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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Thursday, September 03, 2009

So outta control

This is just nuts.

Politico has a version, too.

If you ever wanted a test case of the power of the right wing media machine, this is it. The President of the United States is going to deliver a puff piece "work hard, stay in school" speech, and the idiots on the ground have been convinced that it's all an evil plot to destroy their children.

(If you're seriously worried that one in-class speech by the President might "indoctrinate" your child, you've done a really crappy job raising them.)

Later: Add this AP version, and one from USAToday.

8 Comments:

  • The truly disturbing thing is that the corporate media reports this as a legitimate argument, giving as much credence to Michelle Macklin and Glen Beck as they do to the President of the United States of America! One piece ended with this lame attempt to force and equivalency:

    "Obama isn’t the first president to be criticized this way. O’Neill recalled President George H. W. Bush made televised address to students in October 1991 as campaign season was heating up. A handful of Democrats denounced Bush’s address as pure politics."

    Got that. A handful of Democrats is the same as the entire Florida Republican Party, and the entire conservative population of Texas.! Un-frickin-believable. When it comes to journalism, the American corporate media is a useless as tits , for chrissake.

    (I'm in one of my "I'm moving to Sweden" kinda moods today. :) )

    By Blogger -epm, at 7:48 AM  

  • Let me add a little bit to that HW Bush speech. It was in a campaign season, bracketed around a period designed to highlight his education proposals. It was something of a campaign stunt and was political.

    I'm kinda with you today, but Sweden has those dark, dark winters.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 7:58 AM  

  • Yes. GHWB's speech was transparently election year politicking. But still, he was POTUS and deserved some respect.

    I'll say it again. These people are antithetical to the principles of the United States of America. These are strident, anti-democratic people looking for a totalitarian government in which they hold unchallenged one-party rule. These are people looking to destroy the American democratic process. Period.

    By Blogger -epm, at 8:29 AM  

  • This is totally alarming to me - that these people would be so against the President that they do not want him speaking to schoolchildren. And these are the people who say the liberals are anti-American. If anyone should leave the country, it is them. (sorry, I had to say that - I am really angry and frustrated with this nonsense)

    By Blogger Ptelea, at 12:08 PM  

  • I know. It's pretty unbelievable.

    I also think the underlying premise that Obama has some Svengali like effect that could "turn" children is pretty weird.

    How far into the paranoid bubble do you have to be to believe that?

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 12:59 PM  

  • Mike - that is really quite a concern because it seems that there are a lot of people who are totally encased in the paranoid bubble. My kids were in school when Bush made his speech (in 1991?). I have no memory of anyone in the schools getting bent out of shape. Things have changed for the worse.

    By Blogger Ptelea, at 3:56 PM  

  • They're in the bubble because they have their own reinforcing media.

    (An entire set now. A "news" channel. Radio programs for the car, and the equivalent of newspapers and magazines online.)

    They can live in an entire media world.

    And, I remember the Bush Sr. speech. I thought it was stupid and was bored out of my mind. Kind of like a "say no to drugs" assembly, you know?)

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 5:25 PM  

  • Just imagine he gave a glimpse of the real reality facing so many youth in this country...
    Youth deserve a better future!

    "Well what kind of system have you got then, when you can say that for millions and millions of youth in the inner cities crime is a rational choice..." NO MORE!
    Right?

    By Blogger Unknown, at 8:38 PM  

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