N8's commentary on current events:
Really America? You sure you thought this through? - Blogged by N8

OK, I just want to let you know what my situation is here. I don't get to watch a whole lot of TV here due to my work schedule. Mostly, I watch TV in the Dining Facility when I eat. They always have the news on. Unfortunately, they have mostly Fox News and MSNBC, the furthest right and the furthest left cable news sources in America. I've been able to track a lot of the issues going on back home from both extreme points of view and just wanted to share my conclusion...

When I started elementary school, Ronald Reagan was the President. When I graduated, Bill Clinton was the President. So, I definitely got to experience the whole spectrum of politics as a child. It seemed that almost every year the school would take every grade and put us in the same large room to watch a speech of the President encouraging us to study hard, be good citizens, stay out of trouble, and have fun. Never once did I feel "indoctrinated" by what the President had to say, he was just telling me that hard work and dedication pay off. Common sense really...

Nobody was ever pulled from the group because their parents disagreed with what the President had to say. The school showed the speech and no parents showed up angry that their child was exposed to the "extremist points of view" of the President. So why is that happening now?

I've read the speech given by President Obama and it is the very same speech I was used to hearing as a child. In fact, I felt waves of euphoria hitting me as I read it. Not once did I read anything extremist, liberal, or invasive at any time. If telling kids to work and study hard is wrong I don't want to be right.

What shocked me was watching the parents of school children all across America being interviewed saying that they would pull their kids from school so that they didn't have to watch it. One woman was even crying, almost in hysterics, because she couldn't fathom the idea that the President would be talking to her little girl. A school superintendant in Florida was being scrutinized because he was making it mandatory for the children in his school district to watch it.

So, let me get this right... You don't want your children to hear the President telling them to work hard, study hard, and stay in school, so you TAKE THEM OUT OF SCHOOL??? Are you serious??? Am I just out of the loop or does this just not make sense to everyone else?

The last time I checked we were the UNITED States of America. How has it come to this? Parents, please use your brains and common sense and keep your children in school. I promise that the President is not going to tell them anything they aren't going to hear from you, their teachers, their coaches, and their mentors. Removing them from their source of education does not teach them anything. I know that sounds weird, but it is true.