Posts filed under 'Politics'
Who Is Really Against Health Care Reform?
The conservative approach to health care reform is a systematic one. Let’s fix the things we know are broken, not throw the baby out with the bathwater and start over with an unknown quantity that is untested, unfunded and unproven anywhere to be better than the system we have.
Continue Reading 2 comments September 24, 2009
Shooting the Messenger: Was Obama’s Speech Dead Upon Arrival?
As much as I’d like to talk about Jon Gosselin’s appearance on ABC News Primetime: Family Secrets last night, I’m withholding that commentary to discuss what an even more important Dad had to say yesterday.
*Gasp!* More significant than what the most villainous soon-to-be-ex-husband in reality TV decided to get off his chest in complete prime-time-soap-opera-victimhood fashion? Yes, I know. Hard to believe. But, there are more important things going on in the world than the daily tabloid spectacle of Jon and Kate Gosselin’s messy divorce. Though, even I have been known to get caught up in all the marital drama. But, I digress.
I don’t know to who, but it may come as a surprise to someone that the president spoke to our nation’s youth in school classrooms yesterday live via C-SPAN and the White House website.
With all the controversy surrounding the accompanying lesson plans that were to be handed out to classrooms yesterday, many became suspicious of what the speech itself might contain in addition to the education message that was announced. It’s hard to imagine that the president, or his speechwriters and advisers, would be so bold as to put anything political in a speech to school children at a time when he needs to pull the country together to pass his extremely polarizing political agenda. And whether that is what people believed would happen or they just weren’t willing to have their children addressed by a man they so vehemently disagree with, one thing is for sure: the message became overshadowed by the messenger.
I read the president’s speech with an open mind on Monday night. Admittedly, I was half expecting there to be something in there I would disagree with. But, I found nothing. Instead, I thought the speech was inspiring and highly motivational. I imagined myself as a 16-year-old kid listening to this speech and being moved by the historical magnitude of it all. What was the theme? That if I work hard enough, I can achieve anything in this country. That nothing stands between me and my dreams except my willingness to pursue them, regardless of how rich or poor I am. Hardly liberal indoctrination.
So, I was surprised that instead of being pleased with this message, or at least relieved, there still remained many hold-outs who didn’t want their kids to receive it.
After posting on Facebook that I gave the speech an “A+,” I heard from several friends that they weren’t buying it from Obama. I scratched my head for a bit and then… it suddenly made sense. This reaction just confirms what I supposed in my previous post, that the level of distrust for this president has become an overriding factor in the people’s acceptance of any move he makes. If you don’t trust the messenger, you will likely reject the message.
Before he even got to “hello,” it seems the president’s speech may have been dead upon arrival in the minds of many who equate approval of the message with approval of the man and his agenda.
Photo by hebedesign
8 comments September 9, 2009
The Donkey in the Room
While I may not have a dog in this fight (my toddler is in “pre-preschool”), after reading all the hullabaloo, I can’t help but have an opinion. Not on whether the President should or should not speak to school children in the classroom about education, but about why people should find it so surprising that it has caused such controversy. When has education and the government’s role ever not been a hot topic?
It wasn’t so long ago (1991) that George H. W. Bush was receiving the same exact criticism for wanting to talk to students about studying hard, avoiding drugs and turning in troublemakers. Then House Majority Leader, Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) said, “The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students.” Sound familiar?
The government’s only role in the educational system should be to make sure that every child has access to the best education possible. Just as we accept that there is separation of church and state, it is also accepted that there should be separation of classroom and state. So when parents were able to see some of the lesson plans that the Department of Education had prepared for school children that included asking the children “what they can do to help the president,” and “how might he inspire them?” as well as a brief history about President Obama, there became cause for concern that a line was being crossed.
These questions may seem rather innocuous, designed merely to get the students involved and excited about being addressed by the president and what he has to say to them, but, for parents who don’t support the president (read agenda) and openly discuss these issues at home with their children, might their kids be confused by the conflicting messages? The school seems to support the president and be saying that I should too, but my parents don’t. Please don’t confuse respect for the office with supporting the president. All Americans should respect the office, but support is a matter of free will, and should never be compelled.
The donkey in the room here is President Obama’s rapidly dropping poll numbers (approval ratings now below 50%) and what they represent. As distrust for President G. W. Bush and the war on terror grew, his poll numbers dropped. As distrust for President H. W. Bush grew after his reversal on his pledge for no new taxes, his poll numbers dropped. Reagan: Iran-Contra. Carter: Iran hostage crisis. Nixon: Watergate. Could a growing distrust of this president, in the midst of an extremely polarized political climate over health care reform, explain some parents’ skepticism?
After receiving numerous complaints, the White House has changed or removed all discussion about President Obama or a child’s implied support thereof from the lesson plans, and focused the discussion completely on the student and how he/she can make the most of their education. I for one, applaud them for listening and reacting so quickly. And, if she were of school age, I would have no problem sending Reagan to school that day to hear the President’s speech and take part in the discussion since it’s revision. But, is it now too late to regain other parents’ possibly diminished trust in the plan?
12 comments September 5, 2009
