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Today's Nuze

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it."

Frederic Bastiat

REPUBLICANS GET ROLLED ... AND DESERVEDLY SO.

By
Neal Boortz
@ September 8, 2009 8:45 AM
Permalink | Comments (156) | TrackBacks (0)

Today at noon Barack Obama addresses the nation's schoolchildren .. or a good number of them anyway. Many students won't hear the speech because of a rather severe miscalculation from the right. Republican screaming and wailing made it sound as if Hugo Chavez was flying in via Aeroflot to speak to our poor, innocent, unsuspecting angels. School districts reacted ... and millions of school kids will sit around picking their noses at noon instead of watching the speech.

So now the speech is out. As of yesterday afternoon you could read it on the Internet. I've read it, and if there is anything in there that I wouldn't want my child to have heard from a U.S. President, I certainly couldn't find it.

Egad! The speech is innocuous! What are we going to do now? I know! We'll all claim that Obama changed the speech after the uproar from the right! Well, duhhhhhh. Of course he did! Why wouldn't he! Well, actually he really didn't have to change it. It probably wasn't written by the time conservative boxers bunched up en masse. So Obama's speechwriters took their cue from the right and made the speech essentially bulletproof from the get-go. One sharp mind in a Republican strategy session could have seen this one coming from the next galaxy.

  • President says he will give speech to schoolchildren.
  • Republicans say the speech will be full of leftist propaganda
  • Parents run in circles flailing arms overhead while screaming and shouting.
  • Some school officials black out Obama's speech. (racist comment)
  • Grinning speechwriters prepare speech with no leftist propaganda.
  • Republicans look like fools.
  • People now more reluctant to listen to conservative complaints about Obama.

Now how easy was that? For about three days we have parents, the Republican Party and assorted odds spinning around on their eyebrows and spitting wooden nickels over Obama's speech. He's going to indoctrinate our children. He's going to fill them full of socialist ideology. They're all going to come away from school today singing Kumbaya and waving red flags. They'll probably stop on the way home from school to buy a Che Guevara t-shirt from vendors the Democrats will have waiting out in front of their schools. Then the hopelessly indoctrinated kids will come home and destroy all the incandescent light bulbs and turn the spare bathtub into a recycling bin. Before they do their homework (reading The Communist Manifesto) they'll hide the car keys so daddy has to take mass transportation to work on Wednesday.

TeamObama must have loved this one. Talk about a hanging curveball. Once the manic inanity started all they had to do is sit back, prepare an innocuous speech for The One, and let the people scratch their heads wondering what in the hell the Republicans were so upset about!

Now that the speech is out .. and now that most stable people realize that there is nothing in the speech worthy of such an uproar ... it's time to change tactics. "It's not the speech! It's the lesson plan!" Oh yeah ... if that makes you feel better, go for it. You can just tell everyone that you really weren't upset about Obama actually speaking to the students ... it was the lesson plan that had you so angry all along. Yup! Works for me! Sure .. some Department of Education hack messed up the lesson plan, but that was so easily corrected and it was on to the speech. Now the next time the right comes up with an objection to some Obama concept, people who last week might have been on board will stand back and look at the Republicans with a jaundiced eye.

The massively dysfunctional Congress is back today .. with one thought in mind: Rescue Obama's presidency. The danger that this man and his congressional sycophants presents to this country is far from over. Obama will be doubling his effort to destroy much of America's private economic sector, starting with the seizure of the 18 percent of our economy represented by health care. This nonsense over the speech to the school children has boosted Obama's image as he and the congress get back to the business of promoting government. He will make a speech to the congress tomorrow night outlining his vision of government-controlled health care. No doubt his vision will contain many threats to liberty ... but opposing views will be filtered through the school speech debacle. Two steps forward and four steps back. Unless PrezBO really messes up his address to Congress tonight watch for his popularity ratings to rise. Thanks, Republicans!

A version of the foregoing Nuze segment about Obama's school speech appeared as a column at Townhall.com today ... and it wasn't what you might call "welcomed." You can click here to read the comments.



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What others are saying

  • @Erik D
    You want hate? Just listen to and read all of the venom being spewed by the Left at patriotic Americans who won't kowtow to Obama's socialist policies.

    Olbermann, Krugman, Rich, Pelosi, and Reid come to mind.
  • POTUS To Students Speech
    Given the lack of truthfulness and transparency by this administration in the last 7 months this speech has value down the road not necessarily right now and the only one getting rolled is you Boortz. Wake up! It's time for you to catch up with current events. You've done your 'Hollywood' on a couple of callers lately and you were wrong about comments by Obama and they were spot on. Catch up or let Beck have your air time.
  • What would the speech be if Republicans had NOT opposed it?
    Neal,
    You say that you think that Obama's speechwriters specifically made the speech politically neutral because so many Republicans put up a big stink about it. If that's true then what would the speech have been if the Republicans had NOT put up a big stink?
  • Not so fast Neal
    You have your opinion and the Godfather has his. Both make sense. The fact is, as the Godfather pointed out, Bush Senior did this in 91 and the Democrats came out screaming. Based on that, I'd give the edge to the Godfather but I guess that's why he makes more money than you. The thing I did not hear anyone suggest is that because of the outcry about this prior to the delivery, Obama changed the speech. Imagine that. The Godfather pointed out taht on page 41 or such of Obamas book, "Dreams of my father", Obama says something entirely different than what he said in this speech. So you go ahead and believe what you think...you're just wrong. Sorry. It must be hard on that ego of yours to admit that.
  • By SFC MAC @ 09/08/09 12:16:45 PM
    Excellent. Just plain Excellent!!
  • I Have to know
    EXACTLY 'what' the right blew??

    Everyone keeps saying that we blew it.....blew 'what'?

    And leave the second-grade mouthwash to yourself. I would assume we're all adults here.
  • [Correction] The Left Is Very Patient
    Like any good disciples of Saul Alinsky (and therefore in turn Gramicci and Lukács and other Marxist theorists ), who understand concepts like Cultural Hegemony, War of Position and War of Maneuver, the Obaminista leftists are very patient because they know that Leftist-Socialist change must be enacted relatively slowly in this center right republic of ours.

    Obama's speeches to schoolchildren are just the "vehicle." Leftist doctrine -- that is the "payload" that will be inserted later when people are accustomed to such speeches and stop paying attention.

    Yes, they knew the patriots would react. Yes, they did retract anything that could be interpreted as indoctrination. That does not mean that conservatives or moderates were wrong to react. Introspection is good, but beware: any public display of guilt at (ostensibly) being wrong will simply embolden the leftists the next time they try to push such a speech.

    Sooner or later, these speeches WILL contain leftist indoctrination -- exactly at the moment that the public stops paying attention.

    It may be argued that Reagan or Bush had national addresses to school children. Regardless of whether or not this is true, what is true is that neither Reagan nor Bush were mentored by the likes of Saul Alinsky and did not hang out with the likes of Wetherman Bill Ayres. If they did, people would have objected to them addressing school children too.
  • If Adults Won't Listen, Go to the Children
    Neal is beginning to slip. When we are so concerned with BO's advisers, how can we want him to be our children's adviser? Everything about this man has been pushing towards Marxism and now he wants the children to "not let their country down." Country to BO means government and government to him is a fascist government. Ask not what your Obama can do for you, but what you can do for Obama. Don't give this narcissist any credit for being anything but what he is: One who is determined to destroy Capitalism and the last bastion of freedo, America as we have known it.
  • I am watching Olberman and have just had an epiphany. Olberman talks about Obama's speach as he talks about personal responsiblity, fiscal responsiblity, and government responsibility. All I have to say is that Obama's policies and agenda are all against these things that were in his so-called message sent today to our young people. The speach was fine and one that I agree with, but Obama's policies are the antithesis of this. Obama's policies take away personal and fiscal responsibility and put it all on the government.
  • A Chinese philosopher, Sun Tzu wrote
    a) learn to understand both the enemy and yourself, to seek out his weaknesses and your own strengths, and act accordingly, b) make ample use of subterfuge and stratagem in order to defeat or disarm your adversary, and c) use outright violence only when absolutely necessary in the belief that political struggle was more effective than military struggle.
  • Obama Indoctrination Speech
    What the heck is wrong with you? You spent half your show today bashing listeners who disagreed with you about the Obama Indoctrination Speech. Listen here, numbnuts--I don't care how good the message was, you have to consider the source. Hitler gave some good speeches, but he was still a racist arrogant demented socialist azzhole that shouldn't have been in charge of a country. Same applies to Obama. Thank God Barrow County didn't show the speech (and yes we do have schools here). I didn't have to take my children out of school. It's bad enough I have to deprogram them daily, much less have our socialist president telling them that if they stay in school they could grow up to be JUST LIKE HIM!!!
  • Egad! The speech is innocuous!
    Of course it was! BUT just like anything, it becomes a monster a tiny innocuous moment at a time. Hitler's first speech may well of been innocuous too.
  • Not the Fed's responsibility
    I don't have any problem with the bulk of Obama's speech. However, I do disagree with this:

    "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."

