Monroe Chat

I heard about this yesterday and was afraid this reaction would happen. Personally, as I understood it, it seamed rather forceful and presumptive. What if I did not follow President Obama? What I did not wish to have my Children participate in what could be perceived as political propaganda??? My questions are hypothetical and thankfully it seams I won't have to consider them

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President Obama's plan to inspire the nation's schoolchildren with a video address next week erupted into controversy Wednesday, forcing the White House to pull out its eraser and rewrite a government recommendation that teachers nationwide assign students a paper on how to "help the president," the Washington Times reported.

Presidential aides acknowledged the White House helped the U.S. Education Department craft the proposal, which immediately was met by fierce criticism from Republicans and conservative organizations who accused Obama of trying to politicize the education system.

White House aides said the language was an honest misunderstanding in what was supposed to be a inspirational, pro-education message to America's youths.

Among the activities the government initially suggested for prekindergarten to sixth-grade students: that they "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president."

Another task recommended for students immediately after listening to the speech: to engage in a discussion about what "the president wants us to do."

For the entire report: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/200 ... elp-obama/

seems if they ( the white house) wanted to inspire the children lets make it none party based.

How about how the children can help the USA. How about how the children can help their nieghbors and friends? There seems to me to be a lot of other ways to inspire the children then to pull them into the political mess of party politics.

As the "wheels" continue to rapidly wear/malfunction and fall off, the manner of this collapse never ceases to amaze me as being one of the most unique meltdowns I have ever witnessed. I believe it is indicative of an underlying political belief coupled with a total lack of experience in business and political savoy, and gross inexperience in reality, and surrounding himself with "like" people.

Over all I didn't have a huge problem with this in theory I believe seeing your President as approachable understanding the desire to reach all 'young student's' is quite admirable. In years previous, it seams that the First lady has been more of that type of a personality ~ well, at least with Laura Bush

However, again as I understood it, this was more politically postured than as Tracy suggested "How can I be a better Citizen" type of deal.

Either, or, it was swiftly 'squished' (or at least reworded LOL) it does seam that the President has a rather odd bunch of 'pulse people' just not sure who's pulses they are testing when coming up with some of these ideas

His "pulse people" have their thumbs on the heartbeat of America. Problem is, you aren't supposed to use your thumb to take a pulse!!!

Now I actually think it would've been an interesting experiment. I commend Obama for thinking outside of the box. If you just keep doing what's always been done you're just going to keep getting what you've always had.

blueblood wrote:As the "wheels" continue to rapidly wear/malfunction and fall off, the manner of this collapse never ceases to amaze me as being one of the most unique meltdowns I have ever witnessed. I believe it is indicative of an underlying political belief coupled with a total lack of experience in business and political savoy, and gross inexperience in reality, and surrounding himself with "like" people.

I agree with you on this.

Also, it's their lives he is ruining (not saying he hasn't hit us as well) with all the wasteful stimulus money he is spending. So why is he reaching out to them

I believe that we as Parents can not overlook the possibility that our Children will read or hear something at School (or outside school) that will not be within our personal belief system. We can choose to review the information with our Children, then offer our opinions and promote our understanding/interpretations if we so wish.

The scuttlebutt over this issue has caused some to contemplate keeping their Children home from school on broadcast day, while I fully respect the premise, I do not understand the reasonings (going back to my opening statement.)
There are many aspects of my Children's education that I personally dispute, I assume it is a cultural difference and therefore assume the responsibility of providing my experience and understanding to them, but also embrace the opportunity to 'expose' them to different points of view - I believe that is an integral part of both maturity and life experience.

At the end of the day, whilst I am opposed to political podiums in the classroom, President Obama is both the leader of this country and a Father (the latter I prioritize over the former ) I would not consider keeping my Children home from School, but would ensure a conversation with them to discuss what they saw/heard.

NB: Naturally, these are my own opinions, not posted to offend anyone in anyway.

I just think it's very uncool that Republicans (in general, not all) are so anti-Obama. It's almost as though we are divided again as in the Civil War. Instead of North and South we seem to have Republicans and Democrats and we can't all live together in this great country. Obama is the president of the United States, Republicans and Democrats alike.

That's just my opinion. I truly don't understand this issue. And I'm sort of, kind of, in some ways Republican!

Here is the text of the speech, which the White House decided to release after the controversy last week:

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event
Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009


"Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility. I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox. I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America. Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.
So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America."

