During school hours?

Where I went to school, we didn't have television - or at the most, we had them to watch movies via VCR.


Was this televised after school or during school hours?

AFTER I see Obama's..............I'll let you know.

Oh and to the OP, You may want to factor THIS into the debate

REMINDER TO ALL ––- The "Small Schools Workshop" - Ayers & Obama funded Commie schools

Same here...I'm hard-pressed to come up with anything.

I don't recall Bush or Reagan doing that but the Obama one stands out becasue there aer questions on how you can help the president and accountability procedures such as following up on the kids goals they come up with.  It's more than just listening to a speech, it's making kids take action.  Actually I think it would be kind of neat if they had kids watch state of the union addresses once in a while.

Hard to beat this statement!

HH

The answer is simple- If Obama so much as sells hello to your kids, he's doing it out of some motivation for himself.  He's constantly in campaign mode, because that's all he's ever done.  If any other president, be it Carter, JFK, Bush, Reagan, whoever, had given a speech about working hard in school, no one would have a problem.



Obama has shown that he really doesn't have an interest in America, only in his own success.  If his plans require America to fail, then so be it.  No other president has been anywhere close to as Orweillan as Obama.

How could Bush or Reagan address the nation's kids when most schools at that time had one huge TV on the wheeled cart that took the A/V club guy or the janitor to try to hook up.  If I remember right, you had to reserve the TV a few days in advance.  

Maybe I just went to a poor school?

Flashback 1991: Gephardt Called Bush's Speech to Students 'Paid Political Advertising':



House
Democrats criticized President Bush yesterday for using Education
Department funds to produce and broadcast a speech that he made Tuesday
at a Northwest Washington junior high school.



The
Democratic critics accused Bush of turning government money for
education to his own political use, namely, an ongoing effort to
inoculate himself against their charges of inattention to domestic
issues. The speech at Alice Deal Junior High School, broadcast live on
radio and television, urged students to study hard, avoid drugs and
turn in troublemakers.



"The Department of Education should not
be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be
helping us to produce smarter students," House Majority Leader Richard
A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) said. "And the president should be doing more about
education than saying, 'Lights, camera, action.' "

You libtard dumbfucks need to go back and listen to your hero, JFK.  





"It's not about what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country".





Obama's speech to the kids is about "What you can do for Obama".





See the difference?  Now step out to the woodshed, pick out a nice piece of hickory and beat some fucking sense into your sorry asses.

 

I see there's no shortage of the usual arfcom hyperbole.  Gimme a break.  This is the EXACT same thing Reagan and Bush did.

It's a "stay in school" message.  "The O logo"?  "Stem-cells"?  Where do you guys get some of this shit?  Do you believe every email forward you get?  Apparently.

By the way, push your kid in your political direction too hard (regardless of which direction that is) and it WILL blow up in your face.  Guaran-fucking-teed.

And we can decide if our children will.

That is the difference.

If Obama speaks to kids about the importance of staying in school and getting a good education then that's simply a public service announcement.

It's not the speech, it's the lesson plan that the Dept. of Education has suggested go along with it.

 > having the students write memorable quotes form the presidents speech.  Presumably to be hung up around the classroom for "inspiration"
 > having the students write letters to themselves on how they can "help" the president  ( that has since been amended to read " write letters to themselves on what they can do to achieve their short and long term goals" )




BTW-  Are all the students that complete the lesson plan going to get Brown ( red ) Scarfs to wear?

It's a probe / trap. They want to see how much backlash they can generate. Once it has been generated they will back off. We will all here a great noble speech from Obama.
It will preach the importance of staying in school and  a good education. They will use it as a chance to vilify all of those opposed to it as right wing nut jobs, that are against
The One no matter what.

Oh how right Reagan was.

Great find.

I have no doubt the left will clamp onto this line from Pres. Bush.

Reagan didn't see kids a a backdoor to future socialism.

If Bush and Reagan did this, why do I keep hearing about how this is the first time a president has delivered an address to the nation's schoolchildren??  I heard it on the radio this morning, I heard it yesterday and the the day before as well.  It might be a first for him, but it's not the first time it's been done:

Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted. - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

I don't recall seeing any such speeches from Reagan or Carter when I was in school.  The only time they used the TVs outside of education was to show the breaking news of the space shuttle disaster.

Classic!!!  Well played, sir!  