    It is not the federal government's responsibility to be involved in education. There is nowhere in the U.S. constitution that gives the federal government the right to be involved in education. This is reserved to the states. I want the Education Department dissolved and all tax money returned to the states to educate their children as the citizens of that state desire.
  • it wasn't the speech it was fear of unknown
    I'm one of those who went to my child's school and asked if they planned to show the speech. never did plan to, but it's a catholic school.... But here's why I think we got all worked up over what turned out to be a fairly benign speech. We had no idea what BHO was going to say. There is a boiling lack of trust over this president. I fully believe that the speech he gave was rewritten because he got caught. I think a lot of mainstream America (who voted for this man) are no realizing that they really don't know who he is. And now they want to know. Especially before he speaks to my child.....
  • Health Care
    The day I see the House and Senate agree to include themselves in ANY sort of health care plan is the day I will gladly join. Beware those who exclude themselves from a plan they pawn off on you, the dumb public who keeps putting these clowns in office.
  • Obama's Speech - about trust
    Neil, it's not anything about what this guy has to say. It's all about "trust." I have absolutely "zero trust" in this guy.....ZERO!

    I'm an independent always and have voted both ways and will continue to do so. As of this date, I cannot stand to see or hear this guy in any shape, form or fashion. And I'll be damned if I'll allow him to speak to my child.
  • We'll never really know ...
    We will never really know what he was going to say after all the negative comments made about this speech. I do not believe he said what he wanted to say when this event was dreamed up. But, we'll never know..... So his next speech is going to be the fun one...
  • Just One More From A Racist, Right Winger White Guy
    Sorry Neal, but anyone who believes for one moment that the speech this guy gave today was the same one he planned on giving last week can be sold the Brooklyn Bridge, wholesale. No dice. This thug is as dishonest as an Illinois ballot box is deep. This sweet, innocuous, "do your homework and wash your hands" spiel was a last minute substitute.
  • Neal missed the boat on this one
    I have several friends that are teachers in government and private schools. Most teachers will show students a syllabus to cover what will be taught over a certain period of time. The students then take that home to thier parents and some may object to it. Parents may put pressure on the teacher to not cover part of that. The teacher does not have to release the planned lecture. The teacher is forced to change the planned lecture and posts it for all the parents to see and finally agree on. IMO this is what happened in the case of the speech today by our president. He did only name specific government jobs when it came to future careers. That is all he knows. The speech was rewritten and posted what the lesson plan was removed.

    Obama had a chance to change the culture of the welfare class months ago, but he dropped the ball.

    Neal really missed the point.

    That is my "racist" rant.
  • The speech was........underwhelming
    a lot like Obama's failed presidency.
  • The real problem
    The purpose of the speech is to get the kids to LIKE Obama. A lot of those kids will be VOTING for the first time in 2012. Kids vote with their hearts, not their brains. Obama wants them to LIKE him so they'll VOTE for him.

    He also wants kids who disagree with him to feel ostracized, so they'll either conform or just shut up.

    That's the danger.

    And yes, President Bush addressed the kids too. But who was there to handle and direct the discussions afterwards? Liberal union teachers, that's who.
  • re: booger
    Maybe a better word would be Patriotic and not Patriotism. Doing something with the good of your country in mind is patriotic. The rest of my previous comment stands.
  • Are you serious!
    Reading through some of the comments on here it's no wonder that it is impossible to get anything positive done. Nothing but "HATE" coming from regular citizens to the so-called high standard government officials. To some, no matter what President Obama says or does, it will automatically be interpreted as having some kind of marxist, socialist, communist agenda. If you really believe that he could pull that off, or any president, do you really think that we the people will let that happen? Stop letting someone else make your opinion for you and think for yourself. Be informed and not misinformed about whatever subject you are passionate about so we don't all look back and look stupid. As long as we keep throwing fire at each other, we will all burn. Together we can put out the fire. Hate only breeds more Hate!!!
  • ewsflash, Amy: helping your country is called PATRIOTISM
    Actually , Patriotism is standing up for what America stands for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Property
  • Obama speech to kids
    Neal,
    You are wrong. I NEVER had a problem with Obama speaking to kids including mine in school. It WAS the lesson plan I was upset about. C'mon, a lesson plan DIRECTLY from the white house thru the education dept? Sounds freakin' creepy to me. Imagine if ole W had tried that? Don't believe me? I really don't care. It WILL hurt the repubs though. I agree with THAT part.
  • Speech
    I did not have issues with the speech however, the administration was sending out lesson plans for the teachers to go by before and after the speech. I never saw what was IN those lesson plans and why did they have them. They changed their plan and decided not to send out these plans.
  • Obama Speech
    Maybe the reaction of conservatives & republicans was the reason that the speech was so innocuous ... the administration had time to change the controversiaL components.
  • I knew I'd find it!
    "...the comments about doing 'for your country'. This is the collective mentality that will be a subtle paradigm shift to be more receptive of a Marxist society and government."

    -Amy Mc

    When I read the speech, I knew that the parts about doing well for yourself is doing well for your country would be interpreted by some desperate right-winger as "collectivism."

    Newsflash, Amy: helping your country is called PATRIOTISM and you would have recognized it as such if the same phrase had struggled its way out of the mouth of GWBush.

    YOu people make this way too easy sometimes.
  • The Greater Good
    Did anyone actually read the speech? Is it just me or does anyone else see the "stay in school for the greater good" message? "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". When I was in school I studied hard so I could get a decent job. Failing my country was the last thing on my mind. This is just another one of the Comrade's methods of making the individual look bad and the struggle for the greater good look like the right thing to do.
  • 148 for 151 (98%)
    GAYVIN has just set the BDS record!!!!

    Associated Press

    ATLANTA, Georgia - Gayvin Volaire has extended his amazing "Bush Derangement Syndrome" streak to 62. The flaming Frenchman has now mentioned "Bush" in 148 of 151 posts this season, an astonishing 98% clip.

    "I try to not think about the streak. I just get right up there, and it comes naturally," said Volaire. "I mean I read a lot of Maureen Dowd, watch MSNBC, and have rented out Fahrenheit 911 about 20 times. That helps, but at the end of the day, it's all about me saying stupid things over and over!"

    Volaire has a tough week ahead. He will be trying to extend his streak while trying to link Bush to issues such as health care, Van Jones, and climate change. Volaire said, "I'm ready. I've stuck my head up my a$$ all week in preparation."
  • Fact Man
    As I said earlier, google "Bush speech to school children", you'll find them.

    Here's one: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/09/03/flashback-1991-gephardt-called-bushs-speech-students-paid-political-a

    There is even one jabbing at Michele Malkin about where was she when Bush was speaking in 1991 which was a stupid post when 18 years ago, there is not much telling where she would have been, maybe still in high school?

    Anyway, if you use google instead of posting jabs, you'll find it.
  • good messages in the speech...but,
    I find it quite ironic that every policy this administration is trying to cram down the American citizen throats is undermining the very things Obama said in his speech to the school kids. This is just another example of Obama talking out of both sides of his mouth. Which is it? Smaller government or larger government? No hope in socialism!
  • We all have a reason to be alarmed
    You can bet that there will be "plants" in this group of kids as well. I am sure that some kid will get called on by the mesiah & ask him a question. They will then ask about socialized medicine or another one of his communist agendas. Just enough for him to answer with his political opinion. Then it is too late, the brainwashing has begun. I'm glad my husband let me keep the kids home to school today. The school has already called demanding a reason for their absense. I cant wait for acorn to knock at my door next! We will review the speach online tonight with our kids with both Dad & I present. We can then point out to them how this was all part of the socialist gameplan. "Make friends with Obama" They will not be brainwashed & will not grow up as democrats!
  • Harmless, huh?
    This is my favorite line of the speech -
    " I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn".

    Yeah, he, the Chosen One, the Messiah, our Leader, is working hard to GIVE our children books and computers. What a generous guy he is! I had it all wrong.

    As for working - WTF?? What is he doing? Other than taking vacation and campaigning and giving braindead speeeches to his mindless dolt voters, does this dolt ever work?
  • Would like to see evidence of "leftist outrage" when republican presidents spoke to schools
    In the discussion of the Obama school speech, some have cited "liberal outrage" when prior GOP presidents have spoken to children.

    Frankly, I do not recall any such outrage. I'm not ruling out that there may not have been some mild rumblings about it, but it certainly never reached the level of torches and pitchforks outrage coming from the fringe right on this issue.

    If I am wrong, I would be happy to stand corrected if someone can find a reputable source, from the time, of liberal objection to a republican president speaking to school children.

    If, hypothetically, there was objection from the left in such a case, then shame on the left.
  • Next election
    Please everyone just remember this and all of the other anti-American things Congress has been doing and wipe them all out in the 2010 election. Don't be duped into re-electing only *your* incumbent representative because he or she brings benefits back to your community. They all do this and it's a trick they use just to stay in office term after term. Wipe the slate clean be electing brand new representatives and senators. Reward elected officials when they have done right by America, but replace the rest of them. And be on the lookout for some kind of manufactured crisis toward the end of next summer to scare you away from putting new people into office.
  • @Michael on speech
    /While the published speech is benign, do you think this would be the speech given if people had not raise objections/

    A prime example of what I just refering to. The right wing will try to save face by claiming victory by claiming the President of the United States changed his speech because of some paranoid people who believed the rantings of some right wing radio talk show hosts. There is no victory for Limbaugh, Hannity, or Beck here.
  • Now that we have read the transcript of the speech makes one wonder how the right wing will get out of the corner it has painted itself into. Given that the speech was nothing like they were saying, how will they save face as a result of this blunder?

