The White House today released the text of the webcast that President Barack Obama will deliver to school children tomorrow. I've just read it, and I'm scared. I'm very, very scared.Here are some of the more disturbing selections:
--At the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
--And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it.
--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.
And the president shares stuff about his own life, like growing up with a single mom who struggled to pay bills and not having a father around. He does a Bill Clinton "I feel your pain" and says he understands what it's like to not have certain advantages, but he says:
--At the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.
22 comments:
This text sounds awfully conservative to me. I don't think the fearful conservative even realize that.
I think "W" could have delivered a similar speech about personal responsibility and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
Though, he'd have a hard time making anyone believe he had grown up disadvantaged or had worked hard to overcome serious obstacles in his path to any kind of success.
"W" is similar to "O" in that regard...priveleged backgrounds both.
Anon 3:20 do you want to back up your statement with some facts?
I think 3:20 may be unacquainted with the concept of factual evidence.
I can only imagine what the media (hm... people like Rush and/or Bill O'Reilly) would say if they knew what he was really saying -- but then again, you have to play it backward to know.
I applaud Obama for his comments. From his autobiographies, one knows that his mother was a tough cookie (as my mom used to say) when it came to doing his homework as a little kid and doing a good job, no matter how early he had to get up and how many extra hours he had to put in. And, despite all the stereotyping that some in the right-wing like to indulge in about Obama and "liberals," Obama has consistently spoken out about the need for self-respect, commitment, community values, dedication and hard work.
Gobama!
Anon 5:07
I would be happy to...thanks kindly for asking.
Obama's educational history:
Punahou School, an private, independent college preparatory day school
Occidental College (a top-tier liberal arts college)
Columbia University
Harvard Law
Obama's grandmother worked very hard to put him in a private high school. You can find out all of these facts if you read his book "Dreams from My Father", which I have done. Have you?
I'm not sure how attending a private high school, Columbia, and Harvard qualifies as a disadvantaged life.
Sorry, that's
"Punahou School, A private, independent college preparatory day school"
Annon 8:27 wouldn't it more honorable to just admit that you are just making things up?
See at 8:27 you say: "I'm not sure how attending a private high school, Columbia, and Harvard qualifies as a disadvantaged life."
But that wasn't the stupid comment you made at 3:20 "W" is similar to "O" in that regard...priveleged backgrounds both."
Nobody said that Obama was disadvantaged, but you said that he has the same privileged background as the Bush family.
There was no argument that Obama didn't attend good schools, mostly because his grandmother worked hard to allow him to go to these schools.
Now I'm still waiting for your evidence that growing up in the Dunham/Obama family was as privileged as growing up in the Bush family.
I actually stand corrected Soccer Mom did use the term disadvantaged, which I'm not sure in what context she meant, because it is not my statement, and I would not use it to describe Obama's academic upbringing.
But I still stand by my comment that you have no facts to support your comment that the Dunham/Obama family is similar privileged as the Bush family.
Academically disadvantaged? No, you're right he was not. But socio-economically, it appears he was. At least by some of the measures we usually apply. I'm also assumng he probably received scholarships for those top private schools.
Actually, that's one thing about private universities. They often offer far more generous financial aid packages than public universities to students they want in their schools. I believe my husband, from a working class family in a small town, received almost a full ride at the private university we both attended. And even I, without his test scores and high school accomplishments, received some pretty generous help.
I never said Obama enjoyed the same privelege as Bush did. I was taking SM's comments to mean that while Bush had it easy growing up, which I won't dispute, Obama had to pull himself up by his bootstraps and had to "work hard to overcome serious obstacles" to his success.
My nephew is from a state that is generally found near the bottom of any ranking of economic prosperity. He worked his butt off in high shool and is now attending a top 20 Tier 1 liberal arts school on a full scholarship. While he comes from a working class town in a working class state, I would hardly describe him as disadvantaged, nor would he.
I won't go along with this myth that Obama has had to overcome serious obstacles to get where he is. He had a loving mother and loving grandparents who took care of him and worked hard to give him opportunities. Many, many children, both in this country and around the world, have much, much less.
Obama is a smart, good-looking man who siezed the opportunities before him and made it to the top. That's the beauty of America.
Further to my last comment. If we want to get into the presidential privelege game and how that correlates to performance in office, we could be here all night. FDR and Kennedy, two Democratic icons, were certainly among our wealthiest presidents, while Lincoln, a Republican, well...we all know his upbringing. My fingers are too tired to type anymore.
obama will end his speech with the standard 'God bless America.'
isnt the showing of this speech a breech the seperation of church and state?
Does the fact that Obama's mother was on food stamps (maybe on welfare) during parts of his childhood qualify him as economically disadvantaged? I think so. He was blessed with a bright, educated mother, and a family who sacrificed for him.
Obama's upbringing, compared to Bush's, was socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Heaven forbid anybody here dare not worship at the o's feet.
Thud are you serious?
What does this have to do with worshiping at anyone's feet?
Listen to your teachers, be accountable and study. Pretty threatening eh?
What you liberal jerks don't realize is that this is only the first of many more such "speeches." They WILL get more political and they WILL become more subversive.
Ever hear of the camel's nose?
I love people who can see the future? Do you have a psychic hotline?
A woman who worked her way up through the ranks of the Bank of Hawaii to be the first woman VP of the Bank is pretty impressive. I do not think that compares to some oil baron family who's grandfather, Prescott Bush, made his money selling supplies to the Nazis. IMO there is a huge difference between adequately cared for by a hard working family, and spoiled by a father who headed the CIA who's family was inherently wealthy. Here is a cool story on "Toot":
When it was clear he would win the Democratic nomination for president, Obama said that night was for her. His grandmother, Obama told a crowd of excited fans, is the one "who poured everything she had into me and who helps to make me the man I am today."
He explains in his book "Dreams from My Father," "We call my grandmother Tutu, Toot for short; it means "grandparent" in Hawaiian, for she decided on the day I was born that she was still too young to be called Granny."
Obama credits Dunham, a Kansas native, with giving the Democratic nominee his pragmatic, hard-working side. He's written, "she's suspicious of overwrought sentiments or overblown claims, content with common sense."
That may explain her low-key reaction to her grandson's win of the Democratic nomination. During an appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman," Obama said his grandmother telephoned him after he clinched the nomination and simply said: "That's nice, Barry
I think that everyone should ignore what Obama said and just work toward a new goal: Let's elevate California's high school dropout rate to a record high. Last year I believe the drop out rate was 25% - 1 in 4 high schoolers. We can do far better. Let's forget about doing well in school and becoming something - lets shoot for 100% dropout rate.
Post a Comment