posted September 09, 2009 06:29 AM            

quote:

---

All those highly educated parents in government don't care about children or education, and anyone who suspects otherwise is stupid? Really? I think that statement would prompt a lot of head scratching within the government.

---

Make that public head scratching. How many of those highly educated parents in government send their own kids to public schools?

posted September 09, 2009 10:13 AM            

....(in part) "It's pretty popular to bash No Child Left Behind on the campaign trail,” Obama said, “but when it was being debated four years ago, my colleague Dick Durbin offered everyone a chance to vote so the law couldn't be enforced until it was fully funded. Senator Edwards and Senator Clinton passed on that chance, and I believe it was a serious mistake.”

Obama's education plan calls for: (1) full funding for educational programs from birth to 5 years old; (2) increasing the number of teachers through scholarships and incentive grants for taking challenging assignments; (3) prioritizing math and science education; and (4) focusing on parental responsibility in education.

The focus of Obama's education policy is on birth to 5, years Obama said were pivotal in children's development. The investment he added would be paid back to society 10-fold. His plan sets the goal for universal pre-school, but does not provide require parents to enroll their kids in it.

"And for every dollar we invest in early childhood education,” Obama said, “we get $10 back in reduced welfare rolls, lower healthcare costs and less crime.”

posted September 09, 2009 02:33 PM              

when they were 7 i walked home from school one day with one of her friends and his mom who was complaining stridently about how the school was not teaching her kids to read. her husband was greek and she didn't have a book in her house!

i remember being humiliated in front of my 4th grade class for reading a book not in the curriculum - ben hur! which was a long way past what i was supposed to be reading...and not part of the course, of course. the fact that i had already done my assignment made no difference, this was a SIN!

public school is what it is. i hope they can improve it, and some of the teachers do a really good job. but it is still, as always, up to the parents to encourage in whatever way they can, and the kids to self-direct OR, as obama said TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. because even a really good private school can't MAKE you learn...

so i found his speech a little annoying. i don't think blind acceptance and being good are necessary for success in life, nor do i think all good careers mean a public school education!

but he DID stress self discipline and responsibility. i think most of the speech went over the heads of the younger kids at least. my grandson reported to me "he said DON'T GIVE UP on your dreams, and do the best you can..." terrible propaganda that.

posted September 09, 2009 06:52 PM            

I also appreciate the role of the parents being highlighted.

I would have naturally gravitated to being a heavy reader. But my father was a bookaholic and it was fostered by that.

I read constantly as a child. Not high brow stuff necessarily. Investigative is the word I would use.

My reading material was also off the curriculum- wink, but one give I have to attribute to my Da, he never criticized me for it. Nor, my teachers.

posted September 21, 2009 08:32 AM            

O'Bomber has done it again...and it's just more proof of his multiple mental disorders.

Now, O'Bomber has stabbed America's friends in the back once again and sided with America's enemies.

This time O'Bomber caved in to Putin and ordered the US missile shield would not be deployed in Poland..or was that Putin's order to O'Bomber! Exactly who is O'Bomber working for these days?

Everywhere one turns, we find O'Bomber siding with America's enemies..of the Socialist Communist variety and stabbing America's friends in the back. Very nice.

Now, here's a fact little reported by the "In the Bag for O'Bomber press".

O'Bomber made the announcement on the very day of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union invasion of Poland 70 years ago. How's that for sending a message to America's enemies...'I'm with you' and also a message to those who would call themselves friends of America..'I'm not with YOU'!

Of course, the Associated Press wouldn't want to report that...now would they! Didn't even so much as mention that fact.

Poles, Czechs: US missile defense shift a betrayal
By VANESSA GERA,
Fri Sep 18, 8:10 am ET

WARSAW, Poland – Poles and Czechs voiced deep concern Friday at President Barack Obama's decision to scrap a Bush-era missile defense shield planned for their countries.

"Betrayal! The U.S. sold us to Russia and stabbed us in the back," the Polish tabloid Fakt declared on its front page.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he was concerned that Obama's new strategy leaves Poland in a dangerous "gray zone" between Western Europe and the old Soviet sphere.

Recent events in the region have rattled nerves throughout central and eastern Europe, a region controlled by Moscow during the Cold War, including the war last summer between Russia and Georgia and ongoing efforts by Russia to regain influence in Ukraine. A Russian cutoff of gas to Ukraine last winter left many Europeans without heat.

