Bush on 9/11

Presidents Talk to School Kids

The current President of the United States, as previous Presidents before him, agreed to tape a video for schools that a young school-age reporter suggested, in which he encourages children to stay in school and get a good education.

So naturally, this is an occasion for conservative/rightwing Republicans to prove, again, they may be the most badly educated people on the planet.

The uproar over the speech, in which Mr. Obama intends to urge students to work hard and stay in school, has been particularly acute in Texas, where several major school districts, under pressure from parents, have laid plans to let children opt out of lending the president an ear. . . .

“The thing that concerned me most about it was it seemed like a direct channel from the president of the United States into the classroom, to my child,” said Brett Curtiss, an engineer from Pearland, Tex., who said he would keep his three children home.

“I don’t want our schools turned over to some socialist movement.” . . .

Mr. Obama’s speech was announced weeks ago, but the furor among conservatives reached a fever pitch Wednesday morning as right-wing Web sites and talk show hosts began inveighing against it.

Mark Steyn, a Canadian author and political commentator, speaking on the Rush Limbaugh show on Wednesday, accused Mr. Obama of trying to create a cult of personality, comparing him to Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader.

The Republican Party chairman in Florida, Jim Greer, said he “was appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology.”

And Chris Stigall, a Kansas City talk show host, said, “I wouldn’t let my next-door neighbor talk to my kid alone; I’m sure as hell not letting Barack Obama talk to him alone.”

Yes, it’s better to have them stay home and watch Fox News, which will give the kids the correct message that Barack Obama is not the legitimate President, that he’s a communist trying to destroy America and kill old people, so anything bad that happens to him is justified. This is how Dallas happened.

More from Steve Benen
TPM, Iz ur kids learning? Texas School Board sets the standard
Kansas City Star, Island of sanity