Racism Behind The Calls To Boycott Obama's Speech To Kids - By Robert Paul Reyes

Racism Behind The Calls To Boycott Obama's Speech To Kids
By Robert Paul Reyes
Published: September 06,2009

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This has been the summer of the town hall meeting trolls. This Astroturf movement has been whipping up hysteria -- warning that health care reform is the first step in Obama's master plan to set up a socialist government. These right-wing nutjobs have a vendetta against Obama, they depict the president as a socialist who is against Mom, apple pie and democracy.

Obama is a wonky intellectual who speaks in calm and measured tones, and I find it difficult to understand how anybody could possibly mistake him for a dangerous radical. But I guess I'm not a racist who sees only Obama's black skin, and overlooks his eloquence, intelligence and bipartisan spirit.

Now these same conservative crazies are apoplectic over Obama's plan to speak to schoolchildren this coming Tuesday.



Obama is seeking to motivate students "to work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning." Don't those goals perfectly encapsulate the conservative Republican ethic? Then why are the Republicans calling for parents not to let their children listen to the president's speech?

In 1991 President George HW Bush made a similar speech to schoolchildren:

"I was intrigued by the links to a Washington Post story about George H.W. Bush speaking to school children on October 1, 1991. My daughter was in school then and I didn't remember hearing about her watching any such event.

On WESTLAW, I looked up other news stories about the speech. It was reported as 10 minutes in some reports and 12 minutes in others. It was carried live on CNN, PBS, and and Mutual radio . The Secretary of Education sent a letter urging schools to have their students watch, but I didn't find any evidence of how many schools followed that recommendation. And most striking: Bush laid out goals - to increase the graduation rate, improve student competency and better prepare students for entering school - and said, 'Let me know how you're doing. Write me a letter. I'm serious about this one. Write me a letter about ways you can help us achieve our goals.'"

http://volokh.com/posts/1252117357.shtml

Conservatives didn't mind when President George HW Bush and President Reagan addressed our schoolchildren, but they are in a tizzy over Obama's speech to students.

Obama is the President of the United States for God's sake, why all the controversy and paranoia over his speech to students? The birthers, tea baggers, pro-life zealots, gun nuts, Palin sycophants, and town hall meeting trolls have managed to convince many Republicans that Obama is a dangerous radical with a secret agenda to indoctrinate our children into socialism.

If Obama weren't black none of the crazy accusations that have been hurled at him would stick. Unfortunately it's very easy for some of these ignorant conservatives to believe that a black president is trying to undermine our democracy.

It's time for prominent Republicans to speak out against the tea baggers and town hall trolls who have inaccurately and unfairly depicted Obama as a dangerous radical. All good Americans (Republicans and Democrats) should unite in defending Obama against these scurrilous accusations.

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Link: http://newsblaze.com/story/20090906101551reye.nb/topstory.html

Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.

Yep...

:kick:

The right wing figures that the only way Barack Obama became President was by being a slick talker, and a dangerous influence on minds they consider weaker than theirs. No wonder they don't want their kids to listen to him!

:evilgrin:

they see him as some sort of Svengali figure, able to manipulate people into working against their own interests. Of course, they missed that when Bush and Cheney were doing it, but they're perfectly willing to attribute that ability to President Obama.

They got surprised big time this last election, they can only conclude it it because of some supposed powers of persuasion that Obama has. They see their children as susceptible to it, and that's why they've gone ballistic over what will probably be a widely-ignored Presidential speech.

It WILL backfire as forbidding kids access to info ALWAYS results in them running you over with it. In one way or another. ;-)

in such a short time.

Look, I know it makes people here feel good to toss that word around, but it's going to backfire out there in the country. Barack Obama won the Presidency with the votes of way more than just the people of color in this nation, and you cannot call all those who oppose his plans racist, and get away with it.

I'm gladdened to see that President Obama has never played the race card, I believe he's smart enough not to do it, and eventually, some appointee of his is going to be caught saying that non-Democrats are racists (instead of assholes) and he's going to have to come out and disavow that.

You can pretty much be assured that almost all racists vote Republican.

:shrug:

about how to express it. The vast majority of town hall teabaggers were careful to keep their criticisms to the policy rather than the race of the man.

Flinging the word "racist" around for every opposition of the President's policy is just going to make unnecessary enemies. I oppose his Afghanistan policies, does that make me racist?

getting to hear Obama say 'stay in school' and 'stay off drugs' that they were having a royal cow about it. AND IN TYPICAL REPUKE FASHION, when I mentioned both Reagan and Poppy did the SAME THING they ignored what I said. Then when I repeated the fact, they both said that NO PRESIDENT should ever talk to kids in a school setting. Nice change up right?

WTF has America come to? Such stupid creatures running around prattling whatever even DUMBER people are saying on TV and radio!

Idiots.

scurrilous accusations for surely as God made little green apples in the summertime, all 'pukes who don't join in defending the President, in fact, are not, let me repeat, are not "good Americans." :P