Dear Leader
On September 8th, President Obama plans to address children across the country as they begin another school year. Not such a big deal, right? After all, both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush gave similar addresses.
The controversy resides in the recommended lesson plans provided by the White House. In it, students are encouraged to read books about Barack Obama, write letters about how Barack Obama has inspired them and how they can best serve Barack Obama. Teachers were encouraged to put up posters in their schools containing quotations made by President Obama on education.
All of this strikes me as being extremely creepy and very North Korean-like. I am trying to not make too much about this issue but when I read what the White House issued for grades Pre-K~6 (http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/prek-6.pdf) and 7~12 (http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/7-12.pdf), the uneasiness I feel was even more substantiated. I counted 25 references to the President (10 in the 7~12 material,15 in the Pre-K) through only 6 pages of text, and that did not include the 10 personal references (he, him, his, etc) listed as well.
Those on the right are very disturbed by this and those on the left do not see the big deal. While this is no surprise in a country so bitterly divided along political and ideological demographics, what if the right is right in its assertions that this reeks of political indoctrination? And why such strict control over the lesson plans anyway? Should the government be so entrenched in our daily lives that they now must control what is specifically taught in the classroom? What role should our government and President play in the education of our children?
I seem to remember someone else trying this too. Now what was his name…. Oh yeah, I remember! Hitler!
During his campaining in 1980, soon to be President Ronald Reagan proposed abolishing the Department of Education, calling it “President Carter’s new bureaucratic boondoggle.”
Can we please keep this blog focused on relevant and timely issues? I mean c’mon, enough with this President Obama person. I mean with this time of year I would think, as a country, we need to be focused on REAL issues. Substantial issues that will affect our children and their children’s children. Our call to action is now…we only have until Thursday night! Do I start Marion Barber or Lendale White? Should I drop one of my kickers and look for more depth on my roster? Which kicker should I start? San Diego or New England Defense? We all need to come together as a country and make sure our fantasy football roster is right before we can worry about “political indoctrination.” In fact, if the President could start a day care on Sunday’s, Monday night, and especially throughout the playoffs, I don’t care what his speech is about. He did run his campaign on free daycare, right?
I believe Obama is trying out the McDonalds theory of selling to parents through children and educators. I am thinking that if this is sucessful, our children will be hearing a more detailed socialist message. My child would not be allowed to watch this.