HB-that's exactly what I was thinking. A parent can go sit in on a class or watch him or herself and then explain and talk with kids about what was said. Marcy-any time anyone of a particular party goes out and speaks to anyone, he or she is talking about their idealogies and one might say attempting to indoctrinate. Bush quite often was indoctrinating people about terrorism and 9/11. I didn't agree with Bush about a whole lot of things he said and did and had I had kids that were listening to him on one of his many many classroom visits around the country, I would have discussed the views with them.
I completely do not agree with you. The classroom is exactly the place and should be the arena for fostering discussion, particularly when other presidents have done it as well. The ONLY difference right now is a technological one. Seems amazingly petty to me. It''s like people are afraid of Obama. As I said, if there's a push to keep presidential idealogy away from children, for whatever reason, then there has to be a ban on ANY presidents going to the classroom without artificial constraints like "Oh, this one is SPEAKING and this one is INDOCTRINATING.".
I remember Bush wanted children to send in a buck for the Hurricane Katrina people. And I don't remember a big outcry about him reaching out to children to enlist them to assist. Maybe there was, and maybe it's the same thing now. But really, this is where parents need to step up and make sure they are talking with their kids about their values IN CASE they don't agree with Obama, um, urging kids to do well in school.
And one more thing, as SLOG points out-during the Bush administration, people who actually liked him told those who didn't that one nevertheless should respect the office of the presidency. So why aren't these wingers doing that now? As James Moore says.
During the campaigns and administrations of both Presidents Bush and Ronald Reagan, speeches and public appearances were almost mandatory for students and the religion of those leaders was forced on the crowds gathered in the taxpayer built gymnasiums. I cannot count the times that I attended political rallies as a journalist during school hours where students were told to leave class and come provide a crowd for the Republican candidates. Invariably, at many of these, I was standing next to my friend, a Pulitzer-winning journalist who is Jewish, as a Christian prayer was offered and the name of Jesus was invoked. Nobody saw the contradictions and hypocrisies.
Had I had a child in school that was brought out to listen to one of Bush's dogNponies, I would have spent the time that evening talking about values. I would have said that Bush is the president and we do not agree with him on a number of issues and that we have the option to vote for someone different in the next election. But I wouldn't have kept the child home from school or attempted to keep Bush from going to the school (Well, I say that, but I really had a problem with Bush spending so much taxpayer money flying out places on some PR puff deal, but ALSO attending some fundraiser at a posh private place the same day and not having to pay for it because it was billed to the taxpayer as part of the same trip. So, to me, it's much more logical and efficient to have an electronic address).
Hadn't considered one more factor-if parents DID keep their children out of school for the day, the school would lose money on attendance. Another reason to make a decision having nothing to do with politics but cold hard cash.
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