This Country is Coming Apart at Its Seams.

[billvon 2,400]

>I don't like Obama

Beneath all the overblown rhetoric, all the lies, all the nonsense about "death panels" and birth certificates and "Obama wants to kill vets" - is this simple sentiment. If people could just say this more often without spewing all the crazy crap I think there would be a lot more communication and a lot less acrimony,

[mnealtx 0]

Quote

>I don't like Obama

Beneath all the overblown rhetoric, all the lies, all the nonsense about "death panels" and birth certificates and "Obama wants to kill vets" - is this simple sentiment. If people could just say this more often without spewing all the crazy crap I think there would be a lot more communication and a lot less acrimony,

And when they did, the race cards flew so fast and thick it looked like a blizzard in here.

Still does, from time to time.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[warpedskydiver 0]

Quote

Not sure what you are smoking, dude.
But you really should lay off of it.

Or are you texting and driving?

Quote

Do you know where the Nazi's learned to be so adept at this behavior?

Right here in the USA during the late 20's and early 30's

Forced sterilization, involuntary internment of the untermenchen and so on.

They just got better at it that is all.

Kind of like how they did with cars and railroads.

That is a PA since you are insinuating I am a drug user.

Your statement can cause harm.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Quote

>Exactly, they would rather infer or directly state that Karen is
>some right wing zealot . . .

So let's see if I understand your point. "They" would rather just call Karen names instead of discussing things rationally, and that makes them just like Nazis.

Do you see any logical contradictions in your statement?

I was speaking of governments and those who blindly follow.

Your statement was not correct by any means and therefore it was pointless.

[RhondaLea 3]

Quote

Quote

>Exactly, they would rather infer or directly state that Karen is
>some right wing zealot . . .

So let's see if I understand your point. "They" would rather just call Karen names instead of discussing things rationally, and that makes them just like Nazis.

Do you see any logical contradictions in your statement?

I was speaking of governments and those who blindly follow.

Your statement was not correct by any means and therefore it was pointless.

I think Bill is pointing out the irony of your protesting the hyperbolic characterization of Dr. Bordson with a hyperbolic characterization of your own.

Really, it's not okay, no matter who does it.

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[christelsabine 1]

Quote

....
That is a PA since you are insinuating I am a drug user.

Your statement can cause harm.

Man, what are you doing here? Collecting possible PA's against you? Whatever thread I open and read, you're screaming "PA"!!

Lay down the crack pipe. That's a common use of wording, dude. Even over here in Germany it's been used.

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[Royd 0]

Quote

the more the right wing stands up and whines about everything that Obama says or does, the better it is for all of us. They will fully demonstrate themselves to be IDIOTS.

How the fuck can ANYONE find something wrong with a speech encouraging people to be educated?

The 'right' shows its true colors. morons......

What ever happened to, Question authority"?

[Royd 0]

No solution needed as there is no problem. The Prez is to give a short pep talk on staying in school and getting an education. Some who dislike him consider that indoctrination.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote

An awful lot of serious bickering going on for "no problem" ... LOL!!! What I suggested would have taken care of all the concerns I've seen addressed by those with reservations (which I share) about a pres mandating an audience with school kids. From what I have read, for some it may be just because of the "who", but for others like myself it is more about the concept itself than the content of the intended speech.

It's not so easy to have a captive audience, of malleable minds, with those evil parents, sitting there, critiquing every word.

[kbordson 8]

Quote

Quote

What happened to the UNITED in the United States of America?

Look above - This country has rarely been "United." There are conflicting thoughts. But with that, we GROW. We challenge. We resist. We follow.

Some question. Some accept.

Why be so worried about it just now? Is it because you don't want to hear the dissent against the President that you "like" or the one that you "picked." Is it that you didn't hear it in the 90's (although re-reading my notes... the distrust was even there)

So, is the country coming apart at the seams? Not anymore than it was in the 50's or the 1860's. (ok... in the 1860's it actually almost did come apart)

Dug through some more old books (I am a bit of a bibliophile and it takes some time to find the exact book that I was looking for)

Hell Bent for ElectionPaul Warburg c 1935

-if you read through the text of that book... sounds quite similar to complaints being cited today.

So, with writing this book, was Mr. Warburg being "racist" when he wrote that because of FDR's skin tone?
Was Mr. Warburg being "just paranoid" by voicing objection? Even though there are even still debates/discussions regarding FDR and "communism."
(note: I am aware of Mr. Warburgs flip/flopping in his support/opposition of FDR)



Questioning the President is not new nor is it just because it's President Obama.

[tkhayes 126]

Quote

What ever happened to, Question authority"?

I don't know - What happened to common sense?

What happened to free speech?

once again......How the fuck can ANYONE find something wrong with a speech encouraging people to be educated?

[Royd 0]

What ever happened to, Question authority"?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote

I don't know - What happened to common sense?

What happened to free speech?

once again......How the fuck can ANYONE find something wrong with a speech encouraging people to be educated?

Would you let someone, who had all of the markers, of a pedophile, give a speech, to your children, on sexual responsibility, even if you could read the speech, ahead of time?

Obama loves the whole concept of a cultist, authoritarian leader. Like the pedophile, seduction is one small step, at a time.

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

What happened to free speech?

Freedom of speech does not include a right to force others to listen.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

How the fuck can ANYONE find something wrong with a speech encouraging people to be educated?

If the text of the speech was available at the same time as the assignment for children to "help the president with his goals" then people might know what those goals were. Absent that, people have to make assumptions about his goals, based on his statements and his agenda.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[d_squared431 0]

Quote

Quote

What ever happened to, Question authority"?

