Priceless: Texas School District Refuses Obama Speech, Sends Kids to Hear Bush
(Update Added Below)
Arlington, Texas certainly knows its priorities.
School officials in the town, home of the new $1 billion Dallas Cowboys football palace, declined to show President Obama's pro-education speech on Tuesday.
Later this month, however, the new stadium is hosting an event featuring special guest George W. Bush. The district will bus selected classes to bask in the glow of the former leader's remarks.
Football is king in Texas, of course, and local residents voted for increased taxes (hundreds of millions of dollars over many years) to build the facility. It seems only fitting that future generations, saddled with debt, should get a firsthand look at what they'll be paying for into middle age.
The explanation offered by district spokesperson Veronica Sopher is that the two events are somehow different.
"The distinction is it's a field trip that parents have to grant permission for students to attend," she tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She adds what for her seems to be another profound distinction: Bush isn't slated as the only speaker.
Funny, parents didn't get the option of granting permission for their children to hear the current president talk personally and movingly about how important an education is to all students and to their country's future.
But George W. Bush can talk football, or actually show up in person to read "My Pet Goat," and it's perfectly fine.
This explains a voting public that graduates high school without knowing when the American Civil War occurred. A public that in adulthood can't name the Chief Justice of the nation's Supreme Court.
No wonder they don't want Obama telling little Johnny about the importance of staying in school. They're embarrassed by their own shortcomings.
UPDATE: The Arlington school district announced September 14th that they were backing away from sending 28 fifth-grade classes (about 600 students) to hear Bush at the new Cowboys stadium. The combined spotlight of the media and the blogosphere on the embarrassing hypocrisy apparently proved too much to bear.
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I live down hear in mid-cities texas whare our younguns can grow up and get a job in the national gard.
Are workin as a prisin gard.
we is gonna pay a ton of taxes to have a 1.5 billion dollar cowboy football stadium that our kids can pay off, or their kids can.
We was once in first place in high skool educaten but we is now way on down the line and fallen fast.
we is even gonna teech creationism in the skool, and let our kids go an a feeled trip to see shrubbie georgie bush, the once upon a time president, and some dallas cowboys makes speeches. but i am proud to say, our keds is not gonna sit and listen to no president of the united states who is colored. no sireee aint no edukated colored gonna tell our kids nuthin.
"Anyone can become the President of the United States", until they do, of course. Then it becomes "We don't just listen to Anyone, even if they're the President!"
And to think I nearly enrolled in UT Arlington for college. Glad I didn't.
I just feel that this is so pathetic and immoral that schools who did not allow the airing of President Obama's speech should have funding cut. Stimulus funds are probably just getting to the districts, and those checks should have the payments stopped.
I had such a great feeling finally about this country on election night. It only took two months after President Obama took office for me to feel the same way I did before. The disrespect and racist attitudes being allowed to permeate through Congress, schools and the country is appalling.
I am embarrassed of this country.
Please, let these ignorant people raise their kids to hate and be miserable, they are pissed off because their parents raised them as such, no good will come of it, they will continue to be stuck on stupid, as will their babies, either that or when little Johnny, and Buffy grow up, Guess who will be coming to dinner., and I would love to be a fly on the wall when that happens.
So much for local control of education....
Please, let them secede. The average I.Q of the entire U.S. will go up 10 points.
C'mon, Progressive Texas! For God's sake, get off your behinds and take back your state! Molly Ivens and Ann Richards are rolling in their graves, already.
Oh yeah - and Kinky Friedman for Governor!
Junk-food faith for a fat head nation
The US, a nation overwhelmingly god-fearing also overwhelmingly rejects science. Many of my fellow citizens lack a critical intelligence sufficient to reject the Fundie Fare they put into their brains.
Millions across the US cannot understand why scientific knowledge should not be subject to the dictates of theo-political ideology, whether rooted in 17th century Protestantism or 13th century Catholicism or (to be fair) 12th century Islam. For these 21st century iPod consumers and Twitter users, technology is cargo cult -- magic devices created by the ancestors and delivered to an Apple Store by ghosts.
As consolation, the US is a gross outlier among developed nations in its affinity for religious enthusiasms and in its failure to accept now elementary basic truths like evolution via natural selection. (Check the Pew surveys on Religion and Society. http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_category.aspx?id=318)
Consumption of junk-food faith leads directly to intellectual constipation, gastric self-righteousness and gaseous ego inflation. Surely fundie prayers have been answered:
Super size me Jesus!
Amen.
Gasp. Could it be that not everyone in America drools mindlessly in humble adoration of Prince Barack...or bows down and worships the very ground that Lord Obama walks on without actually questinonging what he does? Could it be? Naaah. That's impossible. Who wouldnt worship him? He's PERFECT.
I would rather hear Bush any day that Teleprompter Barack. At least Bush has a sense of humor and knows how to deliver a one-liner.
...along with destroying a country. Bush certainly knows how to do that, too.
I take it that you don't like President Obama, but love the man who pushed this country to the brink. Its funny that the only people who call President Obama Lord is the republicans, sad that you fear this man so much!!
If you would rather listen to George Bush than Barack Obama, you need a hearing aid. Bush was the most boring, uninspiring speaker in recent history. What one liners? The ones that he always got wrong or messed up. Oh, it must have been his stupid smirk that he used so often. I never managed to make it through all of any of his speeches. They were a big waste of time.
