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best-seller, "A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity" and anchor of the "The
O'Reilly Factor" on the Fox News Channel.
In this week's PARADE, a weekly supplement in almost all major
metropolitan newspapers in the U.S, O'Reilly has an interesting, if
somewhat surprising, article on what children can learn from President
Barak Obama.
I found this article to be an excellent example of how one can oppose a person's political views but still admire the man.
O'Reilly lists five lessons he believes children can learn from the President.
Lesson One:Â Forgiveness
O'Reilly speaks of Obama's father abandoning the family when the President was only two and of his mother sending him back at Age 9 to his grandparents in Hawaii while she remained behind with her second husband.
"That kind of situation could ruin a child," O'Reilly states; "but President Obama betrays no bitterness."
Instead,
as O'Reilly states, he speaks lovingly of his mother. As for his
absent father, he accepted his situation and saw it as a 'challenge.'
In short, "He forgave his folks and embraced a positive outlook."
Lesson Two:Â Respect
Even though his parents evidently put their needs ahead of his, Obama,
according to O'Reilly, has always found a way to revere his parents
rather than to 'demean' them. O'Reilly quotes Patricia Saunders, a
clinical psychologist who had this to say about the President:
Barak
Obama dealt with his family situation by understanding it. He put his
own ego aside and made a decision to act respectfully toward his
folks. That maturity has served him very well throughout his life.
Lesson Three:Â Persistence
President Obama did not have the advantage, as many politicians do, of be part of
a wealthy family. In fact, he mentions that at one time his
grandmother had to apply for food stamps because money was so short.Â
But Obama did not let that stop him from 'fighting the good fight' and
'getting up when he was knocked down.'Â In 2000 he lost his run for
Congress in Illinois. He could have said to "heck with it" and taken a
high-paying job with a private law firm. But, as O'Reilly reminds us,
he "preferred public service."Â So, four years later, he ran for a seat
in the Senate and won.Â
O'Reilly says that Psychologist Ruth Peters of Clearwater, Florida told him:
Some
people shrink when they are faced with adversity. Others seem to gain
momentum and are challenged when they fail. The President did not use
his difficulties as an excuse to quit. He used them as motivation to
persevere.
Lesson Four:Â Hard Work
"A person does not go from taking English lessons in Indonesia to editing the Harvard Law Review without some hard work,"Â O'Reilly states.
The President did not get where he was without applying himself to the
utmost of his ability at every level and on every job. Early on,
O'Reilly said, he "understood the big picture."
Success requires laying the foundations from grade school all the way through college as well as with every job after college.
Barak Obama loves his work,'" says Saunders, and this is a great example for
children. They must understand that work is very important and will
define our lives.
Lesson Five:Â Perhaps the greatest lesson the President can teach our children:Â in America, anything is possible.
No matter how one feels about the President's politics, this is one of the
great success stories of history, regardless of what happens in the
future. Not my words but again O'Reilly's.
Think about it, O'Reilly comments. Here's a kid of mixed blood, who grew up
with no fatherly advice to guide him, who did not come from a monied
family to give him an "in" in the political arena; yet from over 300
million people he rose to the highest office in the land.
That, according to the author,
"adds up to one simple truth that every American child should be told:
If Barak Obama can become the President of the United States, then
whatever dream you may have can happen in your life."
Nice job, Bill!!!