LET THE MAN SPEAK

The rabid rabble-rousers of the right have gone too far. To complain about a president making a speech to children encouraging them to stay in school and work hard, is pushing the opposition envelop a bit too far. Shame on them. I guess now that any pat on the back or encouragement from this president "automatically" has sinister political connotations! I hope America is ready for the Third Red Scare. Yet presidents, and for that matter all levels of politicians and government officials, have made talks at schools and in classrooms across this nation. The minions of Rush and his ilk scream about what Obama might say, without ever seeing his speech, and claim it is just another attempt to promote socialism (what bosh!), while they engage in politicizing to promote their racist, exclusionary, wrong-headed agenda that only maintains the status quo and allows for no improvement in society. What hypocrites these folks are. Anyone with half a brain can see that dropout rates are unacceptably high and only result in disillusioned youth, higher criminality, and rampant delinquence down the road. Will a speech keep kids on the right path? Probably not, but it certainly can’t hurt. Bush felt perfectly free to lecture children about staying off drugs (can we say "hypocrite" once more?), and all manner of public officials during the Bush years, if my memory serves me right, preached about abstinence from sex and other issues to the nation’s children. If the President says something objectionable, then take him to task. . .but at least have the courtesy to let him make the speech in the first place.