Next week, President Obama will give a back-to school speech directed at elementary and high school students across the nation. This couldn't possibly controversial, right? Not in today's America, I'm afraid.
Per MSNBC, the planned speech "has provoked a backlash from some within the Republican Party, with the chairman of the GOP in Florida saying the real motive is to indoctrinate students with Obama's "socialist ideology.""
I wish I were making this up. But it gets better. Read on:
Explains the article, "Obama plans to address students across the country on Tuesday with a message about staying in school, working hard and achieving educational goals."
Work hard and stay and school. If that's socialism then color me red.
But let's be fair here and see what the Florida GOP chair, Jim Greer, actually said:
According to the article, he said the event "obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our president's initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates."
"While I support educating our children to respect both the office of the American president and the value of community service, I do not support using our children as tools to spread liberal propaganda," Greer added.
Liberal propaganda? Someone should inform Greer that Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush also gave similar addresses to students.
But let's hear from some of the other "critics":
"I'll be keeping my kids at home that day," a person identified as "Nascar Dad" wrote on the Tampa Bay Times Web site. "Our school is offering an 'alternative' activity, but if millions of parents across the country keep their kids out of school; Ouch!"
So you're keeping your kids at home, hoping that millions of others do so as well, to make a political point? It's pretty clear who the real tools are here.