    I guess they can take the same approach as they are doing with the healthcare bill and either pull segments out of context and twist it to mean what they want to, or they can just outright lie about it. Or will they try to claim victory by saying that the sinister socialist ideas were there but were dropped as a result of their “informing the public”,

    Still worse, how many kids will miss a day of school today because their parents kept them home because the “man on the radio” told them to.

    Many conservative republicans now stand with damaged credibility because they went along with the right wing on this. Hopefully this humiliation will cause them to think and realize the problem they now have since they forfeited leadership of the party.
  • The Sky Is Falling! The Sky Is Falling!
    Gotta love it when the so-called party of personal responsibility tries to play the victim card. We don't want Obama "indoctrinating" our children wah wah wah. If your child is so fragile and vulnerable that this is your biggest concern, consider yourself lucky Marshall Applewhite isn't still around or your gullible little angel would probably just end up on the next UFO to Hale-Bobb anyway. Boortz is right -- the chicken little branch of the GOP is not helping. Probably the same idiots like Club-Closet-Liberal who never once had a complaint with 43.

    Too bad you morons didn't have this same outrage before your Boy George sat and told nusery rhymes to school children for 7 minutes AFTER he heard our nation was under attack on 9/11.

    @moonsbreath -- are you playing stupid or are you really so ignorant that you believe the people who complained were not GOP?

    nice job, Boortz.
  • sooooo can I give you some..................
    CINDY.............so you out smarted your 12 year old.........I'm not sure that was fair....you are old......YOU ARE THE PARENT...BE ONE!!!!!

    it is you that is responsible for the health, welfare and edjukation of your chillin'.............not some scumsucking politician.........

    if you are doin' your job as a good parent then your 12 year old will grow to be a responsible 18 year old voter....make sure he doesn't talk to strangers, doesn't get into cars with drunks or strangers.......and NEVER believe ANYTHING a scumsuckin' politician says......he has to do his homework on every issue......which most dumbass voters don't do.......

    what you say to yo' chillin' is taken as gospel....cuz you are MOM.......I don't mean any disrespect to you, it's just your post bothered me.......'cuz I'm old, kranky and...........
  • @Dave
    >>>>>"Neal is beginning to puss out big time
    Too many conservatives seem to be more worried about what the left is going to think or say about them than the destruction the left is currently carrying out on our country.<<<<<

    You nailed it!! I am tired of these wussies. Over the past year, Neal has taken positions just like that on a number of issues. remember after the first tea party, he was ridiculing the movement. Now, after its success, he is riding its coattails. I like this website, but if I have a chance to listen to radio in the morning, Neal has moved down my list of talk show hosts. Beck is on in Atlanta again, I have XM and listen to others. Neal is just dropping the ball on too many issues since this idiot's campaign last year.
  • Getting Rolled
    Yes ... you're right about the speech being changed and how this episode will be spun by the Democrats ... but America is awake now. This is not as big a deal as it would have been a year ago.

    Throughout this whole thing all of the pundits I've heard objected very little to the President's speaking to school kids, it has always been more about the "lesson plan" that went out. This is not a change in position, it's been the position all along -- at least in the circles I've been in. It was the lesson plan that got everyone's attention in the first place.

    That, combined with the fact that the President is, and has surrounded himself with Alinsky-ites who openly believe the road to "social justice" (socialism) is through the schools. It's all over their literature.
  • Obama Speech
    I don't see why everyone is getting upset with this. Even though I don't agree with him he is our president and deserves the respect due the office. My kid's schools will be recording the speech and replaying during their social studies classes. The teacher's will be having a discussion as well and I don't have a problem with that either. The reason all this doesn't bother me is when my kids get home is when our talk about what he said starts and we are treating it as a learning experience as it should be.
  • A Matter of Trust
    Did Obama change what was to be delivered in the speech? There is no doubt about it. It was easy to see from the 'curriculum' that accompanied the speech. If there is one thing education administrators know how to do it is link competencies and objectives with content. As an educator myself, it was easy to see.
    So what could we do? If we do nothing, then the speech is delivered and he has had his say to our children. It would have included everything the left wants – healthcare, the environment, our duty to the president (I mean country). And the MSM would have backed it all up and still called us all wackos for disagreement. It was a no win situation. But like all concerned parents, we did what was necessary to protect our own……It was the only choice.
    This all speaks to trust. And Obama has shown, already, that his words and deeds don’t match. This is not someone we want our kids to ‘hang out’ with.
  • Elected officials in schools
    When I grew up in the 1980s, in a medium-sized city, there were seemingly countless examples of elected officials and other public servants speaking to my classroom.

    I can specifically remember:
    1. A member of the city council
    2. A member of the state supreme court (a female, soemwhat uncommon in the mid-80s)
    3. The police chief
    4. The county coroner
    5. The county Sheriff
    6. Our Congressperson (he spoke to an assembly of the whole 7th grade).
    7. And Jesse Jackson spoke to my high school.

    In short, the phenomenon of public officials (and other prominent individuals on the American political landscape) speaking at schools is a time-honored tradition and fosters respect for our American civic institutions.

    The fact that I can remember these speeches 2-3 deacdes later is evidence of the impact they had.

    Apparently we have now entered a new era of hyperpartisan craziness where, for the benefit of a few radical cranks, any politician visiting any public school will have to submit his or her remarks in advance, and all kids will need permission slips to hear these folks speak.

    This is simply sad.
  • The "original" speech
    So all of you clowns who are now confident that the speech is not the "original" speech: what exactly do you think was in the original speech?

    Was it:
    * Procedures on how to rat on parents who are against the president's positions?
    * Was it a prayer to Allah?
    * A justification as to why it is OK to kill grandma?
    * A discussion of why Cuba and Venezuela are great countries?
    * Orders to hang a framed poster of Obama in every kid's bedroom?

    Please, oh please, right wing lunatics, tell me what *specifically* you think may have been in the "original" speech?

    Your predictions will be good for a laugh.
  • Laura Bush
    She is a gracious lady who practices "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" so I really wouldn't put too much in her interview.

    The left has no business complaining about the uproar over Obama's speech when if you google "Bush speech to school" you'll find many such complaints. So we all do it. Don't be hypocritical.
  • @The Dude
    Correction, moonbat.
    Reagan's presentation included a voluntary Q&A. That's where the political issues were discussed; not in the speech.

    Reagan's speech here: http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1988/111488c.htm

    It was a loving tribute to America, not a lesson plan calling for servitude to the president, nor was it mandated by the government.

    By the way, there's a video that has been shown in conjunction with Obama's speech called "I Pledge". It was made back in January of 2009 before THE ONE was officially coronated. It's a propaganda film starring Dear Leader's adoring Hollywood hacks. Very. Creepy.

    Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYGUnR0wiCw&eurl=

    It starts off with a message to their idol, letting him know "he's not alone".

    Then comes a parade of entertainers with their "pledges":

    "I pledge to sell my obnoxious car and buy a hybrid"

    "I pledge to work to make good the 200 year old promise to end slavery"

    "....to the abolition of 21st century slavery"

    "...to free one million people from slavery in the next five years"

    One of the worst parts is when one of them kisses his biceps and pledges to "be of service to Barack Obama".

    Another promise to submit: ".....I pledge to be a servant to our president"

    They pledge to "end slavery", yet they're more than willing to serve Obama as their lord and master.

    And while we're on the subject of slavery, what "slavery" are they talking about? Last I checked, Lincoln abolished slavery in the United States back in 1865.

    If these concerned activist turds want to tackle real slavery, they might start with places like Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Gabon, Sudan, India, Haiti, and Pakistan. There's a child slavery market that exceeds anything ever done in the Old South.
    http://www.infoplease.com/spot/slavery1.html

    They only seem interested in third world cesspools when Madonna and Angelina Jolie go shopping for kids to adopt. There's plenty of children right here in America that could use a rich Hollywood benefactor, but apparently, it's more chic to go slumming in Africa.

    A lot of parents pulled their kids out of school today so they wouldn't be subjected to the Department of Education's sales pitch. We're inundated enough with the socialist rhetoric being pushed from Obama's MSM conglomerate.

    Themes covered in the speech; "responsibilty, getting your homework done, staying in school, and working hard", are best left to the parents, and not a piss-poor example of a "president".

    It wasn't just about "doing well in school", it's likely about opening oppotunities for more politically-charged "pep talks" from PrezBo.
  • School talking
    I have read the President speech to the kids. You should read it yourself. The EVIL in it, like parents’ responsibility, teachers' respomsibilty, and the student's responsibility. Again this was alot crap about nothing. It is not like former ... Vice President Dan Quayle teaching everyone to spell "potatoe"
  • Respect for the office of the President
    Neal is right to support the Obama speech. Neal's reason to support the speech is that to oppose it makes the republicans look like right wing lunatics.

    A better reason to support the speech is to teach respect for the office of the President.