I don't know - What happened to common sense?

What happened to free speech?

once again......How the fuck can ANYONE find something wrong with a speech encouraging people to be educated?

I do not have a problem with free speech, I have a problem with being force to listen to free speech. Isn't free speech a choice? It is my choice to not have my child listen to this.

Children K-6TH graders are not able to nor have developed the skills needed to understand what the speech really means. There is no way that Obama can aim this speech for all ages, he would have to do two. One for 7th - 12th and one for k- 6th. This is one of my main issue. I also don't feel anyone should tell me how to inform my child with politics.

I am a democrat but did not vote for Obama and Thank god I did not. I didn't like either Bush but I would take either one time and time again before Obama.
It is one thing to run a country, it is another to try and change what the country stands for.

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[mpohl 1]

Prepared text of Obama's speech to school students
By The Associated Press
Monday, September 7, 2009
(09-07) 11:36 PDT (AP) --

The prepared text of President Barack Obama's back-to-school address scheduled for Tuesdays, as released in advance by the White House:

OBAMA: Hello, everyone — how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through 12th grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday — at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.

I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer — maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper — but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor — maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine — but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life — I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that — if you quit on school — you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our first lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life — what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home — that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer — hundreds of extra hours — to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education — and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you — you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust — a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor — and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you — don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down — don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

[christelsabine 1]

What's wrong with this speech???

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[JackC 0]

Quote

What's wrong with this speech???

Because it will cause all the kids to become liberal commie pinko bastards. Obviously.

[rushmc 18]

Quote

Prepared modified and changed text of Obama's speech to school students
By The Associated Press
Monday, September 7, 2009
(09-07) 11:36 PDT (AP) --

There, I fixed it for you

The prepared text of President Barack Obama's back-to-school address scheduled for Tuesdays, as released in advance by the White House:

OBAMA: Hello, everyone — how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through 12th grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday — at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.

I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer — maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper — but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor — maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine — but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life — I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that — if you quit on school — you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our first lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life — what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home — that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer — hundreds of extra hours — to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education — and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you — you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust — a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor — and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you — don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down — don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[ianmdrennan 2]

Does that tinfoil hat ever cut you?

I mean....seriously....at some point can't you just give the man SOME credit for trying to actually do something NON-PARTISAN (ie stay in school and make something of yourself, be a better person, blah blah speech)? Hell, even if it's staged, totally phoney and he doesn't believe a word of it - the message is still a good one.

Im all for rational discussion about a topic, but this is just ridiculous.

Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[quade 3]

Sadly, grasping at straws is all they have. The right-wing trolling talking heads will do nothing from this point forward except bring up every piece of minutia they can twist and distort to bitch about. More sad still, they peddle their shit to a larger audience than one would reasonably expect given their track record of incredibility.

Theirs is not a strategy of reason, but of distraction and delay.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kbordson 8]

Quote

Sadly, grasping at straws is all they have. The right-wing trolling talking heads will do nothing from this point forward except bring up every piece of minutia they can twist and distort to bitch about. More sad still, they peddle their shit to a larger audience than one would reasonably expect given their track record of incredibility.

Theirs is not a strategy of reason, but of distraction and delay.

Actually... it's not a larger audience that is the problem. It's a much smaller audience. An audience of one, two, or maybe a couple more. Personally, I don't have any progeny of my own... but that speech sounds VERY similar to what I have been saying to my stepson for years. Trying to get him to "tolerate" school... trying to get him to do sylvan... but the REALITY is that a speech from the president wouldn't have changed him. Interest from his PARENTS is what he needed.

There are some things in the speech that I don't like. (call me whatever... but there are parts that I truly didn't like... if I had a child, I would want my child to get an education for THEMSELVES, to further his/her knowledge, for his/her future... not for what they ccan do for their country; and I don't like all the personal "character development" type stuffs... honestly, most kids would think it would probably be "kinda boring") But overall, it's "not bad" - I would give it a C+, maybe even a B.

But, I still don't want government elected officials talking to children.

[quade 3]

Quote

Interest from his PARENTS is what he needed.

And Obama has already given a speech to them about the subject.

While some parents (or step parents in some cases) do take an active interest, the sad fact is that a lot don't.

Like it or not, Obama IS a role model of a segment of the United States that has been underrepresented and made to feel as if they are fighting an unwinnable battle in any search for success.

I really do believe that this speech, made by the President of the United States, can PROVE to some of those kids that their lives are not hopeless. I believe that is precisely why so much emphasis is placed on his personal story.

There are some that now find fault with the speech for what they perceive to be an excess use of the word "I".

Bullshit. It shows it can be done.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[1969912 0]

Quote

Prepared modified and changed text of Obama's speech.....

An important point that many will miss.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[billvon 2,400]

>But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers,
>the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world and none
>of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities.

Uh oh! Personal responsibility? The GOP isn't going to like that one bit. Sounds too much like socialism.

>what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Even worse. Expectations from children? Everyone doesn't get a medal? That's downright communistic.

>that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad
>attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting
>class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Not using excuses? Wanting kids to try? I hear Hitler wanted kids to "try", too.

>You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it
>right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a
>few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

You have to WORK? Now, that's nothing more than forcing children to listen to a political agenda! I can just hear the GOP screaming about how Obama is replacing schools with forced work camps. This country is going to come apart at its seams!

[mpohl 1]

It seems you missed that this was an insertion by a poster who quoted the original AP release.

So, please enlighten me: what important point did we miss besides ideological, right-wing rhetory?

Quote

Quote

Prepared modified and changed text of Obama's speech.....

An important point that many will miss.