The Bush administration's plan would have been "a major step in preventing various disturbing trends in our region of the world," Kaczynski said in a guest editorial in the daily Fakt and also carried on his presidential Web site.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he still sees a chance for Poles and Czechs to participate in the redesigned missile defense system. But that did not appear to calm nerves in Warsaw or Prague.

Kaczynski expressed hopes that the U.S. will now offer Poland other forms of "strategic partnership."

In Prague, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said he made two concrete proposal to U.S. officials on Thursday in hopes of keeping the U.S.-Czech alliance strong: for the U.S. to establish a branch of West Point for NATO members in Central Europe and to "send a Czech scientist on the U.S. space shuttle to the international space station."

An editorial in Hospodarske Novine, a respected pro-business Czech newspaper, said: "an ally we rely on has betrayed us, and exchanged us for its own, better relations with Russia, of which we are rightly afraid."

The move has raised fears in the two nations they are being marginalized by Washington even as a resurgent Russia leaves them longing for added American protection.

The Bush administration always said that the planned system — with a radar near Prague and interceptors in northern Poland — was meant as defense against Iran. But Poles and Czechs saw it as protection against Russia, and Moscow too considered a military installation in its backyard to be a threat.

"No Radar. Russia won," the largest Czech daily, Mlada Fronta Dnes, declared in a front-page headline.

Obama said the old plan was scrapped in part because the U.S. has concluded that Iran is less focused on developing the kind of long-range missiles for which the system was originally developed, making the building of an expensive new shield unnecessary.

The replacement system is to link smaller radar systems with a network of sensors and missiles that could be deployed at sea or on land. Some of the weaponry and sensors are ready now, and the rest would be developed over the next 10 years.

The Pentagon contemplates a system of perhaps 40 missiles by 2015, at two or three sites across Europe.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090918/ap_on_re_eu/eu_eastern_europe_missile_defense_22

posted September 21, 2009 09:11 AM            

September 21, 2009
Obama cedes Eastern Europe to Putin and A'jad
By James Lewis

Last week Obama canceled American missile defense plans for Poland and the Czech Republic, leaving Eastern Europe at the tender mercies of Putin and Ahmadinejad. Tehran's missiles can already strike that part of the world, and when they get nukes in a year or so nobody knows whose finger will be on Allah's Mercy Button; it's either Ahmadinejad and his guru, Yazdi, the Maddest of the Mad Mullahs; or maybe it will be Khamenei, the Supreme Guide of the Armageddon Republic. Yazdi is A'jad's imam, who just announced in public that his interpretation of Islam allows for the rape of women and boys who are destined for execution.

None of those profoundly spiritual folk are beacons of sanity over there. They have been chanting Death to America! Death to Israel! every day since the Khomeinist Revolution in 1979.

But they don't really mean it.

Or do they?

Welcome, Mr. Obama, to your First Spectacular Foreign Policy Failure.***Wrong, this is not the first and it won't be the last*** Compared to this one, ObamaCare is a work of genius. Firing the CEO of General Motors didn't do our economy any good, but it won't end up killing whole cities. Blowing up the budget by a couple of trillion bucks is just a small accounting error. Even TARP only looks like humongo-corruption, Chicago style, but not an invitation to Armageddon. There is a difference.

Cancelling our promised missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic makes no sense at all. If we can provide even partial protection against Iran's expanding collection of missiles, why not just do it? Do our defenses threaten Moscow? The Russians know better than that. They just hollered good and loud to see if Obama could be rolled. Well, now they know he's as tough as a banana cream pie. Score one for the KGB thugs. Next time, why not hire some Chicago mobsters to talk to them? At least the ground rules would be clear.

The Left keeps telling us there is no perfect missile defense. So what? The crumple barrier in my car only gives partial protection in a crash. But I still picked a car with the best crash protection. Wouldn't you?

It's amazing how the Europeans have finally understood that elementary fact. They are now getting very cold feet because the Poles and Czechs have faced Russian aggression not just once, but many times in the four centuries since Ivan the Terrible.

The Russians have a very predictable record of imperial aggression, and they've just forced the Americans to retreat again. That's how it looks in Warsaw and Prague. The rest of Europe can't be trusted to defend Poland or the Czechs, as they well remember from 1938, 1968 and 1989.