    Whether you voted for President Obama or not, the fact is he is the elected leader of our country and deserves respect, even if you don't agree with him.

    I disagreed with George HW Bush on almost everything, and frankly did not think much of his intellectual capacity . . .but he was the president, and I respected the presidency, and would certainly not deny my children the opportunity to have heard him speak to them.
  • I would have liked to seen
    the ORIGINAL speech. I'm sure it changed as a result of all the controversy.
  • America is getting rolled
    They removed the worksheet that required the kids to write down their goals and plans to help the President. They are following the stated purpose now (it being about the KIDS and their EDUCATION not the PRESIDENT and how the kids can commit to HIM).

    There is a difference. The devil is in the details. Find the original synopsis and compare what the WH surrendered to what they are doing instead. It must be nice to always say “I misspoke” or “it was worded poorly” and still have jobs that revolve around being considered the greatest thinkers, contingency planners (BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ANYONE? TERRORISM ANYONE?), and communicators our great Country has at her disposal and get away with it over and over and over again. You say it wasn’t on purpose. I say it was.

    But, as we know the phrase "help the President" is "just words". http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/02/wh-withdraws-call-students-help-obama/

    As it is now is not just okay, it is great! I am in support of such a speech. The POWER of the President using WORDS is real. Thank the non-sheeple that caused the WH to remove (and rightly so) the little exercise wherein students were subtly led to set their goals, however nuanced, one billionth of a degree toward loyalty to a MAN and government versus loyalty to this Country’s principles and THEMSELVES. Barack Obama could have a wonderful career as a motivational speaker. As it was, well, it was narcissistic and a bit shady. Which leads me here to think when too many people say Never Again, it is that simple. Like magic. No despot could ever gain absolute power again. Just because, right? Really, why get your panties in a bunch about ANYTHING? The stage is being set, like it or not. If we let this kind of stuff slide over and over and over, it isn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when and who. Never Again? Yeah, right. This administration is following the lead of a few before it and serving the opportunity up on a silver platter.
  • Ya gotta pick your fights
    and this was not one of them.
    You won't find anybody with more disdain and contempt for a sitting president's performance than I - but I have absolutely no problem with this speech.
    We (I still count myself among the "right") are really showing our a$$es on this one, and strategically we are blowing it big time.
    If there are right wingers out there who would say they have a problem with this, regardless of the president's politics, I would contend that they are lying.
    I gotta say - this time around - the right has shown themselves to be as shrill, petty, and unreasonable as the left, and they took the bait rather nicely I might add. (must be the same ones who fell for that C4C BS!).
    If you think your child is going to come home to you, "lost forever to the cause of liberalism and the obama youth corps", then you have bigger parenting problems than you know.
    Don't be a crackpot conservative.
  • Republicans saying it was the lesson plan they objected to all along...
    Republicans have finally picked up on one of Obama's tactics and are running with it. Change the premise, regardless of what we've already said. "See, we were (Winston-Smith style editing) right all along."

    "It's about health care reform, er, health insurance reform, er, governent option, uh, public option, er, no public option, I mean, uh..."

    Speaking of education, it's amazing to see how politicians can learn ... from one another.
  • About
    I'll add to my comment below. Obama is about...Obama. Nice self esteem message-but this is all about boosting his ratings. Would he do this if the ratings were high? Sad the GOP fell for this, which goes to show how much work they have cut out for them. As for the ratings going up, so what?
  • The speech is innocent enough this time. Just out of curiosity, is this a recent photo? If so, it looks like we are going back to the messiah on the campaign trail with the halo pics.
  • school speech
    When I heard about this speech, my first thought was "Oh no, not another speech." But I did think it was silly to oppose it. There was one sentence: '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.' I believe our country is the most fair and most free (for now) and as for fighting discrimination a lot of people need to know they won't be liked for their obnoxious behavior no matter what ethnic group, color or gender. We may have to start worrying, if this becomes a pattern for politicians going to elementary schools, and that means president to governors to representatives, etc..
  • Obama Speech to School Kids
    While the published speech is benign, do you think this would be the speech given if people had not raise objections. Further, until the speech is given, I do not trust the President or his staff to give the published speech.
  • It wasn't "Republicans"
    You're wrong on this one Neal. It wasn't the "Republicans" who were complaining, it was the "parents." It also wasn't the speech, it was the work sheet and assignment that accompanied the speech.

    If you're going to make fun, at least have all the facts.
  • A devious introduction...
    President Obama is using the children for a host of reasons, many excellent ideas are outlined on this blog.

    The problem I have with this speech; as well as with this man, is that he using various manipulative techniques to relate to the children. It is not a fair playing field... Or even useful for them.

    The keywords of lonely, discouraged, etc. Those are specific words to garner a "relation" with the most vunerable of the students. It is classic for many types of "players" out there. He is trying to seduce our children for reasons I can only speculate. Many dictators go after the children (they are the future), The little ones can be used for a variety of means. All in all, I do not trust this man with any power... especially the younger more innocent among us. And it is just creepy...

    --------------

    I have really reduced my time with Mr. Boortz. I try to listen and thank the heavens, that is still my choice... "Uncle Neal", you are absolutely brilliant on so many issues; however, I can not stand the unwarranted bashing conservatives or Republicans. It is myopic analysis and BORING when you are wrong... The grass roots revolt of this Administration is warranted and worthy of study. Find you next time, bud.

    Mr. Fuzz
  • A Libertarian opinion on Obama speech
    I have no problem with the President giving a speech. It really doesn't matter whether it's school children, voters, or anyone else. The only thing that matters is choice. If parents can make the choice about how their children are educated, there is no issue here.

    However, has there ever been a time in the history of this country when there has been genuine concern that the President would promote socialism to school children? We have seen Republicans and Democrats grow government way beyond the limits of the Constitution and intrude futher and further into the economy. Only Libertarians objected until now. The most revealing point about the uproar over this speech is that it happened. Can you imagine someone telling George Washington that someday people will complain that the President is preaching socialism?

    Pat Dixon
    Chair, Libertarian Party of Texas
    City Council, Lago Vista TX
  • Oh no...the lesson plan
    The audacity of this President to indoctrinate our children with a message of hope and message of personal responsibility for their own education is a massive abuse of executive power.

    I for one can't fathom why anyone would ever want to ask school children what they can do to help the President of the United States.
  • No Junior Lobbyist Left Behind
    I see no reason to trust Obama on his student indoctrination based upon his history and past stated intentions.

    "Obama’s Classroom Campaign: No Junior Lobbyist Left Behind" http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/53405

    "...After the speech, teachers will ask students:

    -- What do you think the president wants us to do?
    -- Does the speech make you want to do anything?
    -- Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?

    ...The activist tradition of government schools using students as junior lobbyists cannot be ignored.

    ...…parents have every right to worry about their children being used as Political Guinea Pigs for Change."
  • Thank you, Byron York.
    Byron's column points out the obvious - Dems went much further when President G. H. W. Bush spoke to the nation's schoolchildren in '91.

    Don't act like this is unprecedented.
  • school speech
    Putting all issuses aside the bottom line is the lack of respect for this man we call our President. I am sure the speech is well thought out and planned. The man has a gift for speaking to people. He can be motivational, but the bottom line is, if you do not respect someone it is hard to take in anything they have to say whether it is good or bad.
  • subtle shift
    Yes, the speech was mostly innocuous and there were indeed some good messages for the children. Here's where I see the problem: the comments about doing "for your country". This is the collective mentality that will be a subtle paradigm shift to be more receptive of a Marxist society and government.
  • You are pissing me off!
    Really. You think that being upset with BO about this in your school speech is over the line. Give me a break. Government should get out of our child’s life and stop dictating the curriculum altogether. I don’t care if BO wanted to visit each kid individually and try to inspire them, get GOVERNMENT OUT OF SCHOOL! How can you really disagree with that?
  • Is this the same Neal?
    Is this the same Neal Boortz that never misses an opportunity to insult and impugn any parent that dares send their kid to public school (like he did)? Neal, I love you man. I've listened to you for many years, learning a lot and laughing a lot. But I am confused ... what were we supposed to do after hearing of this speech and the SILLY lesson plan issued by DOE? I think it is clear that the original intent of this speech was not quite as benign as it is being presented now. And this administration hasn't exactly earned the benefit of doubt from us. Republicans didn't "get rolled", though it will obviously be spun that way by the media. Rather, conservatives - one parent at a time - rose up and forced Obama and his DOE to clean up this speech and lesson plan. That's an accomplishment in my book.
  • The speech was changed
    Boortz seems to be drifting further and further to the left. The speech that was released in advance is far different from the original speech that was planned - and changed - in response to so much outrage about indoctrination of schoolchildren by the government. Boortz should be the first person to recognize this. The original speech was calculated to get children to go home and practically cry if their parents disagreed with the healthcare plan. I wouldn't be surprised if children were to be told to report parents who did not go along with the plan.
  • Why did they wait a week?
    Why did it take a week to release the speech? They could have stopped all the uproar if they released this speech immediately after the uproar started. Two parts to this one. One they wanted to see how large the uproar was going to be to see if they should make changes. And two they needed time for a rewrite.
  • I wanted my kids to watch it.
    I don't understand the response at all... I wanted my kids to watch so that I could discuss it with them afterwards.

