Friday, September 4, 2009

Country's ignorance is scary sometimes

The levels of ignorance, paranoia and polarization in the country by supposed reasonable people who should know better is alarming.

The reaction and planned protest of President Obama having the audacity to address the country's school students next week is really sad. Not surprising any longer, but still sad.

Conservative commentators and talk show hosts, who see black helicopters behind every white cloud, are fueling the paranoia. Here's some comments from conservative commentator Mark Davis:

"This is a mandatory cram-down....look at the levels of deception, look at the level of gamesmanship, look at the level of trickery."

"This is creepy."

"This administration is trying to get kids to love this president so when mom and dad harp about him at the dinner table, the kids can scold him."

"Schools respond to attendance, attendance means money, and if you make it clear that your child will not step FOOT at school...."

"I'm maybe suggesting that you turn your kids into absentees. Do your kids need to be at school for this crap?"

"I don't know if your kids need to be there that day."

Good Lord.

And it has created a bit of an uproar in pockets across the country, especially in the Dallas area where there have been calls for sickouts so students could avoild "left wing indoctrination" during Tuesday's speech. And the White House has tried to adjust, pledging Thursday to release the text of Obama's speech early so parents can review it and revising instructional materials offered to schools.

What's Obama going to say? Probably the same thing that George H.W. Bush said in a similar televised speech to students in 1991 that nobody got up in arms about -- stay in school, study hard, give back to others. The usual.

But to hear some airheads reacting, you would think Obama is going to tell kids to run back and tell their parents to call their Congressmen and say how great his health care plan is for the country.

Give me a break.

"What we've got right now on the right is, they didn't get back into office and they're into a take-no-prisoners strategy," Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University, told the Dallas Morning News.

Here's why Obama's in office, and this is coming from someone who voted for Bush twice. It's because of the failed policies of the previous president, who history will judge as one of the worst to occupy the office. It would help getting off the Denial River long enough to understand that.

One parent told the Morning News he didn't want his child to hear the president speak to them because "he's running this country into the ground." Does anyone recall what shape this country was in before Jan. 20? Run into the ground, really?

The health care issue has sparked intense debate, and it's mushroomed into an even more poisonous environment than ever before. But this uproar over Obama's speaking nationally to students is embarrassing. Even for Republicans, or which I have been one on occasion.

10 comments:

shueytexas said...

Amen and God bless.

I posted this on Facebook:

"This is a new phenomenon. Do you think our grandparents would have pulled our parents out of school if President Truman were addressing schoolkids over the radio? Heck no! Our parents would have listened, because he's the president, and then if the beliefs at home were different, the kids would have been taught the difference over dinner.

"Instead, we have parents, saturated in Fox News AND MSNBC AND The New York Times AND whomever you care to mention, protecting their kids from any opposing viewpoint. And the song remains the same."

KP said...

Well said, shueytexas. No matter if you are Republican or Democrat, people seem to have lost respect for the Office of the President. It's okay to call the President names and say horrible things that are not substantiated if he's not from your party.

We as a society have lost the ability to conduct a thoughtful conversation about issues. Instead we have witch hunts. It's just sad that we are no longer a nation that embraces a marketplace of ideas.

And Jon Mark, I'm going to have to take issue with your comment about our previous president going down in history as one of the worst to hold the office. I guess we'll have to get together so you can present your case to back up that statement.

writestuff said...

I am saddened that people are so afraid of our President that they will keep their children home from school rather than letting them hear his speech. The President's message will no doubt be inspirational and more of a pep-talk than anything else. While I do not support 100% of Mr. Obama's platform, I would never send my child the message that it is okay to skip school if you don't agree with what is being taught that day.

Unknown said...

this is why i voted for a democrat for the first time in 2008 and its why i will vote democrat again in 2012... this is so stupid and its only fueled by the mouths on AM radio.... sorry

Unknown said...

John Mark; why don't you just get a life.

shueytexas said...

HAHAHA. Nice one, roadrunner. You really got him!

I especially like how you misspelled the author's name and misused a semi-colon. You know, to draw attention away from your lack of a point.

www.amarillotalk.com said...

What is the difference between this and the local Amarillo liberals foaming at the mouths about Karl Rove speaking at WTAMU the day before commencement?

Liberals didn't want to listen to Karl Rove...and the rest of the country does not want to listen to Obama.

Liberals who are upset people don't want their kids listening to a liberal...are like The Pot Calling The Kettle Black.

Also...a very recent Gallup poll shows that conservatives outnumber liberals in almost every state.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/122333/Political-Ideology-Conservative-Label-Prevails-South.aspx#1

So why is the LIBERAL MINORITY trying to force the rest of us to listen to their chosen leader?

At least CISD said they are not going to waste time in their schedule to listen to the leader of the liberal minority.

lequino said...

Nice try Amarillotalk.com. Let's look at another Gallup poll that looks at party identification. Hmmmm looks like 30 states identify solidly as Democratic while only 4 are solidly Republican.
I think the only think your poll proves is that Democrats are the Conservative party. They certainly don't adhere to the wingnuty ideas you adhere to...like the ones Jon Mark points out in his article.

BTW here's the link

http://www.gallup.com/poll/122003/Political-Party-Affiliation-States-Blue-Red-Far.aspx

myownview said...

www.amarillotalk.com you said it all...

Unknown said...

There is a definite difference between the office of the president and karl rove you neo con tool.