I just finished listening to the President's speech, and I must say, anyone who still thinks he was using it as a way to push a socialist agenda needs some help. He did none of the things he was accused of planning. However, there were some things that he said that, when view in the proper light (the light of I Hate Obama) do look pretty suspicious, and I expect to hear about them for a while.

    “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.” Here, the president is trying to ingratiate himself with the kids, just like when then-President Clinton said “I feel your pain”.

    “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.”

    Here some will complain that the president is interfering between parents and children, which is idiotic, because the people who are likeliest to want him to stay out of their home are also unlikely to allow much video game time.

    “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.”

    Now we see the first line that is even remotely associated with policy. Look for people to claim this is a blatant push to get kids to buy into that liberal program, No Child Left Behind.

    “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;”

    I expect to hear this line at least once as evidence that the President wants kids to pay more attention to teachers than to parents. The quote has to be cut very carefully, because immediately before and after it, he encourages kids to listen to their family authority figures:

    “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.”

    “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.”

    Here the President will be accused of pushing liberal career goals over conservative ones. Again, though, this is done through creative editing.

    “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.”

    This could be and so will be by someone, perceived as trying to make the single parent home seem more a normal part of society. Again, it can only be so if you stretch the meaning of the sentence and ignore the ones around it.

    “Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California. And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois.”

    I'm wondering who the first person on the radio will be to point out that these are all names that sound like minorities, although only in the case of the future Dr, Perez do we have any actual evidence for this. I'm betting on Mark Levin.

    “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.”

    The President chooses some pretty easy goals to start his list with, probably because he knows that if you haven't been setting and achieving goals, it's better to start small. However, there will be some who choose to call this evidence that he is trying to dumb down education.

    “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.”

    This is obvious fearmongering </sarcasm>

    “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.”

    This is the one line where I noticed the President deviating from his prepared speech. He stopped himself partway through to say “you will have to do a few drafts of a paper...”. This bothers me a little. I occasionally don't make any revisions to my blog posts before I publish them, and I often turned in my first draft as a final copy when I was in school, so I think he should have stuck with the original text. In any case, before you insist that he stuck strictly to his prepared text, be aware that I found this (very small) change.

    :”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.”

    There are some people I know on the right and left who feel that asking for help is a sign of weakness, and will take this as proof that the President isn't really up to the job in Washington. I have a name for these people. I call them idiots.

    “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.”

    This is the second, and last, statement that approaches a policy statement, and it is similar to the first. Here the President is expressing support for the education system, which could cost him the support of homeschooling families across the nation. Except that if they were watching, they probably voted for him.

    That some on the right will be offended by his speech is astounding to me, since most of what I deleted was stuff they have been saying the country needed to hear for a long time. The main theme was personal responsibility, with a strong side of listen to and obey your elders. It is this part of the Right's drumbeat that I find attractive, and if they walk away from it and cede it to the left in the interest of partisanship, I will find it hard to say much good about them in the future. I believe, though, that it will only be the radical Right that does so, and they are a pretty lost cause anyway.

    At the risk of offending my atheist friends, I will end the way the President did, which will really enrage the Radical Right

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