Daily Archives: September 8, 2009

Obama Stresses Responsibility In School Pep Talk : NPR

Look ma, no socialism! Which, frankly, is a damned shame given that the kids who were denied access to the speech – either by their Talibangelical parents or their asswad school administrators – probably need an alternative to the cult society being taught to them at home.

I love some of these NPR comments and wanted to share:

olds sleeper (gizzardwriter) wrote:

i am a high school teacher in a rural area in the northeast, and listened to the speech via npr while eating my lunch in my room. Apparently, a lot of parents did not want their kids to hear such heinous material…no problem here, Im gonna bootleg it and sell the kids the poison their parents are denying them…imagine, throngs of scary teens, huddled in dark corners listening covertly to the message ….stay in school, work hard, be american…wow, how radical.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009 1:59:38 PM

This one really hits it on the head:

Sam Pepper (SamT66) wrote:

In the past I don’t remember anyone ever questioning whether their child would watch a speech by the president. Why are we doing so now? What is the point? My family values are not in line with everything my children are exposed to in public school, including other children. I don’t always agree with a teacher’s ideaology that he or she shares off cuff in the classroom. Sometimes I confront these issues, sometimes not. It’s part of life. I think it’s much better to take what I don’t agree with and use it as an entry point for constructive dialogue with my kids. I want them to be strong, self-aware, and sure when they reach adulthood … not overly sheltered and afraid to face anyone or anything that is different from them. Strength is in knowing who you are. In order to get there, you have to think, dig deep and yes, listen to the views of others. I agree with Zeke – this is scary. And ironically, it’s the people who are so afraid of the “socialist agenda” who are instigating the problem. They will create the very society they fear.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009 1:52:34 PM

I have provided a helpful link to the White House’s copy of the speech plus the video. Enjoy.

Personally, I think these morons trying to denigrate the office of the President are waaaay off base. This isn’t about respecting the office and having issues with the occupant. This goes deeper. This is about citizens denying their kids access to helpful words from the President of the United States. This is about publicly funded schools playing politics. The former should be first in line for any draft to fight Bush’s Iraq War. The latter should be dead last in receiving federal funds. Either be Americans or pack your ass off to Texas and secede already.

Aside from showing the Rethugs blatant racism and stupidity, maybe this was what they were worried about?

Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog! Go!: Bipartisanship Is Creating More Polarization

Naturally, there’s always going to be partisanship. But this idea of bending over backwards to appease even the craziest fringe protests isn’t going to make bipartisanship more likely, or more appealing.

More good observations from Bob Cesca. Basically, if you keep allowing that crazy people have logical ideas, we’ll all soon be led by batshit crazy people.

Yes, Sarah Palin, people like you.

Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog! Go!: ‘Indoctrination’

More from Bob Cesca as he redefines the “indoctrination debate”. In short, if Bush forced people to sign loyalty oaths to him and the Rethugs were fine with it then, then they have absolutely NO right to bitch about Obama delivering a positive, non-partisan message to our nation’s children.

Actually, the media really should get off it’s ass and ask every. single. Quisling. if they are just racist or merely stupid. As I’ve said before, if Barack Obama is a socialist – or even a liberal – I’m either Grimace from McDonaldland or a cartoon character. You idiots should be so lucky as to actually have a progressive leading this nation.

Instead we’ve got a guy that would probably had been a Republican in 1980. You know, if the GOP allowed black people to even be Republicans in 1980.

Meanwhile Lee Stranahan points out that neoconservative cretins are actually the ones indoctrinating children by airing their filthy lies on the Cartoon Network.

SPORTSbyBROOKS » Emotions In KS Hazing Incident Running Hot, Icy

For some reason, people love to perpetuate the myth of the idyllic small town. Usually, such myths are used as a comparison to the evil, hedonistic, crime-ridden big cities. In small towns, so the myths go, neighbors cheerfully help one another, work hard, do their shopping on Main Street, and everyone lives a simpler, happier, more moral existence than, say, effete East Coast intellectuals.

The truth is that the myth of the idyllic American small town is by and large dead. Wal-Marts have rendered Main Street storefronts all but abandoned, family farms have long gone bankrupt or been rendered useless by multinational corporations, drugs and crime are sky-high, and people are hostile, distrustful, and bitter.

SportsByBrooks covers violent high school football hazing in a small Kansas town.