Obama's speech to kids is hardly an important issue worth getting worked up over
Slap me silly and call me Norton, but I just don't get the "outrage" over Obama speaking to a bunch of school children. This was front-page news in my local paper this morning -- top of the fold!
But first, let me say, mine is not an "Obama-loving" household. I've brainwashed my five year old daughter into making comments like "No-bama," when she gets a glimpse of him on TV and she'll ask, "Why is Obama mortgaging our future daddy?" She's a bright kid alright, though I must admit she doesn't know a thirty-year fixed from an adjustable APR. The other day she was going to bed and said, "I don't want to grow up." I asked her why and she said, "Because I don't want to have to pay all the taxes to Obama." She's picking this up from my comments around the house about all the debt we're mounting and how future generations will pay for all of our selfish largesse. She was actually upset about this though I later realized it was a stall tactic to not have to go to sleep.
Okay, so the background is set. We're not Obama people.
But let's not forget he is the president. And all of my Republican friends who are feigning anger about his address to school kids next week are way out of touch. Here in Florida the whacko chairman of the state GOP criticized the speech -- though he hadn't read it. Note to White House: if you send Jim Greer a copy of the speech, use crayons and lots of simple pictures.
The Obama administration says the topic of the address will not be forcing government controlled health care down our kids' throats but will be about "citizenship, personal responsibility, and civic duty." Personally, as a father of three girls, I think that's great and I don't care who is talking about it from the left or right. And if the GOP had anyone with any credibility to talk about those issues, I'd welcome it. Unfortunately following Tom Delay, Dick Cheney, Duke Cunningham, Mark Sanford, Bob Ney, Mark Foley, and Larry Craig, our bench is a little thin on the morals and ethics front.
As for the concern over Obama's speech, it would be one thing if these angry parents (does Rush even have kids?) were making the comments that no politician should speak to schools. Although that would be short-sighted. It's another thing to say, "No-Bama" just because he's a bleeding hearted, spend-thrift, inexperienced, big government liberal. Would these same so-called conservatives have a problem with a conservative Republican speaking to kids? I doubt it. So let's drop it. We look like hypocrites.
Of even greater concern is the fact that all these people get themselves all worked up over a speech (which they haven't even heard or read) while children starve in Africa, our schools don't produce First Class graduates, and our national debt is a staggering $11 Trillion!
Getting all worked up over Obama's school house speech is a distraction and a diversion from the real problems facing our country. So to my conservative friends I say this: If you're concerned about the direction of our country, get off your rear end and contact your legislators and tell them you've had enough of reckless spending, politicians who don't plan for the future, and second rate schools. Then tell them to fix it and quit bickering about irrelevant issues.
Have a nice weekend!
Chris Ingram is the president and founder of 411 Communications a corporate and political communications firm, and publisher of www.IrreverentView.com. Ingram is a frequent pundit on Fox News and CNN, and has written opinion columns for the Washington Times, UPI, Front Page Florida, and National Review online. E-mail him at: Chris@411Communications.net.