Leave Them Kids Alone

It's kind of funny to watch these conservatives go all anti-authoritarian now. The latest viral e-mail from Wingnutistan begs parents to keep their children home from school on September 8. Apparently it's indoctrination day:

Word is traveling fast on the internet, between bloggers and twitter, the choice is clear : No school for kids on September 8th due to the beginning of Socialist Indoctrination of Americas children.

Keep your kids home September 8th
2009 September 1
by DanaLoesch
Take a day of vacation. Go to the zoo. Anything that would save your offspring from what I will bluntly say is just the quasi-fellating the executive branch. That cackling over a bubbling cauldron you hear is the NEA rejoicing.
Picture 4
President Obama’s Address to Students Across America September 8, 2009
I wouldn’t have such a problem with the Department of Education were this presented in a non-Orwellian fashion. Oh yes, it is, as the lesson plan directs, to listen to what t he president, the mayor, et al. says, to respect their "authoritah" , but there is no emphasis in here on why the president and other elected officials should listen to US. The focus is solely on authority. There is no consideration given to the authority of the American people. That’s what concerns me.
There is this mindset that those in Washington are the "elite," that we should mind our Ps and Qs and blindly follow their directives. That’s not the manner of governance upon which this country was founded – it is quite the opposite; even the hobbyist Constitutional aficionado appreciates this.
So yes, keep your kids home on September 8th and teach them that the power of America rests in the hands of its people, no one else.

NOTE TO OBAMA :

LEAVE OUR KIDS ALONE !!!!

Wow. Of course, I have to wonder why any parent so fearful of government and socialism would be sending their kids to public school in the first place. But if they're going to go to the zoo instead, they better make sure it's not one of those socialist zoos.

But my next thought is, "what the hell are they talking about anyway?" The U.S. Department of Education site states, "The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning." Where's the Orwellian message?

I switched the TV to FOX News -- I bet they can find the Orwellian message! Sure enough, they tell me teachers are being commanded to make their students worship Barack Obama... or something like that. Hmm... I look around the DOE site some more. Must be under suggested classroom activities. Yep. Here is one activity only a Communist would dream of:

Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama. Teachers could motivate students by asking the following questions:

• Who is the President of the United States?
• What do you think it takes to be president?
• To whom do you think the president is going to be speaking?
• Why do you think he wants to speak to you?
• What do you think he will say to you?

We can't have any of that knowledge building and question asking! And I bet this day of indoctrination includes some kind of pledge of allegiance or something.


(YouTube video)

Seriously, people who forward these e-mails need to check the sources of the information, but I'm realizing that many of the problems in our country are due to illiteracy. The kids who need to hear Obama's message the most will probably be at the zoo that day.