by Chris Mcleod

Created on: September 05, 2009

Through all of this debate regarding President Obama's upcoming speech/pep talk to schoolchildren, I still have yet to hear a legitimate argument against it. It is not as if the President will be speaking to children about universal health care, Iraq, Afghanistan, or tax policy. He is going to tell the children to work hard, stay in school, and they'll go far. Is this such a sin? Is it so terrible for the US President to encourage children (many who may not get any encouragement from home) and tell them if they work hard it will pay off?

I understand the political implications. I understand that Republicans are terribly worried that this could possibly indirectly help the President in the polls. But to hear some people who are against this talk, you would think the President was recruiting future Democratic Party volunteers. Regardless of political party, race, or anything else that scares some people about President Obama - he is our President - he is our children's President, and he deserves some amount of respect for that. Even though some parents may not agree with his political ideology, they should not want to close their children out from something different than what they are used to. It is good for people, especially children, to be able to see a different perspective.

I have been dying to know if these people who claim that the President is trying to "indoctrinate" America's children with a simple "you can do it!" style speech, were equally opposed when Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush did the same thing? Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has called this speech "disruptive" and said it's "uninvited." Pawlenty has been railing against this for days - he's appalled. However, on the First Lady of Minnesota's website it claims that she "frequently visits elementary schools to teach students about our system of democracy." Is Mr. Pawlenty equally disturbed by his wife's actions? Is she "indoctrinating" Minnesota's youth?

It is quite easy to see the double standard that is here. It is obvious that the Republicans feel this is a welcomed distraction from the real issues facing our country. I know they do not want to talk about health care or the fact that they are the main reason our economy is in shambles.They are out there claiming the President should be working on fixing this broken economy and putting people back to work rather than "making lesson plans," while they are the ones keeping this story going. Had they never gotten so up in arms about it, the speech would have been made - kids would have seen it - and it would be over.

Republicans, go for it. If you folks think it is so nasty and "disruptive" for the President to try to encourage our schoolchildren, then just keep talking about it. It is you that looks like fools when our country is so far behind other Western nations in regards to education, that you would make an issue out of our President trying to encourage our youth to do better.

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