Now, Ellie.
Did you think it uncool when the Dems/Liberals were attacking George W. Bush? When members of the Democrat party were calling our troops Nazis?
I think most Republicans and Americans are anto-Socialist. Not Anti-Democrat. Obama happens to be a socialist. Van Jones is a Communist, for God's sake!!! Americans are very much against the Federal government interferring in every aspect of our lives. Some things are tolerated but when a President takes over a car company and dictates who will be the new CEO, then he's overstepped the Constitution and what America is about. Same with the banking fiasco. Now health care is in his sights.
That's what has people going to Tea Parties and town-hall meetings. Not that Obama is a Dem, but because he's a Socialist.
I could go on-and-on but it's too early to put very much effort into this much thought, and I have to get to work.

Lost in all this discussion, seemingly, is the difference between eating McDonalds cheeseburgers three times a day and taking strychnine. You're meeting the same end seemingly, just one is slow and indefinable and one is quick and absolute! I can't even fathom 2 trillion in deficits per year! How much is a trillion and why should we care?

A stack of one trillion one-dollar bills would reach 68,000 miles in space. If you spent $1 million dollars a day from the day Jesus was born until now, you would only have spent about three quarters of a trillion.


If you laid one trillion one-dollar bills end to end, it would make a chain from the earth to the moon 200 times. One trillion dollars would stretch nearly from the earth to the sun. It would take a jet flying at the speed of sound, reeling out a roll of dollar bills behind it, four years before it reeled out one trillion dollar bills. A million seconds is 11.5 days. A billion seconds is 32 years. A trillion seconds is 32,000 years.

We toss these $ figures around like we comprehend the amount yet our elected officials refuse to read what they are advocating in spending and its ramifications. They love power more than their country and would sacrifice it in a heartbeat just as Judas did to Christ.
http://www.letfreedomringusa.com/federa ... ollars.htm

fixitman wrote:Now, Ellie.
Did you think it uncool when the Dems/Liberals were attacking George W. Bush?

Yes, I did.

Bush is the one who started the bank fiasco, least we forget. Obama has inherited a whole mess of problems.

I don't understand enough about the healthcare issues to have a solid opinion, and frankly, neither do most Americans. Every single person I have spoken with about it has heard one side, and when I offer the other side that I have heard I always get "I hadn't heard that." The thing is, I am surrounded by staunch republicans and staunch democrats, all well educated in politics. So I hear both sides! Most Americans do not.

I still say the president has the right to speak to our children about education. He's not educating them in the way of socialism but in the way of being educated.

Regarding the speech, my understanding has been that initially the White House was going to ask our children to "Help" our President. That could be taken several ways. The way I took it was Obama was going to say something to the effect "Your parents keep showing up at town-hall meetings and blasting us for this fisaco, so please go home and tell your parents to shut up and let us pass this into law."
If a President wants to read to children or encourage them to stay in school and get a good edjukation, then that is fine. However, when politics are entering into the classrooms, it's time to say something. Politics would come in handy for disbanning the NEA, but other than that it should stay out of the way.
Bush wasn't a renegade cowboy throwing loans to people who couldn't afford them. There was lots of help from both sides, including people like Obama. When a community organizer throws out the race card and says the banks are denying minorities the "right" to own a home, then some Congressman steps up and demands the banks to make sub-prime loans to those people.
Just over a year ago (maybe 15 months or so) Barney Frank was standing tall when there were questions about the security of Fanny and Freey. He said they were fine and safe. A few months later the truth came out. Several congressmen are under investigation for getting better-than-normal mortgage rates. Still think George W. was acting alone?

I think the original intent of the essay to "help the president" was to personalize the action.

Many children, regardless of the parents political party, look upon the president as an authority figure or even celebrity. If they can help motivate a young student to the importance of education, to a higher purpose of country, that sounds like something every parent and every teacher should be thankful for.

Our values have changed and in many ways for the better. But I believe we have become a bit selfish, too. We may care about the son of our next door neighbor who is on his way to Iraq but talk trash about the Hispanic family in the next block down who came here for a better life. We also belittle our neighbors to the north for wanting to hang on to the last vestage of life (and employment) as they knew it at the steel mill and yet praise the little township to the south who is eating away at every inch of greenspace they have left to build another parking lot (and park a polluting, gas guzzler of a car).

Our country is on a dangerous path when we do not trust our President to speak to our children. Things are bad enough without becoming a house divided. And you know what they say about that.