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Let's leave the kids out of our political squabbles
Published online on Thursday, Sep. 10, 2009
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I give the adults of this country an F this week.
The controversy surrounding President Obama's back-to-school speech was one of the most ridiculous things our political system has seen. And that's saying a lot.
Our talking-head-driven, outrage-ridden, partisan mumbo-jumbo media gets an F too. No matter which way they lean.
The failure is this: Kids, who should be watching cartoons and eating fruit snacks, got inserted into a political battle that they have no place in.
And why? Because the president wanted to encourage them a little bit? Tell them to stay in school and make something of themselves?
Wow, America. You can't put all the partisan huff-and-puff aside for that? Petty much?
Know the saddest part of the whole thing? I'm sure the parents and the pundits cared far more about the speech than the kids it was intended for.
Granted, it's been a number of years since I was in school, but I seem to recall any assembly as a time to tune out. Put a guest speaker or a video screen in front of school kids, and they're going to whisper to each other, think about video games or check out whoever they have a crush on.
Listening to some dude -- the president even -- lecture about staying in school? Meh.
When I was a kid, sure, I knew who the president was. But it wasn't until I got older that I knew what political party he was in, or even that there were different political parties.
You want to talk about indoctrinating kids? What about indoctrinating them into the world of political parties, of us vs. them, of the right and the left.
You know Little Sally asked Mommy and Daddy why they didn't want her to hear the president talk, but Little Billy's Mommy and Daddy let him.
"Oh, honey, that's because Billy and his family are socialists ... errr, liberals."
Yes, children, welcome to the world where you put yourself in a box -- Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, O'Reilly or Olbermann -- and then make your choices based on that.
If you're a conservative, then you can't eat Ben & Jerry's because they have pro-gay-marriage ice cream now.
If you're a liberal, then you can't shop at Whole Foods, because their CEO doesn't support Obama's health-care reform.
Sadly, even telling Little Sally or Little Billy they can have ice cream once they finish all their vegetables now has political undertones.
The columnist can be reached at mosegueda @fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6479. Read his blog at fresnobeehive.com.
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