    My school chickened out, saying it interfered with the lunch schedule, and they didn't want to disrupt the day. More likely it's because we live in a republican dominated area (Linder's own). They said they'd record it and if it had any merit they would show it at a later time.

    Now, I'd like to have seen what the speech would have been without all the controversy. First of all, if the president is going to step in "it," we need to let him do it first. Secondly, it would have been a great discussion with my kids showing, point by point, how wrong Obama was.

    Now it's just "stay in school," essentially. Work hard. Do your homework. The only insult I get from that is that the president needs to tell my kids those things because I'm incapable, but it's nothing to complain about.
  • This was a set-up
    Obama's people probably had this planned from the start. We know they
    want universal health care and it isn't completely unreasonable to assume
    that the looters evaluate everything by the yardstick of "Does this
    help us stay in power?"

    It's simple really: we fell for their trick hook, line, and sinker. The speech was always innocuous, the lesson plan was an "oopsie" that shouldn't have gotten out, but some junior leftist probably thought that everyone would just love it. The looters were depending on the left-leaning teachers out there to add the leftist propaganda.

    Lesson plans? Since when do teachers more interested in indoctrination than education ever care about or follow lesson plans? It was all a ruse to make us look bad so they can try to improve Obama's poll numbers.
  • You have it wrong, Neal
    You're wrong on this one, Neal:

    1) Who knows what the speech to the kids would have been about if no one had raised a stink? We may never know for sure.

    2) It shows the general distrust of this President that the people got up-in-arms about him wanting to talk to their kids. This gives me hope that people have woken up regarding this guy.

    3) If no one had said anything and the speech had been full of leftist agenda propaganda, I could hear you now: "You people send your kids to government school and let a Marxist talk to them and you say nothing about it? You deserve whatever happens to you. Blah, Blah, Blah."

    Normally I agree with you, Neal, but I think you've missed this one. I'm glad the speech doesn't contain leftist crap. It's good that someone in the administration is able to at least sound like a responsible citizen. Kudos to Obama on that one.
  • Neal Whistling Past the Graveyard
    Neal make's some very valid points in his column... the Republicans and The Right did not play this as well as they could have and to a large degree played into the hands of The Left. That being said, this speech had to be opposed... but it could have and should have been opposed on the grounds that "it is not the President's responsibility to have this conversation with school children". It is yet another usurpation of parental responsibility and the means by which The Left intends to ingratiate Barrack Obama to another group of "voters" as at least 3 grade levels of these children will be voting for Barrack in 2012. Unless he goes "off prompter" Barrack Obama will come away from this smelling like roses, but I still contend that Neal is "whistling past the graveyard" as this planned speech had to be opposed on principle alone.

    P.S. - Neal, they've been selling Barrack Obama notebooks and pencils since Inauguration Day in school vending machines at the elementary school where my wife teaches.
  • Chickensh*t conservatism
    @Viggp,

    If you want to lay awake at night worrying about what the left is going to think or say about you, then knock yourself out.

    I don't give a damn what they say or do.
    it.

    These people need to be opposed at every opportunity.

    -Dave
  • The speech
    I think that a lot of people missed the point of Obama's speech.
    I'm from Russia, was born and grew up in USSR. To prove my point, I urge you to take any speech of any former Soviet leader (from Lenin to Andropov) and try to find any sentence that you would disagree with (well, besides the obvious ones, like "Capitalism is the incurable cancer" or "The notion of private property drives people into the poverty" things). They all said that family is the ultimate unit of society, that education is the way to prosperity, that health of any single citizen should be the top priority of the country. Blah, blah. And then they all did things that were totally opposite to what they just said.
    I don't think that a lot of Americans actually thought that Obama would be stupid enough to include anything that could be considered "left". It was pretty much clear that he will deliver a "neutral" speech that emphasizes on "sure, we have the best schools but you kids still need (blah) if you want to (blah)".
    What people are disagreeing with is the fact that he decided to speak to our kids in such a manner - "Hey kids, look! The Greatest One himself will talk to us! Wow! Don't you want to remember His Face for the rest of your life? Don't you know that He is The Best President that the US has ever had? Don't you want to make a statue of Him and put it on our school's front yard?" Based on what I know about people who get the ultimate power, one of the first desires of them is to be The One. And they get VERY upset if people don't see them as Gods. In Russia, The Other One (Putin) already goes to private (!) stores (with lots of cameras) and checks prices on meat, bread, etc. Then he "saves the nation" by demanding that such and such private companies would lower their prices because "that would be fare". This, in his opinion, makes him The Only One in the eyes of all Russians.
    I think a lot of people in US fear that the Obama's speech is of the same nature.
    My English is not perfect, I'm sorry for that.
  • Check the WH Suggested Lesson Plans
    "The 'corrected' lesson plans the U.S. Department of Education is suggesting that schools around the country use to turn President Obama’s speech to students today into a 'teachable moment' still call for teachers to read books about Obama and to post quotations from Obama in large print on classroom walls." http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/53656
  • Stand Up For What You Beleive
    I have no trust in Obama. I have seen him lie and misled during his campaign and since he has been in office. I have seen him do things that crippled, not helped, our economy. I have seen him grab and consolidate vast amounts of political power. I have seen him surround himself with the most radical of the left and have them accountable to no one but himself. Now he announces he wants to speak to my children while I'm not there and his Education Dept prepares some over reaching lesson plan. So I am supposed to roll over because somebody might think I am an extremist. Well, too bad. I and I alone will decide what I will allow my children to be exposed to....I am their parent and I take that responsibility very seriously. I recall many conservatives got their panties in a wad when people started with the Tea Parties....wringing their hands about what we must look like. All I can say is because the American people stood up for what they beleived in, this administration that was ready to steam roll health care into law had to go back to the huddle. So my message is don't listen to the pundits or talking heads, do what you think is right.

    “Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.” Joseph Stalin
  • What is Neal talking about?
    I am having a difficult time understanding Neals point. I am one that is actually proud of the Repulicans. Maybe Neal did not do his homework on this one. The President of the United States actually sent out lesson plans via the Dept. of Education to have school children write letters on what they can do to help the president achieve his agenda. Only after the opposition rose up was the White House forced into backing down. My wife is a teacher at a pulic school and I was able to read through all of the "lesson plans" the kids were to perform after the speach. If Neal is trying to say Rebulicans do not want the President to tell children to stay in school and stay off drugs he is missing the point.
  • You're still wrong, Neal
    Headline on the Drudge Report this morning: WHEN BUSH SPOKE TO STUDENTS, DEMOCRATS INVESTIGATED, HELD HEARINGS
  • initial vs final
    They removed the worksheet that required the kids to write down their goals and plans to help the President. They are following the stated purpose now (it being about the KIDS and their EDUCATION not the PRESIDENT and how the kids can commit to HIM).

    There is a difference. The devil is in the details. Find the original synopsis and compare what the WH surrendered to what they are doing instead. It must be nice to always say “I misspoke” or “it was worded poorly” and still have jobs that revolve around being considered the greatest thinkers, contingency planners (BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ANYONE? TERRORISM ANYONE?), and communicators our great Country has at her disposal and get away with it over and over and over again. You say it wasn’t on purpose. I say it was.

    But, as we know the phrase "help the President" is "just words". http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/02/wh-withdraws-call-students-help-obama/

    As it is now is not just okay, it is great! I am in support of such a speech. The POWER of the President using WORDS is real. Thank the non-sheeple that caused the WH to remove (and rightly so) the little exercise wherein students were subtly led to set their goals, however nuanced, one billionth of a degree toward loyalty to a MAN and government versus loyalty to this Country’s principles and THEMSELVES. Barack Obama could have a wonderful career as a motivational speaker. As it was, well, it was narcissistic and a bit shady. Which leads me here to think when too many people say Never Again, it is that simple. Like magic. No despot could ever gain absolute power again. Just because, right? Really, why get your panties in a bunch about ANYTHING? The stage is being set, like it or not. If we let this kind of stuff slide over and over and over, it isn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when and who. Never Again? Yeah, right. This administration is following the lead of a few before it and serving the opportunity up on a silver platter.
  • You missed the point, Neal
    First of all, as 'innocuous' as his speech seems to be, he shouldn't be allowed to give school kids the time of day. The controversy is about two things: the god-like worship of this socialist empty suit, and the Department of Education lesson plan that accompanies the speech.

    The administration edited part of the pre-k-6 lesson plans after public outcry about enlisting children’s participation in political activities. The original lesson plan asked children to “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.” It has since been changed to say “Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.”

    This is just another one of Obama's campaign speeches.
  • republicans have done this too!
    Reagan and Bush Sr. both gave back-to-school speeches, broadcast during precious learning hours, to school kids. Big deal. The president should do this and kids should see/hear it. There is nothing wrong with the president giving a pep talk to kids. What's really sad, in our American Idol culture, is if this had been Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers giving a speech to the kids, parents would love it.
  • Speech
    Neal: How do you know that the speech wasn't revised after the public outcry. The answer is, you don't know. I'd be willing to bet that his words have been toned down from what he was originally going to say.
  • President's speech
    I believe the flack was over the POST-speech "lesson plan" when it first began. The one question "how can I help my president" caused the initial problem.
  • Are you sure you read the speech?
    I agree with your main point. People went overboard with all of this. However, I read the speech and it is anything but benign. This speech is full of collectivism thought. There is no way in hell I would ever let my child listen to that garbage... That being said, it is probably no worse than the filth they get on a daily basis in these public schools.
  • Neal is beginning to puss out big time
    Too many conservatives seem to be more worried about what the left is going to think or say about them than the destruction the left is currently carrying out on our country.

