Today, our President Obama has said he was going to address the Children of America. There is one group of America's who are concerned that this amounts to an political indoctrination of young persons in various stages of there intellectual development. On another side, are ardent supporters of Obama who Carte' Blanche dismiss criticism of President Obama addressing the children of America.
The fact of the matter is that both sides fail to respect the legitimate points of the other side.
On its face, I have no problem with any American President addressing the Children of America. I think it would be a great opportunity to partially address some of the problems and symptoms of our America Public Schools. Encouraging Children to set goals, to endeavor to persevere despite adversity, to make no excuses to permit themselves to fail, to be creative and self sufficient are all wonderful goals, attitudes and aspirations to instill in our children - especially with the inspirational awe one uniquely respected such as our American President uniquely possesses. Persons who criticize the president for purely the purpose of being a political tactic, should be reviled and cast aside.
But there are a group of us who have legitimate reason to be concerned with the true intent of President Obama. Originally, President Obama said he was going ask each child to write a letter explaining how they could help the president. This original intent seems to expose the true thought processes of our president. It would have been more appropriate for the president instructing them to read the constitution and the bill of rights. And then have the students write an essay to about what their interpretation of the Founding Father's vision for the individual in the American Constitutional Republic was. Further, the president could have made it a contest, with the rewards being $1000 bond to be used for college tuition. Instead our President's first instinct was to exploit the opportunity for his own personal and political gain.
Now President Obama's most ardent supporters will accuse me of being too cynical, too jaded. I respond that :
"They who know not their history are destined to repeat it."
During and leading up to World War II many atrocities were committed by the axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan. 6 Million Jews and other political and physical undesirables lost their lives in horrible ways in the name of advancement of race and country. At the end of World war two the Allies declared:
WE MUST NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!
Adoph Hitler used propaganda and deception to gain power that would give him the opportunity to inflict these Government mandated atrocities upon the people and start World War II. Along the way, he created the Hitler Youth Group. Children of every age were indoctrinated into serving the Nazi state and idolizing Adolph Hitler. Especially disgusting to me, the Hitler Youth were instructed and indoctrinated to report all negative conversation and communication about the Government and Adolph Hitler to the appropriate authorities. They especially encouraged children to report their parents for violations. As is my habit, I encourage you not to take my word for it, look it up for yourself.
Now, everyone knows that I resisted condemning President Obama for 5-6 months after he was elected. I began criticizing harshly when the Democrats used unfair, unethical and undemocratic methods to pass their agenda. Submitting 300+ pages of amendments a few hours before a vote to sneak things in is Un-American. Not reading and not giving time for the opposition to read legislation before voting is Un-American. Installing many, many unelected, unvetted Czars is Un-American. Promising to not have lobbyists in the White House and then permitting them to be in the White House is unethical. Promising no earmarks in the budget and then allowing the most ever is dishonest. Nominating Tax Cheats and allowing them to be Secretary of the Treasury is reckless. And that he started asking his followers to begin reporting to him anything they found "fishy" I ask the most loyal of President Obama's supporters, are my feelings about the President legitimate or contrived for political purposes? Be honest.
Which brings us back to WWII and the Hitler Youth Group. The Nazi's did not tell the German people what their true intentions were. In establishing the Hitler Youth Group they did not disclose that they would indoctrinate the children with hate and absolute loyalty to Adoph Hitler and the Nazi Party. Not at least until they had a firm grip on power and noone dared to oppose them because of the obvious hopelessness and consequences of doing so.
So please understand that persons like myself and like-minded individuals do not criticize President Obama's address of the children of our country without good reason. President Obama originally wanted our children to write letters about how they could help him. Does my just preceding reminder of how Hitler rose to power not now cause you the same concern for our constitution and country? If not, I would ask you to further study how Hilter rose to power and used propaganda and deception to gain power. Germany did not go from good to evil overnight. Hitler did not say, "I am evil - follow me" The transition happened incrementally. Hitler promised restoration of German prestige and said he was sending the jews and undesirables to pleasant communities in newly conquerred territories. Hitler did not say, "I am going to trick you into being enslaved and I am killing all the jews" Hitler said approximately, "the bigger the lie, the better, the more the people will believe"
All that having been said, We would ask those who are critical of our criticism of President Obama addressing the children of America to understand our desire to err on the side of caution. We are committed to :
Never allowing the atrocities leading up to and during World War II to occur again.
Your can read more about what I have discussed:
WWII: 'Never let such tyranny happen again'
WW II vet held in Nazi slave camp breaks silence: 'Let it be known'
And here is the alleged actual text of the Speech that President Obama intends to deliver:
Prepared text of Obama's speech to school students
Having read the text, I find the message uplifting and motivating. And therefore, my gut reaction would be to permit my child to hear it. But then i must reflect. A persons initial planned direction, most often reflects their true feelings and intentions. President Obama was going to have the children write him letters about how they could help him until he was confronted, vigorously.
And then I remembered back to my lessons from history. Hitler made several mis-steps before he perfected his rise to power. His rise to power came incrementally. And there are many other actual things that President Obama and politicians in general have done that make me further question President Obama's true intent. And having further exposed his true intent with his original intention of soliciting letters of support from children, vulnerable to suggestion, I repeat my position that President Obama not be allowed to address our impressionable children.
Perception is Reality. Unless, immediately following the speech, a similar amount of time is allowed for persons of opposing or differing views to counter-balance the Presidents Speech, Public School time should not be used for the children to be addressed by the President. And persons better informed than myself, can provide an age below which any such speech is overly influencing on impressionable minds (or not understandable at all) Those Parents that do not share my opinion are free to view it with their children online at home, or at the library. But the children of persons who feel the same way as myself, should not forced to view President Obama's Speech. World War II proved that every society needs "free thinkers".
If the President wants to speak to and reinforce the vision for this country as envisioned by the Founding Father's and enshrined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights in concert with local political opponents, I welcome the opportunity for the American Nation to remind its children of the spirit and vision of the Founding Father's. Sans a balanced program, I oppose President Obama addressing our children for the reasons I have provided throughout this article.
Respectfully Submitted,
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot