Obama's speech to students today

[MTK]

Did people think Obama was going to try to push healthcare reform on kids or what??

Are we that paranoid as a society that we can't trust the President to speak to our kids, or are we that dumb?

I can't help but think there's some racist undertones with all of this "outrage".

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Did people think Obama was going to try to push healthcare reform on kids or what??

Are we that paranoid as a society that we can't trust the President to speak to our kids, or are we that dumb?

I can't help but think there's some racist undertones with all of this "outrage".

Stop with the stupid race card that the left plays anytime someone does not agree with Obama. It was the stupid lesson plan he wanted the kids to do to help HIM which was out before they released his speach 4 or 5 days later. Did I think Obama was going to push healthcare reform on the kids? I don't think he was going to push the healthcare thing but the lesson plan to help Obama seems fishy to me. After all the fuss they had plenty of time to review and change his speech so we will never know what he was going to say before the fuss. If Bush did this the left would have flipped if he wanted to ask kids to write an essay on how to help him. I actually don't think it was that much outrage just what was there was all over the news.

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Did people think Obama was going to try to push healthcare reform on kids or what??

Are we that paranoid as a society that we can't trust the President to speak to our kids, or are we that dumb?

I can't help but think there's some racist undertones with all of this "outrage".

For a vast majority of conservatives I'm sure there's no racist component, there are always "fringe" people unfortunately. When Bush 1 spoke to school in DC in 1991 the Dems actually started an investigation and the Post ran a front page story condeming Bush and the event.

School Detention Then and Now: Bush 41 vs. Obama - Greta Van Susteren | On The Record With Greta - FOXNews.com

I saw the President's speech and read the transcript, I had no problem with it, my son was at school yesterday. Although, Obama could've done excerpts from the Communist Manifesto and it wouldn't have mattered.....my kid probably wasn't paying any attention, he's a Junior and he's "too cool for school". LOL

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Did people think Obama was going to try to push healthcare reform on kids or what??

Are we that paranoid as a society that we can't trust the President to speak to our kids, or are we that dumb?

I can't help but think there's some racist undertones with all of this "outrage".

Based on what?

Look - I think any "outrage" over this was dumb. The man's the President and wanted to call the nation's children to study. Further, he did so in what appeared to be a non-partisan fashion. Excellent. I think it should be a mandatory part of every President's term.

But let's not be naive here. The country is polarized and the media (left and right) love to stir things up and overhype any controversy (good ratings don'cha know). The left media likes to portray the right as a bunch of dumb hicks incapable of rational thought and the right media likes to portray the left as a bunch of fellow travellers out to destroy capitalism and democracy. All it takes is a few idiots to say "He's trying to brainwash the kids" for it to play right into these two lines of thought. That's what the "controversy" was about - it had nothing to do with race.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Based on what?

Look - I think any "outrage" over this was dumb. The man's the President and wanted to call the nation's children to study. Further, he did so in what appeared to be a non-partisan fashion. Excellent. I think it should be a mandatory part of every President's term.

But let's not be naive here. The country is polarized and the media (left and right) love to stir things up and overhype any controversy (good ratings don'cha know). The left media likes to portray the right as a bunch of dumb hicks incapable of rational thought and the right media likes to portray the left as a bunch of fellow travellers out to destroy capitalism and democracy. All it takes is a few idiots to say "He's trying to brainwash the kids" for it to play right into these two lines of thought. That's what the "controversy" was about - it had nothing to do with race.

I wish I could be so sure about that.

I do think this pertains to those on the fringe as SS33 said above.

I think what's naive is to think there is absolutely no racist element out there to this, fringe or not.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I wish I could be so sure about that.

I do think this pertains to those on the fringe as SS33 said above.

I think what's naive is to think there is absolutely no racist element out there to this, fringe or not.

The birthers can legitimately be called racist/xenophobes, don't know about these people whining about the speech. Then again the GOP is infested with birthers.

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by saden1

The birthers can legitimately be called racist/xenophobes, don't know about these people whining about the speech. Then again the GOP is infested with birthers.

I don't think the GOP is "infested" with birthers. And I'm not sure racist/xenophobes is an accurate description, but they are certainly unwilling to accept proven facts and make themselves look pretty dumb, much like the 911 truthers.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by saden1

The birthers can legitimately be called racist/xenophobes, don't know about these people whining about the speech. Then again the GOP is infested with birthers.

What is a birthers?

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I wish I could be so sure about that.

I do think this pertains to those on the fringe as SS33 said above.

I think what's naive is to think there is absolutely no racist element out there to this, fringe or not.

There will always be a race issue no matter what color a person is but I just don't see that as an issue with most people who do not agree with Obama. Just look at the town hall meetings and you saw angry white people mad at their white rep. it had nothing to do with the color of their skin.

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I wish I could be so sure about that.

I do think this pertains to those on the fringe as SS33 said above.

I think what's naive is to think there is absolutely no racist element out there to this, fringe or not.

Of course there is racism - both ways. Has been, is now and will be always - it's one of the easiest ways to hate. In this case, however, the "controversy" was not about race it was about "Stupid Hicks v. Commie Bastards".

[jdlea]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Based on what?

Look - I think any "outrage" over this was dumb. The man's the President and wanted to call the nation's children to study. Further, he did so in what appeared to be a non-partisan fashion. Excellent. I think it should be a mandatory part of every President's term.

But let's not be naive here. The country is polarized and the media (left and right) love to stir things up and overhype any controversy (good ratings don'cha know). The left media likes to portray the right as a bunch of dumb hicks incapable of rational thought and the right media likes to portray the left as a bunch of fellow travellers out to destroy capitalism and democracy. All it takes is a few idiots to say "He's trying to brainwash the kids" for it to play right into these two lines of thought. That's what the "controversy" was about - it had nothing to do with race.

Eh...I think saying "it had nothing to do with race" is painting with a broad brush. My future mother-in-law is a teacher in Southern Louisiana and I'm not going to get into specifics, but there were teachers in those schools saying that they would refuse to air the speech because of things other than the man's politics, more to the point, because of the color of his skin. There have been letters to the editor about how it would have been better if Satan himself were to have addressed the children...are you f*cking kidding me?

I have to say, I don't believe Louisiana is unique in this regard. I'm certain there are a lot of school systems in the South riled up about this one. I'm positive there are places in South Carolina (I used to live there) who had the same sorts of issues with the airing of the speech. And what would be the argument against it? "How dare he tell my kids to stay in school?!...The nerve of him to promote hard work!"

I understand that some of the outrage is over the fact that there are Republicans who don't agree with a Dem "trying to push his agenda on kids," but let's be realistic and not stick our collective heads in the sand; it was in the minority, but plenty of the outrage was due to the color of his skin.

[MTK]

I'm at a loss as to why there would be any outrage over a back to school speech made to kids, so to me it's perfectly reasonable to suggest racism may be at play. Not by the media or those on the right, but by some of the parents that were so outraged over it. I saw this one woman who seemed so offended that the President dare speak to her kids I was simply amazed. If you think racism has zero to do with this, I think you're dreaming.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Like Matty said, I saw a woman on the news saying she would hold her kids out of school so they could avoid the "brainwashing". She seemed pretty angry, and clearly didn't like Obama. I took it as her withholding her kids from school, because she doesn't like Obama and doesn't want her kids to hear anything he has to say. Whether it's race or not, the anger is unfounded. So, to me, it's basically the same thing.

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

Like Matty said, I saw a woman on the news saying she would hold her kids out of school so they could avoid the "brainwashing". She seemed pretty angry, and clearly didn't like Obama. I took it as her withholding her kids from school, because she doesn't like Obama and doesn't want her kids to hear anything he has to say. Whether it's race or not, the anger is unfounded. So, to me, it's basically the same thing.

There is definitely anger against Obama out there, but anger against his policies and positions (which some feel are Marxist/socialist) and anger against him because of his race are TOTALLY different things. I have no problem with someone who feels anger against his policies/positions and withholds their children from school. That's not to say I agree with that thought process, but to be against a person because of their actions is one thing. However, anyone who has anger/hatred towards him because of race is completely wrong and completely stupid.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

There is definitely anger against Obama out there, but anger against his policies and positions (which some feel are Marxist/socialist) and anger against him because of his race are TOTALLY different things. I have no problem with someone who feels anger against his policies/positions and withholds their children from school. That's not to say I agree with that thought process, but to be against a person because of their actions is one thing. However, anyone who has anger/hatred towards him because of race is completely wrong and completely stupid.

Yeah, but this lady probably couldn't even spell "policy".

I think parents should teach their children to be critical thinkers, which means exposing them to all different points of view -- good and bad. You can't shelter your kids from propaganda, but you can teach them how to see through it. She was withholding her kids from school to avoid the so called "brainwashing," but by doing so, she's just enforcing her own kind.