    Sadly, Neal appears to be one of them.

    Here is the "original" lesson plan the Obama people sent out:

    hxxp://www.docstoc.com/docs/10582301/President-Obama%E2%80%99s-Address-to-Students-Across-America-September-8-2009

    Maybe some of you think this is okay. I don't.

    These people are but a handful of congressional votes away from destroying the America we all know and love.

    They deserve to be treated neither politely, or even civilly.

    -Dave
  • I'm not sure Neal understands
    It seems to me this is actually a Rebublican/Libertarian victory. The "uproar" was more about the lesson plans which were sent to school systems by the Dept. of Education that the President telling kids to stay in school and off drugs. The President of the United States does not need to be asking school children to put into writing the things they can do to help him. My wife is a teach and I was amazed at the original release from the Secretary of Education. The Rebublican position stays constant and it was the White House who once again had back down.
  • Obamas speech
    We won. We got the socialist to change his speech.Good job,right wing whackos.You know,it was always about trust.We cannot trust him.The speech as written may be ok unless his teleprompter ad-libs something.Since we cannot trust him,you have to initially assume that everything this man does is self serving and agenda promoting.Now that we won and he has changed it,he will say a speech that will improve his poll ratings and thanks to us,he will take credit for his improvement.
  • I am NOT overreacting.
    I refuse to be made out as a knee-jerk lunatic for being concerned about this situation. During the election last year, my FIRST GRADER came home from school IN TEARS, begging, "Mom, why can't I be black?? I just don't want to be white! It's MEAN to be white!" You just have no clue what ideas very young students will grab hold of until it's already instilled. Of COURSE I was concerned with what that man wanted to say to my child! The speech, as released, is harmless enough, if not self-aggrandizing... The controversy itself should let EVERYONE know to just leave kids out of it. Period.
  • They toned down the study guide since the uproar, of course they toned down the speech too.
    Like his health care plan, the way he went about it gave it away before d*mning details could come out. A missed opportunity to let hussein hang himself politically isn’t egg on the face, hussein can’t change the way he went about it, and at least the public didn’t sleep through the whole thing.

    I would have liked to see the original speech myself, people should have kept their mouth shut and watched the fun. Neal trying to quiet them down before they woke up the White House reminded me of Boon at the Animal House hearing, “Hey! Shut up you a**holes!.” If the changes in the study guide reflect the changes in the speech, which is likely, it would have been a doozy.

    socialist indoctrination has been prevalent in our schools and curriculum for decades, most of the teachers themselves don’t even realize it. Ayers admits that's high in his job duties, and I don't doubt some of the elementary and high school texts I've seen in the last 20 years were influenced by him. The current vogue in class school supply management actually predates marx by several hundred years, but to say it's marxist -leninist would not be inaccurate. Where that little pledge video they've been playing, telling them all kinds of lefty things they should pledge to do and not do leans, it leans all one way - left. But we're not supposed to notice, much less think anything of these things.
  • Never Be Afraid To Voice A Concern
    We will never know if that was the speech he intended. The rest of his agenga is not so squeaky clean. Stay awake and be alert.
  • BO's Speech
    It's nothing but damage control on the White House's part.

    "Let's make Obama look like a good guy."

    To me, he'll always be more like a "Goodfella".
  • Obama Speech to Kids
    I don't have a problem, at all, with the President of the United States speaking to children. What I have a problem with is the setting. I had much rather that he do a speech at 7:00 at night so that I can be there with my child and answer questions and concerns she might have.

    I am also concerned about what the teacher might say before and after and during the speech. I know that most of these teachers are concerned about their jobs and ensuring that these kids learn their "government is the solution" lessons.

    I want to be the one to shape my kid's opinion and worldview. It is the same reason I don't want prayer in school. I don't know who will be leading the prayer; who they will be praying to; and, what they will be praying for.

    It's all a little too Big Brother for me. And, I would feel this way whether it was President Obama or President Reagan.
  • Oh, and by the way
    I'm not so sure it was just the Republicans. It just WASN'T the Democrats.
  • Kool-Aid Party
    Obama is copying the tea party idea, but he's serving kool-aid. Everything he does has an underlying motive. I see nothing wrong with opposing him at any level, on any subject.
  • Speech
    Again, George HW Bush did this during his presedency and parents were upset then too. Was the left vilified for speaking out against it, no. Then why is the right being vilified for their stance?
  • School Speech
    Who can blame the American public for going ballistic over a speech to school children, when “Walks on Water” has lied to them so many other times? This is just another attempt by a slick eared used car salesman to further his agenda
  • Neil's Nieve?
    Today, the President's speech is very presidential. Why not show us that speech last week? Because it did not exist in this form and it would not have matched the DOE "lesson plan" if the current version was in fact available last week. So Neil, the conservatives were very successful in diving this to a good conclusion. Don't be so nieve in your logic. It's not like you!!
  • While I understand Neal's point of view on this issue he seems to be missing the larger point. When the speech was first announced the administration sent out lesson plans to the schools with activities such as the kiddies having to write letters saying how they plan to help the president. I think this is at the heart of the issue and I belived the White House having to back track is a rare republican victory.
  • Just damn, people.
    I guess it's true, you people do in fact have very short attention spans and memories.

    You say we cry and pout and act like bratty kids about Obama? Do you not remember the liberal-democrats for eight years under George W. Bush?! Remember Cindy Sheehan? Remember "BUSH LIED! PEOPLE DIED!", remember the anti-war crowd and their protests? Remember the liberals having to seek mental help because George Bush was in office? Remember the "Rather-gate" files? And whatever happened to Sandy Burglar?

    Are you brain-dead numbskulls forgetting how the bedwetting, crybaby, bratty liberals acted about George W. Bush every single time he opened his mouth?

    Hey liberals, just shut the hell up already. We've heard enough of your whining the past eight years. So shut up and listen to ours.
  • laura Bush
    Are you scared to put the artical about her saying Barack Obama is doing a good Job.
  • @mitch and @Wayne
    Seriously guys????? Seriously????? Even kids can admit when they are wrong. The dam notes are there for you to read and you still explain away the fact that you were wrong? What happened to being man enough to be right when your right and being big enough to be wrong with your @#$%@# wrong? If you are truly conservatives you are the ones that make the rest look bad. Don't agree with Pres Obama you disagree with his policies but if you are wrong admit your freakin wrong! Keep some creditability and stop being so @#$%@# childish! I am so glad that I know some creditable Republicans and Conservatives to debate with because you two represent a percentage that just has no common ground. If the message is true then its true no matter who is the messenger is.
  • One more thing..
    Neal and others,

    You actually think that this was some grand trick planned before hand to make the GOP look bad? Gimme a break. First off, it wasn't the Republicans who started protesting, it was the PEOPLE. Just like the town halls, just like the tea parties, Neal. You remember those tea parties where you also ridiculed them for being stupid and wasting their time with tea bags, huh?

    Anything this Marxist does, people are jumping at him. The fact that we are nervous about him giving an innocuous speech to kids tells you all you need to know about what people think of this empty-suit marxist.
  • Disagree
    I have to disagree with you on this one Boortz. I think the speech was changed when all the criticism came up on this. What worries me more is not what the president says but what the teachers say after the speech. When Bush Sr tried this democrats held hearings blasting him.
  • Good Point, but there's more
    You hit the nail on the head. What disturbs me is the precedent that was set by allowing parents to "opt out" of a speech by the President of the United States. Doesn't that mean you got to do the same when the Governor, Senator, Congressman, elected Dog Catcher comes to speak to the kiddies? It's a dangerous precedent and I don't any other elected official is put through such drivel. I say the "opt out" feature is rathered bigoted. Intolerant you understand.
  • Okay, so
    I suppose you, Neal, would have had us say nothing and let the anointed one do his thing. That, sir , would be akin to seeing if a lit match next to an open can of gasoline would ignite it. It's too late when the damage is done. Who gives 1 shiite what the looney left thinks about us. We very possibly prevented a potentially harmful thing to happen. Every action of O since the day he was sworn in has been a kick in the face to America. You know the sayings "once bitten twice shy" and "you only kick the dog so many times before he bites you". Well we've been kicked one too many times. Here in florida we don't wait until the hurricane hits before we put up the shutters.
    Sometimes your sensibilities are questionable.
  • School Speech
    Neil, the government wants the kids to stay in school because they want to continue the brain washing of future generations. If he can do that with this speech we will continue to have American Idol voters. Its a trick, this way they can be forced to read his books, in school, more socialist propaganda in the school system in the long run. Plus doesn't Rham and his brother want all kids to be forced to take 3 months of basic training and community service? Its a trick and a ploy. "Stay in school kids and continue the DUMBING DOWN we set in place for the past 100 years." They will ban home schooling next.
  • What if?
    Neal, I agree with you but what if Obama changed his speech and what we now have is a revised version? After all, we know that the W.H. changed the teaching materials that initially required children to write a letter to the great one!
    It may be a hollow victory for conservatives or even just the cherry on top of the removal of Van Jones, but we all know just how great Obama is at "viral marketing". My 5 year old who isn't allowed to watch any news already identifies Obama when ever he see a picture of the great one; yet she had no idea of who George Bush was even though I had mentioned him by reference as being our President.
    The point is that even if the message is innocent, the fact that it is coming from Obama engenders mistrust because he has proven to be untrustworthy.
    Conversely, you could say that this whole situation is a setup to make conservatives appear irrational to the independent voters and thus give Obama a "pass" on future initiatives?
  • Neal is right
    People are worried that a speech by Obama to government school children will "indoctrinate" them? Really? Parents can undo any damage done by ONE speech, regardless how impressive and powerful that person is. Are some of you that helpless that you can't teach your children your values? Are you forgetting that you are the most important person in your child's life?
  • Children Speech
    I was born a poor black child...
    It is your responsibility...
    You can learn to speak English (but Spanish is OKAY)...
    Rapping, basketball and being a reality TV star is OKAY (he's just gotta get the black thing in there.

