From jump, Obama has been compared to the Black embodiment of Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy. He also has been portrayed as the fulfillment of Martin Luther King Jr’s dream. When Senator Ted Kennedy died, political commentator Chris Matthews declared that Obama was now a “last Kennedy”.
From day one, the Obama Administration has done all it could to live up to these high expectations. Obama was not to be seen as just an ordinary President, but a true history maker. Everything he did was to be measured against these great American figures, not someone like Bush. So as I have said many times in the past, it is his supporters who raised that bar of impossibility for Obama, not his critics.
When Obama was pushing for the approval of the Stimulus bill earlier this year, it was widely described as this generation’s “New Deal”. Time Magazine even superimposed Obama’s face on the body of FDR on one of its covers. When GM asked for a bailout, Obama took it further by effectively taking a majority stake in the company. And now, his pièce de résistance: Health care for all.
My point is this, everything Obama has done up to this point has been pedal to the metal, no holds barred. It has all been about making sure he makes his mark on history.
So do you really think all of that historic mandate was suddenly shelved when the time came for him to do the “ordinary” speech to schoolchildren all across America? Well according to the U.S. Department of Education, nothing about this speech was to be just ordinary. In fact, they called it “historic”.
Instead of just sticking to the usual “stay in school, get good grades” speech, the Obama Administration felt the push of history (I guess) to go further by including a mini curriculum (study guide) that pretty much centers around asking kids how to help him become a better President. For some parents, that was a bridge too far, especially when some school districts were making this mandatory (a local NAACP in another state wanted the speech to be mandatory for their district).
What is intentionally being downplayed and left out of the criticism of these parents is what started this whole outcry in the first place: a study guide issued by the White House asking children for their support–not the speech itself. In my opinion, many of the parents of these children have already responded to the request on election day. As the children get older, they will decide for themselves what political figure is worth “helping”. In the meantime, let the parents decide for them. The White House knew that it had gone too far which is why they decided to pull the study guide and just stick to the “ordinary” speech. If a study guide or anything close to it was issued by past Presidents, they would have never pulled it.
If Obama came correct the first time and just stuck to the speech, I highly doubt folks would be making a big deal about something that will be largely ignored by the target audience anyway (I mean, come on. When most of us were in school, we hardly listened to the school principal–unless we were getting in trouble). But instead like everything else Obama does, it had to be a historic. Ordinary just would never do. Even if it’s just talking with our kids.
Funny stuff: When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings
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“Ordinary” and “Obama” Don’t Mix
by Duane on September 8th, 2009 at 9:31 amFrom jump, Obama has been compared to the Black embodiment of Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy. He also has been portrayed as the fulfillment of Martin Luther King Jr’s dream. When Senator Ted Kennedy died, political commentator Chris Matthews declared that Obama was now a “last Kennedy”.
From day one, the Obama Administration has done all it could to live up to these high expectations. Obama was not to be seen as just an ordinary President, but a true history maker. Everything he did was to be measured against these great American figures, not someone like Bush. So as I have said many times in the past, it is his supporters who raised that bar of impossibility for Obama, not his critics.
When Obama was pushing for the approval of the Stimulus bill earlier this year, it was widely described as this generation’s “New Deal”. Time Magazine even superimposed Obama’s face on the body of FDR on one of its covers. When GM asked for a bailout, Obama took it further by effectively taking a majority stake in the company. And now, his pièce de résistance: Health care for all.
My point is this, everything Obama has done up to this point has been pedal to the metal, no holds barred. It has all been about making sure he makes his mark on history.
So do you really think all of that historic mandate was suddenly shelved when the time came for him to do the “ordinary” speech to schoolchildren all across America? Well according to the U.S. Department of Education, nothing about this speech was to be just ordinary. In fact, they called it “historic”.
Instead of just sticking to the usual “stay in school, get good grades” speech, the Obama Administration felt the push of history (I guess) to go further by including a mini curriculum (study guide) that pretty much centers around asking kids how to help him become a better President. For some parents, that was a bridge too far, especially when some school districts were making this mandatory (a local NAACP in another state wanted the speech to be mandatory for their district).
What is intentionally being downplayed and left out of the criticism of these parents is what started this whole outcry in the first place: a study guide issued by the White House asking children for their support–not the speech itself. In my opinion, many of the parents of these children have already responded to the request on election day. As the children get older, they will decide for themselves what political figure is worth “helping”. In the meantime, let the parents decide for them. The White House knew that it had gone too far which is why they decided to pull the study guide and just stick to the “ordinary” speech. If a study guide or anything close to it was issued by past Presidents, they would have never pulled it.
If Obama came correct the first time and just stuck to the speech, I highly doubt folks would be making a big deal about something that will be largely ignored by the target audience anyway (I mean, come on. When most of us were in school, we hardly listened to the school principal–unless we were getting in trouble). But instead like everything else Obama does, it had to be a historic. Ordinary just would never do. Even if it’s just talking with our kids.
Funny stuff: When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings
Sphere: Related Content