So where's George W. Bush now that they need him? Before Obama is over the Euros will be yearning for the good old days of the Big Bad Bush.

Obama's retreat is also a gift to his base on the Hard Left. For decades the Left has worked to sabotage missile defense, the only technology that can protect us from nuclear attack. Now we are almost at the point where we can knock down Iranian missiles -- and Obama pulls the plug where they are most needed. That is perverse and dangerous.

The White House sent out SecDef Robert Gates and National Security Advisor General James Jones to kick some sand into our eyes on missile defenses.

Their spin comes down to this.

(a). SM3 anti-missile missiles are on the way. But this is not news. For the Poles and Czechs the biggest question has always been whether they would have defensive systems on their territory, as a tripwire against Russian aggression. That's what Obama has just conceded to Putin, who is playing Bobby Fisher chess against O's flabby checkers.

And

(b) The technology that was anticipated in the last year of the Bush administration has now changed. By gum, that was a mighty quick technological revolution. Who couldaknown just a year ago that anti-missile tech would advance so quickly? The answer is: Nobody, because they're blowing pure smoke.

The fact is that the US retreat in Poland and the Czech Republic is nothing but a sop to the Russians, who made the symbolic gesture of pulling back their truck-mounted missiles near the Polish border. Any time Putin feels like it he can tell those trucks to turn around again and drive back to the border, and that "concession" will be cancelled. Those trucks carry offensive missiles, but Russia has had overwhelming offensive WMD systems in place for half a century or more. There's nothing new about that, and it doesn't matter much if you drive the trucks closer to the border. It makes about three minutes' difference in their flight times. Where they happen to be parked is pure symbolism.

Under the MAD doctrine that everybody accepts -- except the Iranians -- offensive missiles are meaningless, because no sane country would use them. They are a mutual suicide weapons. Only a martyrdom ideology would contemplate using offensive nukes -- and Tehran is the only consistent, long-term absolutist martyrdom ideology since Hitler and Tojo went out of business sixty years ago.

So the Russians have now successfully defended their clients in Tehran, by moving purely symbolic chess pieces back and forth. Obama just flinched to a blatant head fake.

The final reason why Obama gave in on missile defense is that he wants to look good at the UN this week. It's a PR stunt. Obama looooooves PR.

The hard men around the world have just learned this: Obama will concede actual ground against international aggressors to look good to the Hard Left, here and abroad; to parade his gargantuan ego at the UN; and to soften Western defenses against known cut-throats like Putin and Ahmadinejad.

posted September 21, 2009 09:20 AM            

In April, Obama Pledged To Allies U.S. Would “Go Forward With A Missile Defense System” As Long As Iranian Threat Remained. OBAMA: “So let me be clear: Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat, not just to the United States, but to Iran’s neighbors and our allies. The Czech Republic and Poland have been courageous in agreeing to host a defense against these missiles. As long as the threat from Iran persists, we will go forward with a missile defense system that is cost-effective and proven. If the Iranian threat is eliminated, we will have a stronger basis for security, and the driving force for missile defense construction in Europe will be removed.” (President Obama, Remarks At Hradcany Square, Prague, Czech Republic, 4/5/09)

Today Is 70th Anniversary Of Soviet Invasion Of Poland. “For Poland, the timing of the announcement is particularly sensitive. Thursday marked the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland following a pact between Moscow and Nazi Germany, an event seen by Poles as ‘a stab in the back.’” (Jana Mlcochova and Gabriela Baczynska, "U.S. backs away from missile shield in Europe," Reuters, 9/17/09) Missile Defense Shield Was Designed To Defend U.S. Allies In Eastern Europe Against “Missile Launches From ‘Rogue’ States.” “The shield, involving interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar complex in the Czech Republic, was promoted by Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush to defend against any missile launches from ‘rogue’ states such as Iran and North Korea.” (Jana Mlcochova and Gabriela Baczynska, "U.S. Backs Away From Missile Shield In Europe," Reuters, 9/17/09)[/b]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2343524/posts

posted September 23, 2009 02:55 PM            

That attempt laid an egg when teachers and school administrators blew the whistle on O'Bomber and the so called Dept of Education.

posted September 23, 2009 08:56 PM              

and what is this?
"Everywhere one turns, we find O'Bomber siding with America's enemies..of the Socialist Communist variety and stabbing America's friends in the back. Very nice"

have we forgotten russia is not the soviet union or socialist communist anymore?

posted September 24, 2009 10:03 AM            

Putin in Russia, Castro, Chavez, Ortega, Zelaya and other Marxist communist leaders in central and south America and...Hezbollah, Hamas and the PLO...ARE NOT FRIENDS OF AMERICA OR AMERICANS.

