Mixed emotions

All the furor over President Obama's "Back to School" speech has really left me with mixed emotions. A president making a speech to school children about studying hard, taking responsibility for your actions and behaving is something that we should embrace wholeheartedly. That is basically what the speech is, at least the version that has been released. No one will know whether the furor caused a change in the text or not. What was disturbing to me was the Department of Education's "proposed" lesson plans that talked about having kids write letters to be collected by the teachers of how they were going to "help" President Obama. As I've blogged before, I feel there is a "cult of personality" that is being developed around the president. With the mainstream media adulation of Obama, the fact that candidate Obama, who promised to change the way Washington does business, has as President Obama, made the partisan divides even sharper in the last six months has fed into that. I obviously am not the only one that is feeling that sentiment. In that context, I understand the furor.

The flip side of the coin bothers me as bad. The people who are pulling their kids out school or opting out of having their kids listen to the speech are to put it bluntly, scary. It always strikes me that someone is very insecure in their own beliefs that they can't even dare to hear an opposing view. I know over the years, that my opinions on issues have changed and nuanced because of listening to the "opposite" side. While I always thought I had a normal childhood, I sometimes now wonder. I can remember vividly a number of times where as a family we "talked" about stuff that had occurred at school. My sisters or I would talk about what our teacher had said, and my parents would certainly share their views. There were certainly times that my parents didn't agree with what the teacher had said. On the ones where they disagreed, I remember I believed my parents over my teachers, but I still remember those discussions. Even if the parents disagree with the message, not allowing their kids to hear it isn't the answer. If parents are that concerned it needs to be a topic of conversation around the supper table. Keeping them from hearing the message isn't a reasonable or responsible answer.

The final concern that I have over this whole issue again goes back to the partisan divide that we are seeing in this country. For 8 years I watched the left view George Bush as the devil incarnate. Nothing he could do or say was correct. Unfortunately I am seeing the same thing from the right as they view Barack Obama. Part of the blame can be placed on the doorstep of Barack Obama. During the campaign, he promised to govern from the center and to change the way things happen in Washington. His far left policies and appointments have made things even worse. A significant amount of the furor over the "Back to School" speech is simply based on that, which is absolutely idiotic. As much as I may disagree with this or that policy he is the president. Even if the left didn't treat Dubya with the respect that the office deserves, the right should treat "The One" with that respect.