughts with the class. Teachers could ask students to think about the following:
What are our interpretations of these excerpts?
Based on these excerpts, what can we infer that the president believes is important in order to be educationally successful?
Create a “concept web.” Teachers may ask students to think of the following:
Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us?
How will he challenge us?
What might he say?
Do you remember any other historic moments when the president spoke to the nation?
What was the impact?
the differences are so clear, and so dramatic. BO wants us to learn about why HE is great. Bush wanted us to learn why our COUNTRY is.
Any decent responsible American parents should not only keep their children out of government schools on Tuesday, but they should permanently remove them from government school’s enrollment.
How awful and irresponsible it is for any parent to allow a child to be subject to the indoctrination of the government system!
It’s the speech. One of his very first sentences is a lie, he claims to be home schooled by his mother when he was in Indonesia, but his actual school records show he was enrolled in both catholic and public schools in Indonesia.
Doesn’t he know that when you stoop that low you meet your colon coming the other way?
I thought that was your modus operandi.
It is an even longer way away from the definition of “activist”. You don’t get to make up your own definitions. Define “better”, and put it in the context of the decline of the public schools since they were overrun with “activist” liberals.
And what grade was that? How about the video of the teacher that, during the election, made the girl whose father was in the military cry, when she misstated McCain’s “100 years in Iraq” statement? Was she an “activist”?
And this adds exactly what to your argument?
This is not a new approach . . . dictators always target the children.
LOL, another nice way of saying he has his head up his a**
I sent an e-mail to this fool earlier today and posted it in this blog (800910).
For what it’s worth, this was his response to me:
Dear Mr __________: Thanks for your note. I’d be delighted if you were to post it on the Forbes web site as a response to my piece. We may disagree, but I respect your views.
Yrs sincerely, Tunku Varadarajan
====================================
He apparently doesn’t respect everybody’s views. Phony.
As Mainah’s post shows, GHWB’s suggested questions are aimed at parents, not teachers in the classroom.
Obama’s Sec. of Education, on the other hand, has overreached the guidelines under which congress authorized the Department of Education by posting a special curriculum for use in the classroom at the DoE website, and sending a message to school principal’s to suggest/urge/encourage its use.
Very, very different scenarios.
And they wonder why we don’t trust I Won….
Yes, that is my job as a parent! So, let me FREAKING DO IT!
That is my point!
I just opted out of having my daughter subjected to Mr. Obama. I discussed his apparent intentions, both good and not so good, of the message with the above link. God help the poor liberal teacher that may decide to backlash against my daughter for opting out; there will be hell to pay if that should occur.
Previously, I did not have many strong feelings about Obama’s message, since I don’t think many kids out there are going to automatically become Obamabots because of this message alone. Most of the kids will remain quite clueless about Obama and his radical politics.
That said, as I was discussing Obama’s message with my daughter, I went down a laundry list of why I can’t respect the man: his evisceration of the economy, his support for legislation which will throroughly jackup the health care industry, his political affiliation with leftist radicals, how he’s going to end up having us lose Afghanistan etc, and I just became enraged that the schools would subject my daughter with such a reprehensible person. It’s pathetic that our children should have a leader like him.
Wow, the man’s a megalomaniac. The world appears to revolve around him. His (mindless) drones/supporters are not helping him connect with the real world.
What is wrong with a radical in the position of President of the United States of America speaking to the children of the USA during school class time?
After all, just because he was a community organizer who has associated with communists, radicals, terrorists, socialists, abortion advocates, and other ne’er do wells does not mean that we should fear him, right?
Just because he has surrounded himself with numerous supporters of eugenics, euthanasia, abortion, exploitation of children, and more, doesn’t mean that w have anything to worry about or that we should be in the least way offended.
Silly people.
You’d think you have values and principles and care about your children or something.
/Sarcasm off.
Hmmmmmm…….
***Wonders what the Left and the MSM (but I repeat myself) would think if President Bush had tried this just two years or so ago***
The Communists used and use “schools” for indoctrination–reeducation.
Each generation has a test that they must pass to protect their freedoms. The oldest living Americans fought off national socialism and fascism. The next oldest fought off communism. The current generation may well have the toughest task of fighting off socialism, fascism and communism within the American government.
Unless the children are protected against the radical left represented by obama, America will lose its freedom in the next generation.
If American History and Government were taught truthfully in the public education system, we wouldn’t be having this problem today. Complete failure of public education, and complete failure of too many absent parents.
So go ahead President Obama – tell the kids to wash their hands, make nice with one another, finish school and be all you aspire to be…that’s fine. Anything more will only further define your hidden agenda to even more people who vote.