Are you the person that went "ga ga" over Sarah Palin. Worship the ground she walks on? I thought soooooo!
Texas, it's like a WHOLE other country!
Not really, There are Indepentents and Democrats that live here,too.
hey, let's you, me and the other two meet for drinks!
It is past time to stop making excuses for the racists in our midst. This is not about politics it is about a few whites that are refusing to acknowledge and respect the wishes of an entire country. This behavior can no longer be tolerated. These people not only hurt themselves they hurt us and their children. Obama won a fair election and must be afforded the respect of the office. To allow a few racists to spout their nonsense and to give them a national podium from which to speak is stupid. We citizens are allowing this to happen. We may need to take to the streets to stop it but in the interim we must start ridiculing stupidity and calling out unfairness. As long as these few people feel that there are no repercusions for their efforts they will continue. Call a racist by name today and start to make a difference.
Race card! Ding ding ding! That took three whole seconds...geez. You know, if you play the card too often sooner or later people are going to ignore you.
Then why the double standard? Why is the President not allowed to speak to our children concerning education, but a former president and others can say whatever they want to unquestioned?
Lets see, we won't let the black President speak to our children, but we will bus them to see the former white President. Call it what you want, but there is no other plausible explanation for children not being allowed to hear the President of the United States speak. I was not a fan of Ronald Reagan or Bush but would have never protested them speaking to the children of this country.
This author is confused. What looked like an article was in fact an editorial flush with sarcasm and sour grapes.
I am pretty middle of the road in political terms. However, the Administration screwed up on this one all on their own. They gaffed JFK’s noble quote which targeted adults and in particular his base of young adults, and morphed it into a self serving "worship Obama" message masked in a lesson plan asking young kids what they thought they could do for the President. He works for us. And BTW, nobody including the President, asks my child to do anything without my agreeing in advance.
I have never seen this level of bungling. The Administration failed in conveying what should have been a simple message (School is important; it pays off-stay engaged). The media also continues to get “it” wrong. No President in my lifetime has received such a free pass as President Obama currently enjoys. How about pulling your collective heads out of your singular rear ends and start doing your job by asking the president, the Speaker of the House and congress tough questions. You sound more like TASS than the free press.
The Presidency deserves our support as a national symbol. The Presidency is separate and apart from the President. The President may/may not warrant our respect or confidence. It isn’t his/her right to have it. We are not obligated to blindly support the Administrations (past/present/future) incompetence.
It sounds like you don't like President Obama. Why? You claim he is getting a free ride. Compared to what, a good old fashioned lynching? You say the administration failed to convey the message. Where have you been? As soon as he said he was making a speech every racist in America started complaining about what he was going to say. These folks had no clue what was going to be in the speech but it did not matter for the racists in America have learned that they can just make up any piece of s##t and it will make the evening news. The Presidency is a title and is not real. We have a real human being in office who is trying his best to pull our nation out of a pit the last administration put us in. It is alright to pretend things are honkey dorey but they aren't. We are in trouble as a nation and need to get behind the President as he tries to keep the country from failing and yes it is on the verge. The man has not been in office long enough for you to call him incompetent. This sounds like good old fashioned racism because that is what it is.
so you were against it when Reagan and Bush I and Bush II were allowed to speak before students then?
A little background: This is a program called the North Texas Education Program of which George and Laura Bush are chairpersons and will be the keynote speakers. Local business leaders will also speak to the students(about what we don't know). 600+ 5th graders will be bussed from the AISD. This is being touted as a 'field trip' for students to parents. This will take place September 21st.
Wrong - it's actually an event being sponsored by the North Texas Super Bowl Committee - and will apparently include speeches by the Bushes and "Cowboy greats" - apparently they aren't required to submit their agenda beforehand - which guess that means they have more power than the President of the United States in Arlington's eyes - once again we Texans look like buffoons. . . in case you aren't familiar with Arlington - they helped fund a billion dollar stadium for Jerry Jones -- and also funded Bush' Texas Stadium -- see a connection yet?
I live in south Arlington. We were told by the AISD that local business leaders would attend and address the students, and yes I am aware that Arlington funded the stadium thanks to our good 'friend', Mayor(sellout) Kluck.
Unfortunately, this is my neck of the woods. I'm not asking us to pull our children out and in general act like two year-olds like they did, but this school district needs to be aware that this is blatant hypocrisy and the usual double standard that the right so frequently engages in. We called the AISD and they did state that they were getting complaints. When asked about what the children would be told, they had no idea what will be said(not DEMANDING to see a preview of the speeches and all) or what the agenda would be other than the Bush's and local businessmen would "encourage"(her word) the students. So just voice your opinion and let them know this is nothing more than hypocrisy and blatant disrespect of our President.
I know your pain. I live in Georgia - which only by the grace of God and the Bush legacy - isn't in this same situation.
It's all good political blogging fun until it's your kid in the school censoring the President of the United States.
Obviously, the whole anti-Obama school speech push is about politics, not content. Its amazing that one woman said she didn't want her daughter listening to the President. Limbough, yes, the President, no. Scary.
In a time when the country really should be working hard to come together to deal with the effects of the economy and job losses, the right wing is doing everything they can to encourage divisiveness. Note that they are not offering any real solutions or alternatives, not offering to even discuss, just to push raw emotions in the gullible. Nothing to support or help the country, just themselves.
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