Leave it to the Republicans to make a political issue out of the President visiting a school. I wonder why they didn't get upset when a former President wouldn't leave a school?
Anyway, President Obama gave his much publicized speech today in Virginia and none of the points the Republican and conservative talking heads said would surely be in it were.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com), a small group of protesters gathered outside Wakefield High School in the Washington D.C. suburb of Arlington, Va. waiting for the President's arrival.
One sign read: "Mr. President, stay away from our kids." I wonder if this person even had a kid at the school. It's hard to believe that someone would be upset that their kid met a President of the United States, something they will be able to talk/brag about for the rest of their lives. Instead, this person holds up a sign with the kind of message normally reserved for visiting child molesters. I want to meet this person holding up the sign because I bet that if he/she does in fact have kids, they will grow up to be Democrats.
I'm trying to remember if any past presidents received gruff for addressing schoolchildren and surprisingly, nothing comes to mind. I recall the local weatherman visiting our kindergarten classroom and thinking that was the greatest thing ever. I can only imagine how cool it would've been to meet any president, especially if they read us a book like, I don't know, "My Pet Goat."
Conservatives contended that Obama's speech would indoctrinate the children with a "socialist" political agenda.
"I think it's a sad, sad day that the political back-and-forth has intruded on anyone speaking to schoolchildren and teachers and parents about the responsibilities that they have as we enter a new school year," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday.
Anger over the president's education address prompted the Department of Education to revise a suggestion that children write a letter about how they could help the president. God forbid if schoolchildren give back to their country. We must never forget the inspiring words of another former president that the right liked calling a socialist. Doesn't it seem all the great ones are called socialists (Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and now Barack Obama)?
"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
John F. Kennedy
Out in the field - It was a decent night in Greenfield as the team had a record-breaking total. I personally was able to sign up nine new Democrats in all, including two more Republican kills. I'm nearing the century mark and hope to hit it over the next two nights.
CURRENT HIT TALLY
TOTAL OF 90 NEW DEMOCRATS
15 REPUBLICAN KILLS
Well done! Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteHey thanks man. I'm looking forward to the start of the NFL season. Go GMEN!
ReplyDeleteFunny you should quote JFK, because I was just thinking that it is democrat voters who ask the most of their country. They ask that their country provide health care, provide food, provide housing, provide education. All that a conservative asks is that the government stay out of their affairs and not confiscate their earnings through excessive taxation, they'll take care of themselves, thank you very much. Just protect America from foreign threats and lay down some interstate highways.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that too much goverment or a government left unchecked is not a good thing, but this repetitive mantra of the evils of "Big Government" by conservatives escapes in essence the truth.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few realities about this "Big Goverment" you speak of courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:
• Federal spending in the United States is 28% of Gross Domestic Product compared with an average of 40% in the 30 countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Excluding defense, the U.S. total is actually about 20%. Although non-defense spending is much lower in the U.S. than in most rich nations, it is up significantly from the roughly 15% to 17% range that prevailed over the last three-plus decades.
• The maximum tax bracket in the United States is 35% (on incomes above $372,000), down from 91% (on incomes over $400,000, or $3.1 million in current dollars) during the 1950s. Notably, that decade is widely viewed as the Golden Age of American prosperity. Obama's proposal to raise the top marginal bracket to 39.6% on incomes over $250,000 would still leave it 10 percentage points lower than under that famous champion of small government, Ronald Reagan.
• So-called Tax Freedom Day arrived on April 13 this year, the earliest since 1967. However, the day that Americans start working only for themselves could come much later if taxes are raised enough to fully cover anticipated budget deficits.
In the words of the recently deceased Edward Kennedy (insert your tasteless insult of this great man here), "The demand of our people is not for smaller government or bigger government but for better goverment." This is a point I think we can both agree on.