WTF? and Whine Wednesday

Yesterday, President Obama gave a speech to students.

Harmless right?

Apparently not. The GOP is out of control. Of the speech, "Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer accused Obama last week of trying to 'indoctrinate America's children to his socialist agenda'" (CNN, 2009). It's a speech to kids. Kids who can't even vote. And unless they're older than 15, it's unlikely that they even know what being socialist means. Greer was jumping the gun with his statement, since it was made before the topic of the speech was even released. Upon finding out what it was, he basically told the media that it was an acceptable topic and that his children would be watching (CNN, 2009).

What further irks me about this is that parents were outraged at the thought of Obama speaking to children. How dare he?! In fact, according to CNN (2009), one woman was actually quoted as saying, "Thinking about my kids in school having to listen to that just really upsets me. I'm an American. They are Americans, and I don't feel that's OK. I feel very scared to be in this country with our leadership right now." Seriously?! You're scared to be in this country? Because this President is trying to create positive relations internationally? How did she feel beforehand when Bush was President? Safe? How are citizens supposed to feel safe when their leader is out poking his nose in places it doesn't belong, aggravating people that he shouldn't be? Is that safe? For God's sake, it's a speech to children. And do you know what it was about?

The importance of staying in school and working hard to get an education.

Quick! Hide your children!

I suppose it's possible that the initial speech may have acted as some sort of political platform. I don't agree with that; it's not a situation that children need to be involved in. But I definitely feel that it is part of a President's responsibility to reach out to children, to inspire them and to engage them. The best thing about Obama's speech is that he knows his target audience. He references JK Rowling and Michael Jordan, illustrating how their failures lead to their eventual success. He emphasizes the importance of getting away from playing Xbox and doing homework instead. And I buy it, because he's probably played Xbox and read Harry Potter.

So what's the big deal, GOP? You let Bush talk to your kids, and he can barely formulate a sentence. But when a wonderfully well-spoken, educated man wants to speak to your children, just because he doesn't come from the same Red State background, you're all up in arms? No wonder your country can't build bipartisanship.

Can't wait to hear what they have to say tomorrow after tonight's speech to the joint session of Congress.



Transcript for Obama's speech can be found here.