They are however "FRIENDS" of Barack Hussein O'Bomber and these are the very corrupt Communist dictators and Islamic terrorists who O'Bomber has sided with in the last 8 months.

Now, who has Barack Hussein O'Bomber lined up against?

Let's try our friends the Poles.
Let's try our friends the Czechs.
Let's try our friends the Georgians.
Let's try our friends the Hondurans.
Let's try our friends the Israelis.,

At every turn when Barack Hussein O'Bomber should have been supporting the Constitutional governments of our friends, O'Bomber sided with America's enemies and stabbed our friends in the back.

posted September 24, 2009 10:18 AM            

Here are very young school children being propagandized and indoctrinated by Kool-Aid guzzling Sickos in the O'Bomber abomination.

School Kids Taught To Praise Obama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aqMTD5UFmU

"Our school children should always be taught to respect their leaders, including their President, regardless of political party differences. But to sing his praises, especially using a line from "Jesus loves me" (and misquoting the line to boot) is way over the line... no matter what your politics happen to be."

"You are the ones you've been waiting for!"
"Tongue in cheek mind you."

"What Stalinist school is this? This teacher and this teacher's principal needs to be fired. Immediately. These kids then need counseling, and their parents need to see this video.
These leftist pigs are insufferable and should not be tolerated."

"Now here is indoctrination in its purest, most virulent form. This is what is ahead of us if you don't vote these people out of office, America."

"praises go the the ayatollah ibn baraka al hussein maobama..... i saw this first thing in the morning and it made me sick. these kids are in school to learn. these "teachers" need to be fired immediately."

"Hitler, Stalin, Kim jon-il, Chairman Mao. Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Mbutu Seso Seko, the Ayatollah, Saddam Hussein, Pinochet, Castro, Barrack Hussein Obama."

"Yeah!
Why have Presidents, when we can have LEADERS...?
Spoken like a true third-worlder!"

"Obama is Great! Obama be praised! There is no President but Obama and Biden is His Prophet ... er, Vice President! The comparison to Mao is right on. The nation would have been stunned if school kids were chanting this kind of garbage about Bush."

posted September 24, 2009 01:08 PM              

Barack Hussein Obama
He said we must be clear today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!

Barack Hussein Obama
He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!

Barack Hussein Obama
He said Red, Yellow, Black or White
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!

Barack Hussein Obama
Yes
Mmm, mmm, mm!

Barack Hussein Obama

segue to

Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all [do? doth??] say "hooray!"
Hooray Mr. President! You're number one!
The first Black American to lead this great na-TION!
Hooray, Mr. President something-something-some
A-something-something-something-some economy is number one again!
Hooray Mr. President, we're really proud of you!
And the same for all Americans [in?] the great Red White and Blue!
So something Mr. President we all just something-some,
So here's a hearty hip-hooray a-something-something-some!

i agree the personalisation is a bit much. but are you actually under the delusion that obama wrote or suggested this song?

apart from the personalization why is this any worse than america the beautiful or my country tis of thee?

do you consider the celebration of personal contribution to the country and recognition of equality to be communist?

posted September 24, 2009 02:53 PM            

I don't know any parents who wouldn't think this is sick...and further katatonic, I don't want to know any who wouldn't.

O'Bomber is a liar who "Says" lots of things. In almost every case, those things O'Bomber "Says" are 99.44% pure unadulterated bullshiiit.

It is undeniable O'Bomber and those in his administration attempted to indoctrinate and propagandize school children on what was mostly their first day of the new school year.

O'Bomber didn't get away with it but that's beside the point. The point is he attempted to do so...AND what he and his Dept of Education did IS against US federal law.

As usual katatonic, there you were then, as now, defending actions which are indefensible.

Btw katatonic...and all other O'Bomber supporters.

