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Decoding Obama school speech: Surrender earthlings!
The controversy surrounding President Obama's pep talk to school kids is beyond ridiculous
Michael Mayo
News Columnist
September 7, 2009
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Parents
beware. At noon today, pure evil will rear its ugly head. The President
of the United States will talk directly to school children -- our
children! -- about the importance of education, hard work and goals.
Sounds innocent enough.
But I just got done reading President Obama's speech, and I'm absolutely appalled.
Did you know that if you pick out certain letters in certain words in
the speech, they can be rearranged to spell: "Socialism now," "Death to
America," "Kill the rich," "Eat your parents," and "I am an alien bent
on your destruction!"
Hey, somebody's got to tell the truth.
For the humor-challenged, I'm being sarcastic.
I'm also completely bewildered, amazed and ashamed at the overheated reaction some folks are having over this.
I mean, really. Since when did having the president deliver an
inspirational speech to students become a potentially subversive act?
There's been so much ridiculous talk of "brainwashing" and
"indoctrination," you'd think that the ghost of David Koresh has been
invited into our nation's classrooms.
Some South Florida parents say they will keep their kids home today.
That'll teach this president to stress the importance of staying in school!
Here's the thing. Even if you don't agree with Obama's policies or
actions, we should at least trust him to deliver a pep talk that
thousands of other Career Day speakers -- myself included -- give every
year, no opt-out forms or parental permission slips necessary.
Every other president -- from George Washington to George W. Bush --
would have deserved the same courtesy. This backlash makes me wonder if
something else is at play here. Something darker, if you will.
It's not like Obama is talking Evolution vs. Creationism, or Abstinence
vs. Birth Control. It's not like he's going to give everyone a forced
injection of Gardasil.
His remarks, posted on the White House website on Monday, do make
reference to his school days in Indonesia, surely a frightening thing
for xenophobes across the land.
And he does speak of today's students being the future citizens who
will "create new energy sources and protect our environment," "fight
poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination" and "make our
country more fair and more free."
That sounds like Commie talk to me.
But Obama also hits many notes that should be music to conservatives'
ears. He stresses personal responsibility and reminds kids to "not
spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox."
He debunks the chances of kids striking easy fame and fortune through "rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star."
He even talks about how his mom supplemented his education overseas
with early morning home-schooling sessions. Home schooling! Even Glenn
Beck and Rush Limbaugh should be down with that.
Makes you wonder if the Obama-worriers are so hung up on demonizing the
messenger that they don't even bother listening to the message.
So good for Broward Schools Superintendent Jim Notter for bucking the
backlash and declaring that Obama's speech would be required watching
for students today.
In Palm Beach County, Superintendent Art Johnson said the speech would
be shown, but parents who object can write in to have their kids skip
it.
Robert Trilling, of Cooper City, who has two kids in Broward public
elementary schools, said he objected to Notter's "edict" more than the
speech.
After reading Obama's remarks on Monday, he decided his kids will attend school today.
"It's a good speech; I think it's appropriate," said Trilling, an
attorney. "My concern is the way the school district handled it...You
should give the parents a choice. If my kids were older I'd have no
problem, but these are younger kids. They have no context. I [saw] the
potential for indoctrination."
Oh please.
What's next -- parents asking for veto rights on the vegetables offered their kids in the lunchroom?
Michael Mayo can be reached at mmayo@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4508.