Nice Thread over at Midwest Conservative Journal

Hat tip goes to Dianonymous for this MCJ post countering Mr. Dreher's latest episode where once again he is embarrassed by frothing Republicans. It is concise and informative:

I don’t have any kids, Rod. Always wanted ‘em but, like I said before, Hemingway married three St. Louis women for a reason. Anyhoo, if I had kids, I’d kind of insist on parenting them myself; I’m funny that way. Whatever “stay in school and get a good education” lectures my kids get would come from me and nobody else.

Given the nature of the current administration(the campaign’s over but that damned O symbol still keeps turning up on everything), if the first lesson plan these people issued before the firestorm hit doesn’t alarm the crap out of you, then you’ve drunk the Obama Kool-Aid, my man.

I'm not sure it's Kool-Aid so much as a really big blind-spot, which I'll leave other optometrists to diagnose. Anyway, the blog comments are mostly good after you get beyond the usual incomprehensible blather from an online Orthodox guy (whose primary trademark appears to be that when he has nothing to say, he says it anyway.) I liked this one from Bill2, which gets to the point:

Presidents make speeches at schools all the time about their various education initiatives. It looks like it was just covered by the usual media suspects. I’d be willing to bet a fin that Bill Clinton and George Bush (43) gave a speech or two at a school too.

Were there guided discussion sheets from the executive branch? Was there any expectation that it be broadcast to the school kids throughout the nation? I don’t see any indication of that from your link. It just looks like a speech given at a school. That’s way different than a presidential “back to school” to the total student body of the US. The intent is way different.

If Obama chose one of my kid’s school to be the stage for the run of the mill inspirational/policy speech that was broadcast on CNN, Fox news, ABC, etc., I’d think was pretty cool. This just seems like the kind of over-play/over-reach we’re getting used to from Obama.

That's my point also; I left this comment which as of this point in time hasn't gotten approved by the moderator:

Isn't it funny how this "Reagan and Bush Sr. did it and no one complained" is spreading among the left as a hypocrisy charge? Reagan did an "informal exchange" at Bayou View Elementary School in Gulfport, Mississippi. And Geo. Bush I gave a speech at Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington D.C. Is there anyone who isn't too stupid to note a tiny difference between what President Obama is doing and those one-offs? To quote Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the others."

I think this really needs to be hammered on. The left has this knee-jerk response that is weak, weak, weak. No one has done what Obama is doing here. This is not a whistle-stop campaign spot or an appearance at one school in DC to deliver a speech. It's like Mark Steyn said on the Rush show last week, that it's not so much the content of a speech which offends as it is the ubiquity of this President, his continued attempts to inject himself everywhere via mass media. That sums up my main problem with it, and everyone else I know has the same reaction. This objection is what lies behind Kathleen's letter, and anyone who bothers to read it will note that words like socialism, dictator and fascism do nowhere appear in it. The President showing up at a school is a sort of nice occasion, and of course we'll let him speak if he makes an appearance. But the concerted effort to broadcast on the part of the President is the message moreso than any of the text of the speech. If you have kids, or if you deal with kids in any serious capacity, then you know this implicitly.

Thanks for reading my blog. For current commentary and what-not, visit the Est Quod Est homepage

letter to public school superintendent

Here is a draft letter to my school district's superintendent about the speech Our Dear Leader intends to deliver to ALL public school students on September 8th, 2009. Feel free to use as a template:

Dear Mr. XXXXXX,

I am the parent of a XXXXX grader and deeply concerned that the school will be broadcasting an address from the President of the United States during my child's class time on September 8th. I have no idea what the content of this address will be, and am unable to vet it as a parent. The politicization of my child's education is not something I welcome. My child is not old enough to vote, and he is not old enough to formulate political opinions without my guidance. Therefore I urgently request that parents be able to read and view the exact same speech before it is given to students. If this is not possible, then I must insist that my son's normal school day take place on September 8th, without interruption from the President of the United States.

In addition, I have read Department of Education materials suggesting student assignments after the presidential address. There is one suggestion that my child can discuss what he, my child, can do for the President. I find these suggestions very offensive and believe they run counter to the United States Constitution, which expressly limits the role of the federal executive branch. My child is getting an education for himself and his community, and is not required to do anything for the President. The President is not a king. I must insist that any teacher at the school refrain from suggesting that my child owes any sort of "help" to the President.

Please inform the parents what the school district will do to preserve the relatively non-politicized atmosphere that has, apparently until today, existed in XXXXXXXXX classrooms.