    Is there anything in the speech that parents should not be telling their children in the first place?
    Are children so screwed up in thir heads that it takes the President of the United States to talk to them?
    Sorry, PRESO - your ideas are all screwed up to me and I will encourage my child myself without you butting in.
    I want them to be like me, not like you and your cronies.
  • Missing the point AGAIN
    Neal, you are making stuff up to support your position. With cameras on, of course we weren't expecting that he would salute past communist leaders and indoctrinate the kids. That wasn't the point. The point was WHY is this idiot in there in the first place. Spare me the "It's a good message he is giving the kids" nonsense.

    (1) Do we really need the President, on the first day of school no less, hogging up time and lecturing everyone on the most obvious things imaginable.

    For Christ's sake, "we need to work hard", "education is important", etc. Thanks, genius, who would have known those things. All these morons in school know that, the problem is that they and their parents don't do it.

    (2) Arrogance - What really ticks me off is that OBozo will say these obvious things such as "Education is important" and "work hard", in an arrogant way as if he was the first person to think of it! He did that on his apology tour in the Mid East discussing the Pal-Isreal conflict. As if no one ever before the Messiah thought of the solutions he was offering in that conflict. This idiot would go on stage and say "2+2=4" and lecture everyone as if he just invented it and no one else knew it.

    (3) Timing - Off his vacation of 2 weeks, polls plummeting, more radical friends exposed, upcoming "big" speech tomorrow, OBozo chooses today to speak to the kids. Coincidence? The idiot is using this ploy to get back into the mainstream of America in time for his speech tomorrow. How better than to sound "caring" and motivational than in front of chilllllllldren. This will soften some people up right before the radical HC debate again, and make them feel "He's not bad, he's not radical, that was a good speech for the kids."

    (4) Cult of Personality - Like all leftists leaders, they create that cult of personality. Look at those questions of the work plan. All about him. What people can do for him.

    Bottom Line: I could care less, whether GOP or Democrat, I don't like the idea. I think I am perfectly capable of telling my kid that "he needs to work hard" and "school is important" and other mindnumbingly obvious things.
  • Doubt the released speech was the original
    I think folks way over-reacted, but who can blame them. This was a matter of trust given how this President has heavily politicized EVERYTHING. I, for one, was concerned. The speech looks very good now that we've seen it. However, I have to seriously assume that this wasn't the first draft and that there were probably some things they took out once this started coming to light. So, yes folks overreacted. But, I can't blame them given the track record of this President. Don't know if it was intentional, but this President pulled a good "rope a dope".
  • WTF
    How are we supposed to trust anything that PrezBo is going to spew? Would we be in the wrong to want to see a transcript of a Hugo Chavez speech to our kids? They're of the same red cloth right? I will question and scrutinize everything this President does, especially when it directly involves my child.
  • Obama's Speech to school children
    I have read the speech and I think it is fine. It may even inspire some children to set goals and work to achieve them, which is a good thing! I also like the fact that BO admitted that he was homeschooled for a few years! I homeschool my children and they we very happy to read that the Pres. was also homeschooled for a period of time!
    On the other side of the coin, I am pretty sure the speech was changed from what he originally may have wanted to say once he heard about the up roar of some parents.
  • The speech is NOW a positive thing
    The speech is NOW a benign, positive thing. No one should object to their kids seeing it. Something good may actually come frome it. (even a broken clock is correct twice a day)

    Anyhow the speech has likely been changed from its original subversive form, we will never know.
  • Rewriting anyone
    Knowing what these people are capable of, my guess is the speech to be given today is different from what was planned last week.
  • Obama's speech to the school children.
    Has it ever occured to you that the author of "change we can believe" in might have rewritten the speech after uproar from the grassroots?
  • Changing the speech
    Does anybody think that this is the original speech? Because of all the uproar he had to change it.
  • Listening is a must
    As I told my 12 year old son who said "HE WAS NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO OBAMA'S SPEECH"... If you don't listen to what he says, how will you know what he is doing and therefore know how to respond. He had no comeback for that.
  • Obama
    I think you are giving too much value to the situation.

    If anyone was paying attention to this situation and cared, I think the following holds true. Most people know Obama had time to change the speech, just like they changed the lesson plan.

    Personally I would have loved to see him screw up by saying his typical retarded BS but now we have been deprived of a good show hehe.
  • Thank You Neal
    For showing some understanding of how this works! We need to be saving what little political capital we have on Obama. if we react with hysteria every time he so much as passes gas, people will tire and tune us out. Let's stay focused. We've already gotten big concessions on healthcare. Let's keep pushing on that!
  • You are wrong about the backlash
    I think it just shows how much a large portion of the populace does not trust this administration and its motives. I think you are in the minority on this issue. I still love the way you stir things up, though.
  • I'm with you Neal
    If Obama does something right, then give the man credit. To do otherwise, runs the risk of looking like just another naysayer, and we've got more of those than we need. Stay focused on preserving our liberty, and drop the chicken-little routine.
  • Bad Neal, bad bad Neal
    Do your research Neal, BO talks about a kid his ObamaCare Czar Dr. Ezkiel Emengele would kill off in his speech:

    http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2009/09/obama-refers-to-child-in-his-speech.html
  • Changed Speech
    I do not believe that this was the orginal speech that President Obama wanted to give. I do believe that you would have reacted differently if no one objected to his speech to our children.
  • Hand In Pocket...
    When a Person Speaks and has a hand or both in thier Pocket this normally means they are (withholding) hiding something, or not being completely "Open".
  • Obama's School Speech
    Neal, You've got this one wrong!

    Many People are pushing back against a President that is quickly losing his popularity.

    I believe that push backs will accelerate and become more vocal and forceful.
  • Commies
    Neal, do you seriously think the people of this country want to let their kids listen to the leader of an administration who calls the American people and our soldiers "nation of cowards", "Nazi's", "brownshirts", "terrorists", "extremists", and makes statements like "no white men need apply!". Sorry, Neal. My kids aren't allowed to listen to speeches given by trash-talking commies.
  • read
    PARIS, France (CNN) -- Former first lady Laura Bush praised the performance of her husband's successor Monday, breaking with many Republicans in telling CNN that she thinks President Obama is doing a good job under tough circumstances.


    Former first lady Laura Bush defended President Obama's decision to address the nation's schoolchildren.

    She also criticized Washington's sharp political divide during an interview covering a range of topics including her thoughts on first lady Michelle Obama, former Vice President Dick Cheney, the situation in Afghanistan and Myanmar, and life after eight tumultuous years in the White House.

    Bush sat down with CNN on Monday during a United Nations meeting in Paris, France, where she was promoting global literacy, a cause she trumpeted during her husband's administration.

    The typically reserved former first lady defended Obama's decision to deliver a back-to-school speech to students, putting her at odds with many conservatives afraid that the president will use the opportunity to advance his political agenda.

    "I think he is [doing a good job]," Bush said when asked to assess Obama's job performance. "I think he has got a lot on his plate, and he has tackled a lot to start with, and that has probably made it more difficult."

    Michelle Obama is also "doing great," she said, in part by turning the White House into a comfortable home for her family. Watch more of the interview »

    Referencing the uproar over Obama's address to schoolchildren, which will be aired nationwide Tuesday, Laura Bush said it's "really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States."

    Don't Miss
    Obama says education is key to country's future
    Bush didn't completely dismiss the concerns of some conservatives but noted that controversial Education Department plans recommending that students draft letters discussing what they can do to help Obama had been changed.

    "I think there is a place for the president ... to talk to schoolchildren and encourage" them, she said. Parents should follow his example and "encourage their own children to stay in school and to study hard and to try to achieve the dream that they have."