Did you take this challenge? I haven't heard back from you.

'Now, here's a lesson plan for those of you who see nothing wrong with an address to school children with a political context...those of you who believe YOU are "educated".

Read the following Amendments to the US Constitution...Amendments 9 and 10.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Now, search the US Constitution in it's entirety...from beginning to end...AND find one phrase or concept which gives the government of the United States any jurisdiction whatsoever over "Education".

posted September 24, 2009 03:10 PM              

i was a kid once and i bet lots and lots make up there own words like i would have.

barack hussien obama
riding on a lama
crying for his mama
where was he born?

around the world and back again
i'll ask again
you'll tell me the same
he was born in hawaii
sucking on a lolly

danced a jig
kissed a pig
got the swine flu
and stayed in bed
rubbing on his head

till his hair fell out
everybody shout

barack hussien obama
riding on a lama...

thats more like what the kids really sing. or maybe its just me.

posted September 24, 2009 04:25 PM            

Very cool cpn!

posted September 24, 2009 04:35 PM              

i said i doubt obama or his colleagues wrote or suggested it. a lot of people actually admire the man you think is the devil incarnate.

i also said - or implied - that i think songs like "america the beautiful" "star spangled banner" "my country tis of thee" are ALSO indoctrination..which you seem to have no problem with. so are the equivalents in other countries.

i ALSO said that he is far from the first president to either address schoolkids on return to the school year OR suggest they write the kind of letter you THINK was on the table.

considering that no admission or evidence was brought forth, the people who claim to have STOPPED this happening are taking credit for SOMETHING THAT NEVER HAPPENED and no one knows if it would have or not. which seems to be par for the course with the dumbell opposition like sorry palin who claims to have derailed death panels that were never there in the first place!

and as i have said before, the stupidity with which this smear campaign is being produced is actually starting to backfire and create MORE support for obama. carry on, tommy!!

posted September 24, 2009 04:40 PM              

i don't think there is anything wrong with him addressing the kids about the importance of education. however i think the little ones have more than enough "motivation" as it is right now. public school sucks,"
- katatonic, pg 1 - in case you can't find it

then i found out that presidents do this traditionally and that the first president bush, at least, also suggested the kids write themselves similar letters.

posted September 24, 2009 06:16 PM            

quote:

---

i ALSO said that he is far from the first president to either address schoolkids on return to the school year OR suggest they write the kind of letter you THINK was on the table...katatonic

---

I know what kind of letters American school children were supposed to write. I also know those letters were to be collected and childrens progress towards meeting those goals was to be evaluated by their teachers.

posted September 24, 2009 06:35 PM              

as i mentioned at the time i was none too pleased at the implications originally posted. and also pointed out that all my 7 yr old came home with was "pres. obama said don't give up on your dreams, and don't run away from school..." HEAVY, MAN!

as to "show me" here's the first out of the gate:

"House Democrats criticized President Bush yesterday for using Education Department funds to produce and broadcast a speech that he made Tuesday at a Northwest Washington junior high school.

The Democratic critics accused Bush of turning government money for education to his own political use, namely, an ongoing effort to inoculate himself against their charges of inattention to domestic issues. The speech at Alice Deal Junior High School, broadcast live on radio and television, urged students to study hard, avoid drugs and turn in troublemakers.

“The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students,” House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) said. “And the president should be doing more about education than saying, ‘Lights, camera, action.’ ”

Two House committees demanded that the department explain the use of its funds for the speech, an explanation that Deputy Secretary David T. Kearns provided late in the day in a letter to Rep. William D. Ford (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. Education Secretary Lamar Alexander was out of town. [...]

Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.), chairwoman of the Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families, said it was outrageous for the White House to “start using precious dollars for campaigns” when “we are struggling for every silly dime we can get” for education programs.

Rep. Martin Frost (D-Tex.) said that if Bush feels obliged to use government funds to hire outside consultants “to make him look good,” then he should fire some of the public relations experts on the White House payroll. “Then the president might be more sympathetic to unemployment benefits,” Frost said, referring to Bush’s threat to veto legislation to extend benefits."

posted September 24, 2009 06:46 PM              

However, there was also still one major difference between George Bush 41’s address to the students and Obama’s planned address. Bush did not have a lesson plan follow up designed to encourage children to support him personally."