Welcome to the age of “No Child Left Un-Politicized”
OPINION - Forget President Bush's "No Child Left Behind," this is the age of "No Child Left Un-Politicized.
Picture this scene:
Fade in
President Obama is making his final remarks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.
President Obama:
That’s right. It’s going to take all of us working together to get the country back on track. Thank you, God bless you, and … Ah-ah-choo! Excuse me… God bless America!
Next day, Conservative radio host:
Did you see the president yesterday on the South Lawn? What’s all this “working together” business? Sounds like a chapter from the Communist Manifesto to me, folks. And that sneeze! By golly, he could be spreading swine flu for all we know. Write your congressman today, before it’s too late!!
Fade out
Far-fetched? Hardly. This is what time it is in American political theater today.
The president’s “back-to-school” speech, beamed to schools across the country today, was a speech not at all unlike the ones President Reagan and the first President Bush gave to millions of schoolchildren when they were in office – a non-partisan pep talk about the importance of staying in school.
Did I say non-partisan? My bad. That would assume Americans of every political stripe could agree on something as basic as our children succeeding in school. But we can’t have that. We want them to succeed on our terms, not theirs. We want them to see the world through our right-or-left leaning glasses. We want them to be uncorrupted by agenda-toting politicians, so we can spoon-feed them who to be like and how to vote. Forget President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind,” this is the age of “No Child Left Un-politicized.”
WATCH EXCERPTS OF OBAMA’S SPEECH TO STUDENTS
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Many of the “concerned parents” who’ve protested that the president is trying to indoctrinate their children with his speech may be overlooking the fact that, according to most studies, it’s involved parents, not teachers or presidents who have the most influence on children’s school success and learning. As a father, I know that it’s my job to make sure my children receive an education that challenges independent thinking and builds character.
If conservatives, or anyone else for that matter, want to question government’s authority, I say go for it. The president and all of our leaders need to be held accountable. And you better believe Obama is being held accountable like no president before him. Which is why, after this dust up gained traction, the White House revised an Education Department lesson plan that raised conservative hackles because it called for students to write letters about how they can “help the president.” Whew. That was a close one. That lesson plan could have spawned a nation of little community organizers.
Ever since we elected the nation’s first African American president, it seems politics as usual has taken a careening detour, seemingly down a dead-end road. But it is my belief that if and when we all arrive at the end of this road (some may think we’re already there), its going to take a collective dose of unbiased, some might say truly bi-partisan brain power, to do the right thing for the greater good – like educating future generations of Americans.
But for now, make sure you’re buckled up. Because this is political theater, reality show madcap really, at its finest… or worst. The only thing missing is the popcorn.
