There’s been opposition to the President’s plan to broadcast a “do well in school” message to the American student body. In and of itself, the message is probably harmless and probably a good idea; who is better able to motivate our students than a good-looking, young President Obama? Why are people making a fuss and opposing the president at every turn? The problem lies in that it is being encouraged (some would say pushed) onto the American school system.
Officially, it is a voluntary program. But we remember other “voluntary” programs like prayer in schools. In that instance, any kids that refused to pray with all of the others were either ostracized or branded as atheists. So I’m sure that any kids that opt out of the President’s inspirational message will be similarly affected. I personally do not mind being branded a discontent at age 10, but it does affect your chances to get hired at the local hardware store for the summer when you turn 14. That’s a heavy burden to bear.
The President should bear in mind other efforts to inspire young people without a chance for other voices to be heard. This one-party messaging could eventually morph into something akin to Hitler’s propaganda machine. One of their weirder efforts was this coloring book exhorting the Young German to do something that was probably decent and helpful. But when a commendable exhortation turns into “obey my orders” and “kill Jewish people” then we have a little problem.1
- Just to make sure my message doesn’t get lost: Hitler was a bad man and killed a lot of innocent people. We don’t want to be like him [↩]
I’m usually the first to jump on any bandwagon against others trying to tell me what to think or believe.
However, I’m just not feeling this one.
The issue appears one sided. Doesn’t everyone agree there’s need stay in scholl and try your best?
MAYBE (it’s a reach) home-school advocates could see a problem with the message, but their at home anyway! so they don’t have to watch.
Its like saying “reading is fundamental”.
There’s no opposing view. So why not hear it from someone who cares and is (kinda) respected? The teachers are saying it. Their boss, the principal is saying it. So why not their boss’s boss’s boss? The chain works this way. Teacher>Principal>Superintendant>Board of Education>Department of Education>Secretary of Education>President.
Or something like that.
I’m not sure because I didn’t try hard in school.
Maybe if I was motivated by some kind of speech…
All evil enterprises start with a noble sentiment. If they ever try to force individualized GPS-tracking on the citizenry, it will not come in the guise of a “Big Brother is watching you” but rather a “Keep our children safe” campaign. Once they implant you with the human lo-jack as a child, you keep it for life. Get it ??
So the message is quite harmless this time around. Of course we all want our kids to do well in school, of course we all want them to reach their full potential. But when the precedent is set, I see other helpful messages in the future, like “make sure your parents recycle all trash,” “make sure your parents buy a poster of the President,” “make sure your parents pray to it every day.”
Does anyone speak German that could translate the text of the Hitler poster? I’ve always been curiuos as to what it said.
Skirting the issue, I’m with Renegade in that comparisons to Hitler only help Hitler. I don’t care if it’s Bush or Obama or whoever. I feel confident in saying the magnitude of evil possessed by Hitler will never be matched by an American president. You can replace American with most nationalities, too. It’s not even a contest. You pretty much have to be genocidal. Safe comparisons include Stalin, Pol Pot, bin Laden, and anyone else hell bent on destroying a culture, ethnicity, or civilization. Everything else is small potatoes.
Back to the topic, let’s not forget the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. That’s been promoting exercise to school kids since 1956. I don’t see that it’s led to any great harm. Let’s remember that a great many noble enterprises were also started with noble sentiments.
I’m all for watchdogs, they’re a critical part of society. We should be hearing both arguments. But how you make your argument is sometimes as important as the argument itself.
Yes, you are all correct. But I was not comparing Obama to Hitler; if you go back and re-read the entry, I was talking about one-sided presentations to the American student body and how that could degenerate into a propaganda tool.
However, getting the words “Hitler” and “Obama” in the title was a totally intentional act. I did it in order to maximize the attention that my piece would receive from search engines around the world. And I was looking for an opportunity to share the Hitler coloring book that I encountered oh so many years ago….
I don’t think our President, however maligned he is, should be compared to Hitler or Satan. He is definitely not the Antichrist, although that argument is quite popular on the Internet.
What hath thee wrought ?
I did not mean to start a “Love and Hitler in the Springtime” thread !!!
Please read my response to the Hitler is Amazing article:
http://www.crackteam.org/2009/09/06/hitler-was-amazing/#comments
Hitler was a pretty nasty psychological abherrant and he unfortunately had the power to realize his twisted dreams. Sorry Mr. President, but you are no Hitler. Or a Stalin or Mussolini. There’s plenty of articles in the Internet identifying Prez Obama as the Antichrist, but they sound a little daffy. Wasn’t Hitler supposed to be the Antichrist?? He certainly fits the bill much better than our current Commander in Chief.
My apologies Bladerunner, I know you are an extremely intelligent man who only has the best intentions for his country. Just like Hitler. No, wait! That’s not what I meant! 😉
You didn’t compare Obama to Hitler – I had a knee jerk reaction, conditioned by the left and right media, to tune out all arguments that mention him or the Nazis or anything of that nature. I know I’m not alone here, as evidenced by ZBalance’s post.
I’m bringing this up because I appreciate your opinions and *don’t* want to tune them out. I have an idea for doing NLP on the reasonably intelligent: quote or make favorable comparisons to geniuses who did a lot of good. In your other comment you quote Thomas Jefferson – holy crap is that effective! And makes you look really smart and educated at the same time. So… way to go, Bladerunner! 🙂
I see how my post makes it look like I’m stepping all over Bladerunner. That wasn’t the point as his reference was witty and amusing. I’m refering to these debate specialists who take cheap shots on camera. It’s getting so bad lately that I find myself trying to guess which debater will use it first. It’s always sooner rather than later because once it’s out there, it can’t be used again until the next debate.
The Mega-Nashwan-Hitler-Cannon must need extensive recharging between uses.
On a side note: Do you think Hitler killed the illustrator of the coloring book?
I only ask that because I think if I saw myself in a coloring book, you’d better have drawn me in my prime (not with a double-chin.)