Check THIS out.
First, second grade and such there was a big steel tub outside the cafeteria where we washed our hands. We would sing “this is how we wash our hands, wash our hands“.
That my fellow Americans I would trust President Obama to do: he could lead the singing and hand the little guys their towels–we could not reach the towel rack-they did not trust us with the towels I guess!
Thank you Miss Mabin, Thank you Mr. President.
Cafeteria line towel boy? Perfect job for a community organizer!
Now who would have thought the Dems would investigate W? /sarc off
Hypocrites!
What a complete d-bag our PR-esident has shown himself to be.
Kids don’t care about you or your fictitious fractious life, BingHole.
How much did this media circus cost the taxpayer?
Was it in the stimulus package?
Sickening drivel from a man of midget-sized character and gargantuan ego.
What national problem goes neglected while Boy Wonder chases parked cars?
Bear1909 out
Does that job position include a teleprompter? If not, it might be above his pay grade.
More partisan pissing contests on the taxpayer’s dime… while the economy collapses… while selling more welfare… while not willing to win wars… while rigging elections… etc.
Bear, you and Jangar are cracking me up. Excellent questions for The Won.
Just exactly how has the public education system failed liberals and their causes to warrant Obama dishing out more of the same thing?
Answer: poll numbers.
“Depends on what he talks about,” was my first thought. Then I saw the study guide and I thanked God my kid is in a private Christian school. Too much emphasis on “helping him.” If my kid is going to be exhorted to “help him,” I’d rather it be God that she is exhorted to help.
Now I read Obama’s speech has 56 I-statements, more than any other topic combined.
Liberals are desperate to find where conservatism come from and then choke the source to death.
He says “i” 56 times but no mention of Life, Liberty, or Freedom?
I guess
our countryprogressive thought was founded on principles of “i” or as other pirates put it “aye” !Way to much “I” in a speech to encourage children, don’t you think?
Obama is a self absorbed arrogant fool if he thinks he can do a Chavez on America.
right_on, you ARE right on target here. Children with responsible parents from education oriented cultures don’t need a lecture on the value of education and how to behave in the classroom. The parents are involved and care about their children’s future and demeanor. And in the end, nothing will change. We will throw more $ at the dropout problem in inner cities with little to no results to show for it.
Oh, the horror!
NYK:
He needed the involvement of the US Dept of Ed to do this?
So, NYK, why do YOU think Obama speaks to the children?
Because you think he cares so deeply about them?
Just how stupid are you?
Can someone please tell the Prez that the campaign is over?
And that he’s not starring in a remake of Mona Lisa Smile?
BOR-ring
I wonder how many “uh”s in repetition and additional “I”s will be in the speech. Hopefully, the teleprompter will be functioning….
WTIC in Hartford runs fillers and PSA’s on their digital channels during commercials. They ran one with Obama lamenting how bad the high school 30% average dropout rate is. He then went on to state that at some schools the dropout rate is even higher.
How did the republic survive over 200 years without this genius?
BHO has only one weapon – moving his lips. Any one opposing his programs is a fool too stupid to understand that HE knows what’s best. The opposition just needs another speech. What he fails to see is that words alone are not a plan. He gathers words, which sound good and say really nothing. Sometimes he contradicts himself in the same speech. Maybe he’s the one who is too stupid to understand his own speeches.
I choose…my brain. Yours is obviously inferior so I will win easily.
Hey nyk, glad you’re back. Good to have your perspective on things even though we don’t often agree.
I noticed you overlooked the 56-I-statements in the speech, and the revised lesson plan. However, as long as the Presdident does not stray from the topic, stay in school, it should be OK.
The government is no longer our government
and that’s the problem.
Who is the harsh rhetoric used on by this government, our enemies?
No, it’s used against the people.
They see and treat us as the enemy that needs to “get schooled”.
The “reeducation camps” are opened and ready for business in a figurative way.
Just think of it as electronic home monitoring, and our own children are being groomed to be the snitch police, while all the laws are used against the people as weapons instead of protection.
It’s “change” you shall believe in- or else!
Talking with school children is an area that Laura Bush excelled at. How come Micky O isn’t the one giving this magnified PR lesson. You can’t convince me that obama doesn’t do anything unless it glorifies him – he is once gain trying to convince us that he cares. He has such a patronizing manner as though we ARE ALL children or he speaks sarcastically. Puhleeze.
The Journal was being deliberately obtuse, as is their usual tactic when opposing something, about this speech and the conservative reaction to it.
My kids are grown and failed to imbibe the liberal kool-aid. Teach them to question who benefits and who pays. Liberals and socialists hate that question, for some odd reason.