hecko. I regret to inform you that independent thought died today.

Looking at this week’s news cycle, you can see two things — hard-line conservatism’s last vestiges of credibility being crushed, and the death of independent thought for school children. What just happened?

No really… What the heck is going on?!

First, Obama proposes to talk to the schoolchildren (us) and tell us to stay in school and reach our full potential. However, diehard conservative parents apparently don’t like the idea of staying in school, and have decided to come out against learning in droves. I figured it was only a matter of time when their actions and lack of real argument matched what we (the schoolchildren) have thought them to be thinking all this time. (Jump to the bottom if you haven’t seen his speech.)

Politico reports that:

School districts from Maryland to Texas are fielding angry complaints from parents opposed to President Barack Obama’s back-to-school address Tuesday – forcing districts to find ways to shield students from the speech as conservative opposition to Obama spills into the nation’s classrooms.

The White House says Obama’s address is a sort of pep talk for the nation’s schoolchildren. But conservative commentators have criticized Obama for trying to ‘indoctrinate’ students to his liberal beliefs, and some parents call it an improper mix of politics and education.

The gist is, “I want to see what the president has to say before you expose it to my child.” Another said, “This is Marxist propaganda.”

Yes. Staying in school and reaching your goals is now “Marxist propaganda”.

However, as ridiculous as that opinion is alone, it’s not really the point. The credibility of the conservative mothers is already shot and dead. Such will become even clearer as the Obama “Marxist” Administration unfolds.

This is really about the idea that the spirit of independent thought is dead among many “complaining parents”. If Obama is such an idiot who’s opinions are nothing but white-washed socialism, why are you so worried about him being convincing? If he has the power to turn your child into a pro-Health Care thoughtslave just by merely mentioning the word “health” in a speech, what does that say about how you’ve raised your child? Is your child such a blank slate that they needs to be sheltered from Marxism, or do you think they can bear to sort out what is right or wrong by themself?

Really? You really think that your kid cannot survive a twenty minute speech and not come out with a completely changed political affiliation? Because if so, that says a lot about which side of the political spectrum may be triumphing.

To make matters worse, Obama was not the first one to decide to address public schools. Old Man Ronald Reagan did the exact same. And of course, rather than stick to a script of indoctrinating with ideas of staying in school and getting good jobs, Reagan decided to “great communicate” the idea that decreasing taxes can increase revenues. See if you can spot the “indoctrination”.

Cam Fitzie: My name is Cam Fitzie and I’m from St. Agnes School in Alexandria, Virginia. I was wondering if you think that it is possible to decrease the national debt without raising the taxes of the public?

Ronald Reagan: I do. That’s a big argument that’s going on in government and I definitely believe it is because one of the principle reasons that we were able to get the economy back on track and create those new jobs and all was we cut the taxes, we reduced them. Because you see, the taxes can be such a penalty on people that there’s no incentive for them to prosper and to earn more and so forth because they have to give so much to the government.

What? A conservative idea in a speech to the children? The horror! Yet, Reagan was allowed to communicate without complaint, whereas Obama’s speech — devoid of all partisanship — is constantly questioned. (By the way, the idea that lower taxes increases revenue has been debunked by nearly every economist.)

And you don’t even have to take the quote for the quote’s sake. You can see the offending “indoctrinating” Reagan excerpts here, in video.

Do Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck — the TV personalities calling for a boycott of Obama’s communication — think that their buddy hero Reagan crossed the line? Of course not.

And it’s even more embarassing that this whole “Obama is indoctrinating us”/”Schools should be politically neutral” thing is going on on the same week as a Kentucky School baptising twenty students on a school outing, some against the will of their parents. So the conservatives get to violate the separation of church and state, and Obama doesn’t even get to talk to his citizens?

Anyways… What the heck is going on?

Really. Like it or not — vote for him or not — Obama does hold the President of the United States of America. The constitution puts him in charge of communicating with the nation — and Obama (as Marxist as he may or may not be) does have the right to communicate with his citizens every once and awhile.

When it comes down to it, presidents have been speaking to schoolchildren for decades. Listening to everyone’s point of view, even those you don’t agree with, is part of becoming a mature and respectible citizen. No one is saying you have to respect Obama personally, but every American citizen should respect the position he has.

He’s the president for heaven sakes. Let him talk to you once in awhile.

Sure, you can bring your own bucket of sand and stick your head in it. The schools won’t care. No child is being tied to a chair, eyes pried open, being forced to listen to Obama’s talk about silly things like scholarly excellence. But if you’re going to do that, don’t force your child to do the same.

I watched the speech and I did not burst into a ball of socialist flames. Neither did my fellow friends — conservative and liberal alike. We all made it without getting “indoctrinated”. We maybe even became a little inspired to work harder. Was that so bad?

So, when it comes down to seeing or not seeing the president speak, please let your child make the choice. Support some independent thought.

Please?

Sincerely,
A Man Who’s Parents Did Not Force Him To Not Watch The President

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Here’s his “harmful socialist” speech for everyone who has not seen it. Jump back up top if you need to:

Also, with a speech this controversial, make sure to allow time for The Republican Response.

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