Text of Obama's speech to school children
The White House has released the text of Obama's speech to school children scheduled for tomorrow. Pretty boring stuff for the most part.
A couple of snips and comments.
"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. ..."
Can we go back to that part about how you got into law school?
Moving on--he was fortunate. He wasn't cobbled by a failing public education system--the very place many of these children will be listening from. Agree with what Mrs. Obama taught him or not she was effective in creating a president with a little help from her friends. She saw to it that he went to good private schools and got what he needed to succeed in his world.
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.
Well, except for the part where I'm selling your future down the drain with 12 Trillion in debt. We've pretty much mapped out a slavery situation for ya there.
[Insert your own pithy response to his lack of experience here.]
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day.
What we will never know is what the original text may have been had there been no venue for the opinions of concerned citizens and parents.
UPDATE: How many times does he say:
I, me, my = 80
You/Your= 203 (about 10% of the words)
2 comments:
One of the principal themes in Obama's speech is personal responsibility, a main tenet of the Republican Party you supposedly support:
"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." - President Obama
I remember growing up in an America where it would have been a thrill for students to receive a message from the president.
I would think you would support Obama's message about the importance of studying and staying in school. Unlike Republican presidents of the past decades, this president was not born with a silver spoon, he came from difficult circumstances and got to where he is in part because of education and hard work.
Instead, we receive commentary like yours, from an educator no less. Your snide remarks say a lot about you and not much about the speech. It's sad, troubling, and disrespectful, a very poor example you show.
William, Did you read: "The Speech Kerfluffle"? In it I suggested parents go to schools and listen with their children and that there are much bigger fish to fry than his 20 minutes and a few lesson plans.
Educators aren't allowed snide comments on their own blogs? Who knew?
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