    Bush indicated that she didn't think it was fair for Obama to be labeled a "socialist" by critics and expressed her disappointment with the intensely polarized nature of contemporary American politics.
  • Thisi is the first time I have ever been frustrated with you.
    why would you read a comment like what you did online, when you read through these they are not so attacking at all, they are trying to explain this to you. sure there are a couple of ppl who would jump on you regardless of what you said, but genuine concerned parents are not going to attack you so.

    from what I have seen the reasons haven't changed since the speech came out, go back to your comments from before the speech came out and re read.
  • It was never about the speech...
    It was the government lesson plan for my 2 grade-schoolers as well as the teacher's (union) tilt that might be applied in the classroom before and after the speech that bothered me.
  • That's not the point, Neal
    We don't want school kids to get in the habit of taking orders from Washington DC even if it is something as innocuous as telling them to wash their hands. We don't want them to think of the President as an authority figure. We don't work for the President, he works for us. We are not subjects of the Federal government and we don't want children to start thinking in those terms.
  • Neal's wrong
    The conservatives & some in the GOP forced the Obamunists to tone back the the spew on Barry's teleprompter & the government teachers' post speech love BHO lesson plan. Remember the part in the original about "what can I do to help Obama"? This was a victory for the Right.
  • When he has lied to us so mant times...
    Why wouldn't we be concerned? I agree it was likely a planned rickrolled event solely to agitate the opposition.

    I'm pretty proud that the USA is standing up and telling our government to fark off. Whether we win is another matter.
  • sounds like...
    sounds like a republican wrote the speech.i have a 15 yr old daughter and dont have a problem with her listening to the President.When did anyone under 18 give a hoot about politics anyway?im sure 95% (including teachers)will be texting during the speech anyway.
  • This is proof
    This is proof that Republicans are traitors and hate Americans. Not only do they despise people just because they may have different political beliefs, but they also cry and surrender because the PRESIDENT will speak to their children. When I was in elementary school I had to listen to crazy old man Reagan speak and nobody took their kids out of school. Republicans should just move to Iraq since they like their tax money going there.
  • Republicans got rolled?!
    Neal, like so many Obama supporters, just doesn't get it. This is not about Republicans and democrats and libertarians...this is about the American people who are SICK AND DAMNED TIRED OF BIG GOVERNMENT IN THEIR LIVES!!! Republicans suck. Democrats suck. Libertarians suck. All politicians suck. All we need is the United States Constitution, that's it. We don't need no freakin' politicians talking to our kids.

    So what are you sayin Neal? Are you sayin we should let our children watch a speech given by an anti-American illegal immigrant from Kenya, who attacks people's businesses, attacks industries, forces banks to accept money they do not want, raises taxes, lies, wants to FORCE you into a government healthcare system against your will, bows to terrorists, hangs out with terrorists, sends money to terrorist groups, imports terrorists, is FRIENDS with terrorists, started his political career in the home of a terrorist? No thanks, Neal. I don't allow my kids around those type people.

    And who really gives a crap if "Republicans got rolled"?
  • Speech
    I guarantee this was not the original speech. I would bet my life that the original speech was full of leftist propaganda. I hate to be this way, but this administration and the type of people he has appointed to office would lead me to believe that the original speech would most certainly have been full of community organizer talking points. The original uproar over this speech is why we have this current version.
  • Another Created Crisis
    Once again the divide in this country is highlighted by Ted Mack and his Original Amateur Hour (Obama & Staff). Can't these fools do anything right?
  • HBO did change it
    From ED.gov web site last week it DID have a different lesson plan than the one now put out in writing. I read the PDF before it was changed. It was as conservatives have been upset about. And the DVD to go with this speech with the "Pledge to Help Obama" that was shown early in Salt Lake City, it certainly was to be a propaganda speech!

    Lastly, as of 08:15 today, BHO hasn't yet gone before the teleprompter, so there is still time for the computer to be fed the FIRST VERSION again!
  • Speech isn't what has people upset
    While Obama has lost a lot of trust, the guide for teachers to talk to their students about 'what is he asking of me?' and 'how can I support dear leader?' is what makes this speech stink. The audaciousness of trying to open another avenue to push the liberal message is where the concern is. Next thing you know, the White House will try to recruit the NEA to help with supporting artwork...oh wait...they are.
  • Afteer Speech Activities
    It was the after speech Teacher led discussions that bothered me. I knew the speech would be boring and innocuous. But giving the left leaning teachers and their unions a platform is dangerous.
  • The speech
    It was the Lesson Plan that brought out the right wing opposition! Remember, "How can you help the president?" and what about "listening to the government officials"?
  • Obama And The School Kids
    While I agree that many people went hysterical over Obama's speech to their children, I also see this as another campaign appearance by Obama.
    I don't care what the message to school kids is...the Obama regime knows that in American high schools, there are about 15 MILLION kids that will be voting age in another 3 years. That might be enough to cancel out the millions of 2008 Obama voters who now realize what a moronic thing it was to do, voting for that marxist tyrant. Obama cares as much for school kids as he does about your health insurance; and remember, this regime does NOTHING without political motives. N*O*T*H*I*N*G
  • Still not right
    Obama is taking time away from what is supposed to be a time of learning, or in some areas, lunch. If he had wanted to encourage the kids to stay in school and learn from the beginning, that could have been acomplished with a simple letter to the students and parents. Everything Obama does is calculated to be to his biggest benefit.
  • Neal's right
    The idiots on the right have made it that much harder for real concerned Americans to deal with the looters on the left, thanks guys.
    You who post here KNOW that snarkybird and the dude and other stay-at-home trolls are going to be gloating here all day long because day in and day out, they come to these boards, apparently they have nothing else to do??
    But now they have all the ammunition they could want which, while admittedly it's not that much, liberals will take any little thing and run with it and this is a BIG little thing, if that makes sense.
  • The real downside is the precedent that has been set for presidential Perp talks to the kiddies
    Now that Fauxbama has set the precedent of directly indoctrinating the 'Yuts', with an innocuous speech, he can do this again with a stronger message.
  • It's been changed Neal
    Most especially the "lesson plan" for the teachers has changed. But it's over, they will hear the speech, time to move on. There was democratic uproar over a similar Bush speech. These politicians (I don't care which side) just need to be aware that not everyone wants them speaking to children. They should always put their material up ahead of time for review. After all they are our children not theirs.
  • School Children Speech
    It doesn't matter what PRESBO says in his speech to the children.
    He could recite Humpty Dumpty and the effect will be the same.
    What will happen is the children will get excited and such an adrenaline rush from the speech (President Obama is talking to ME!).
    They will carry the effect home to their parents and the plague will spread. It is fertilizer to Obama's shriveling garden of support.
    The parents will become more energized because their child is so excited. This is natural - they KNOW this speech will not be over when school lets out.
    The speech may not effect the long term minds of the children at all - they can't vote, but they can get their parents fired up just by being excited themselves.
    Obama will talk about responsibility, values, your commitment, be green, and all the "good" things children need to hear for a short term behavior change.
    Will he tell them what his policies are going to do to their future and what is happening to their parents right now?
    PRESBO, Why are mom and dad so worried all the time?
    The parents aren't getting excited on their own anymore, so this just a tactic, another method to stir them up a little bit using the children (other methods are failing).
    Who are the parents that are encouraging it or think it is such a good idea? How many from the low income communites will be all fired up (for a little while).
    Voters are not listening to PRESBO, so let's try the children for a while.
    We need to keep our little fire going just a little bit longer until it is too late, things are all screwed up and everybody decides that my (devious and secret) power plan is really the only alternative they have left!
  • Wrong focus
    GOP went after the wrong topic. Nothing wrong with a self esteem message, but the lesson plans afterword I have a problem with. DOE forcing these plans on schools? Course most teachers will not object to the plans because they are unionized, and who do you think they support? And when Bush 41 wanted to talk to students, the press went nuts. Where were they on this one?
  • Prezbo's speech
    Let's not forget they pulled the homework assignment that asked the kiddo's what they could do to help (read serve) Prez. Obama. Jeez Neal, The White House homework was the primary concern for parents. you have not addressed that aspect of the hole ordeal. But as long as the media myrmidons like you...
  • Yeah, but....
    I think the content of the address was contingent on the reaction from the right. If righties hadnt complained, more left wing crapola would've been in the speech. Since righties did complain, Obama delivers the innocuous one, making the complainers look like the problem. Obama wins either way. But schoolkids are still being used in politics...
  • The politicization of everything
    Perhaps the hard right lunatic fringe needs to re-acquaint itself with the story of "The Boy who Cried Wolf"

    In response to virtually everything this administration does, the looney right jumps up and down and throw a tantrum like a bratty child. Then, when there is actually a reason to throw a tantrum, nobody will take the fringe right seriously other than the right wing echo chambers of forums like townhall and all their talk radio heroes.
  • You miss the point
    Each and every action by BO has been contrary to conservatives. The people have no trust in the "goodness" of his motives. So it is natural to respond negatively to each BO action.
  • This was a trick...
    The administration is trying to lump more and more people into the "Right-Wing Extremist" crowd. Given Obama's track record it is no wonder people were worried about his speech. The left USED this in order to get the "crazy" right all worked up. They then release the speech for all to read so they can say..."See there it's just those CRAZY Right Wingers again...when are we going to just ignore them and go ahead and get Healthcare and Cap and Trade passed...afterall the only ones opposed to this is the CRAZY Right Wing." Do NOT buy into this crap. These people are EVIL.
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