That's what they're all saying over at media matters too.  So, if Reagan and Bush did it, why does the letter Obama's Education Secretary sent out to principals say that this is an "historic" event, and Obama is the first President to do this???


Methinks what Obama is doing is different enough from anything that Reagan or Bush did that even Obama's administration claims it's a "first" for a sitting President.  So, which is it?  His administration claims he's the first President to do it, which makes it sound like a very big deal (no doubt to encourage participation); but in responding to critics, his supporters claim that it's been done before by Republican Presidents so it's no different than anything Reagan or Bush did.  Get your facts and your stories straight, BHO administration and supporters!

This...

Elections have consequences...  If Obama wants to deliver a motivational speech to students, I may not like it, but fine...  The BS about 'helping Obama' is the problem.

No he isn't.  Bush did it in 91'.  The media has been saying that Obama is the first, but they are wrong.


Just google "Bush speech to students" and you'll find the whole transcript.

Dude, you just brought back a LOT of memories.


edit:

Twenty years. Where'ed they go?
Twenty years. I don't know.
I sit and wonder sometimes.....where they've gone.

That. /thread

Is this your troll DU account?





http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6454633&mesg_id=6462656



LEAVE COLD



 

Sums it up nicely.

Those that do not pay attention to history are doomed to repeat it.   I have been equating him to Hitler since last summer.  As for what the allegations are regarding this speech, Thank God I send my children to a parochial school.  


Screw Obongo!!!!!!!!

I don't remember lesson plans coming along with it.

So the DEMS where in an out roar in 1991 over the BUSH speech to the schools.
Why is it OK now?

The OP's inability to spell the man's name correctly says it all.

Well, I guess I'm wrong.  George H. W. Bush did, in fact, address all of the nation's kids.  However, it was after I was out of school and serving overseas in the .mil, and I have no recollection of it.  You were right, I was wrong.  My bad.








 

When prior presidents did it, did they also want the kids to write a letter about how the kids could help him?

H. W. Bush did actually ask the kids to write him a letter:







However, Bush's speech talked more about the individual and personal responsibility, where BHO's tends to talk about how kids need to get educated so they can help the country.



 

This.

Doesn't matter what is said, such a speech is not within the powers of the president.

Just because Reagan did it, does not mean it was good. We need only to look toward his "War on Drugs" to see that the man was not a perfect president. But so what? Does pointing to a past mistake make a present one good? Does pointing out a flaw of Reagan make him completely terrible? Both such tactics are illogical, and if you, OP, are really looking for ammunition to use against liberals using these arguments, then you need only point out the lack of logic in such tactics. Whether Reagan, Bush, or anyone else did what Obama is doing, that does not mean Obama is correct.

Plus, Obama is taking this event much further than Reagan or Bush ever did.  

Oh lookie ... even Newt Gingrich is saying this speech is good for kids to hear:



http://twitter.com/newtgingrich

Exactly. The "menu of classroom activities" a.k.a. curriculum is unconstitutional, something Gingrich, Giuliani and the rest of the supposed conservatives seem to be overlooking.



http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/focus/what_pg3.html



Damn this pisses me off.










 

President Reagan spoke to the students at Fallston High School on December 4, 1985 and I was there.

I don’t remember any controversy.  Here is the text to his speech.

I don't LIKE Obama, nor do I trust him.

If I had kids it would be MY call.

No further justification/explanation required.

Agree or no, it would be NOYFB.

I am sure a few parents had issues with Republican Presidents addressing their children, as well.

(ETA: I strangely do not remember either occurring, if you have links it would be appreciated)

Difference is they were not made out to be "left wing extremists".

Likely no one said ANYTHING when they kept their kids at home that day.

Isn't our current administration grand?

If you disagree with them on anything, you are:

Racist
Right Wing Extremist
All of the above

FWIW, here's the text of Obama's speech...


The President: Hello everyone - how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday - at 4:30 in the morning. Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.
I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world - and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer - maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper - but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor - maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine - but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life - I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that - if you quit on school - you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life - what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home - that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer - hundreds of extra hours - to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education - and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book.

Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn.

And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work –– that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you - you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust - a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor - and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you - don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country? Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too.

So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down - don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

You were in school for 16 years?

And that's exactly what it sounded like when I first started reading through the after the speech "plan". But, it turned into way more than what is needed.

THIS

AND THIS

Recent picture? Even Bush/Reagan recent?

...

"Some things have changed..."

"All great change begins at the dinner table..."