And people wonder why everyone got their undies in a twist over the Obama school speech…
I don’t seem to recall teachers indoctrinating kids to presidential idolatry during any recent Republican administrations…
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PP, you obviously didn’t see the movie “Jesus Camp.” It has a part in it where they bring out a carboard cut-out of President Bush and then had the kids worship it.
Well, this administration should be fairly fresh in your mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-y2QghS2gU&feature=related
Never heard of Jesus Camp. Was it a movie, as John says? Or was it a public-school event like this indoctrination session for Obama?
Interesting that one of the songs was set to the Battle Hymn of the Republic — when liberals don’t even want the Bible mentioned in school. So I guess it is OK to worship Obama, but not God. But wait. Obama IS God!!!
That said, when you listen to the words, there’s nothing wrong with the actual message…Unless somebody tries it in a public classroom in 2013 when the next President is a Republican. Liberals will be outraged.
my junior high daughter lbrought home a document that one of her teachers distributed last january. i’m looking at it right now.
it described parallels between obama and lincoln. such as they were both lawyers, lived in illinois, both were tall and lanky, both were young when they took office, both took a train to the inauguration, lincoln was raised by a step mother and obama by his grandmother, etc…
very lame, very comical, but kind of scary to think there are actually teachers like this out there.
John knows there is no way to defend this. I would be just as mad if a public school teacher did this for a republican. Our kids should be hands off end of story. John, you have to call this one out, this is just not acceptable behavior in our education system.
No question in my mind what is depicted is inappropriate. The teacher should be taken to task for her actions.
That said, it has nothing to do with Obama’s speech. There is no organized, White House effort to “brainwash” youth into idolizing Obama or whatever PP is trying to imply here through obvious conflation of unrelated matters.
This is an outrage. I demand that Obama be impeached for this obvious mind washing of our young people. These kids might march on the Congress and demand change.
What the kids are doing at Jesus Camp is not the same as what the kids in that school are doing. At Jesus Camp they are blessing, praying for and declaring over which are things the Bible tells us to do – “pray for kings and those in authority”. Big difference between praying for a leader and praising a leader as a savior. And Obama should downplay this stuff and distance himself from it. One time in the Bible Herod took praise on himself that was due God his was struck down and eaten by worms.
Yesterday I wrote on my blog about the retired USD prof (Benno Wymar) who grew up in Germany under Hitler who today sees no parallels between Hitler and Obama. I wonder if this video won’t give him a flashback to his Hitler Youth days. Doubt it. It’s a marvel to me really. We are living in Lobotomy Nation.
Anonymous – is this a tax payer funded camp…
Ha. Your taxes would be far higher if churches pulled out of the social support system. Even today a few friends of mine in Atlanta have channeled vast sums of money and over a thousand volunteers so far in help flooding victims in Atlanta. http://www.hopeatl.com/ Check out that link and look at the bottom of the page. We did the same thing with Fargo relief in terms of sending teams, supplies, dollars and we are doing this stuff every single day in and around Sioux Falls to the tune of six digits. A couple other friends of mine became the hub of relief during Katrina.
Thank God for the churches who clean up before, during and after government and insurance companies fail. Back to this video, we need to point our kids to God not some elected leader.
While the actions for the Department of Education to create a “Dear Leader” curriculum in coordination with the President’s speech to the nation’s students was inappropriate and stupid, this is local “Dear Leader” song is not a reflection on the President or his administration.
It is an example of a over-zealous teacher not understanding proper boundaries and a local matter for the local principal, superintendant or school board.
It is also an example of an extremely stupid teacher (and I’m not referring to this person’s political views). This teacher wrote a song listing as “accomplishments” when they are policy positions.
I think it’s kind of a catchy little ditty, actually. Way cooler than “Yankee Doodle” which we had to learn in grade school. You know that song about George Washington and his “sloppy stallion” and “keeping it up” and being “handy with the girls.”
Tsk. Troy, those are about as much policy positions as freeing the slaves or keeping the Southern states from seceding from the Union were policy positions. Let’s face it. You boys are acting like a bunch of pud-knockers here. Yankee Doodle Dandys.
Stupid. Somebody failed to check WHEN the video was uploaded onto YouTube. That date, listed right next to the video, is June 19, 2009. As any idiot would know, this was not a regular school day in any state of the nation because IT WAS SUMMER VACATION!!!!! But don’t let evidence get in the way of a goofy rant.
Next fact, which will probably be ignored: President Obama gave his web speech to students on Sept. 8.
What do these two incidents have in common? N-O-T-H-I-N-G.
Any mouth breathers going to the birthers rally this weekend?
Not that it will change any minds on this blog, here is what it says on the YouTube note just to the right of the video. I will just cut-and-paste it here for you:
This was filmed at the B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington, NJ and uploaded on June 19, 2009.
Looks like the last day of school was June 18, 2009. So, it took a day to get it uploaded.
Pretty scary precedent praising and worshiping a President. Saw a ditty on I think Lisa Lue (sp?) on MSNBC last year about North Korea. Everything was sanctioned there. Kids sang songs in droid-like praise to Kim II. The concerts are all highly regulated with only state-sponsored music. One individual fled North Korea when he was found playing Bach and escaped before they were going to throw him in prison. I’m a military history buff and this little sing-a-long absolutely freaked me out and was really no different than the types of songs sung in communist countries and dictatorships. Holy crap.
I believes it follows a little too close. What’s next little children walking in front of Oblabla spreading rose petals as he walks towards his throne???
I mentioned the Jesus Camp documentary not to defend the video PP posted, but to point out that something similar happened while Bush was President. Personally, I think both PP’s video and the scene from Jesus Camp are dumb. I disagreed with the title of this post implying that the President of the United States giving a stay-in-school speach is indoctrination. I agree with Troy that this was just a stupid, local teacher and not something the Obama administration wants to see in schools.
Also, I disagree with Steve Hickey’s interpretation of that scene from Jesus Camp. Praying for the people in authority is a good thing, but I think bringing out a carboard cut-out of the President is getting close to idolatry. But that’s me.
Sheesh Bill. I try to defend the President and do so to point out what an idiot the teacher is and you admonish me?
The song listed goals and policy positions of Obama as “acccomplishments.”
I’m not admonishing, Troy. I’m chuckling. Admonishing would mean that I take your comments on this topic seriously. Surely that is far too much to expect of me on a beautiful, crisp, warm autumn day. Have a delightful weekend, my friend.
This is simply sick. Can’t sing Christmas songs in school because it violates the separation of Church and State. But you can sing songs which essentially idolizes the President personally and not the office as a loose form of religion.
There once was a man from Nantucket, who wooed the sheep to drink from a bucket. The sheep drank and drank and drank, the man said let’s be frank, before long I’ll have these sheep as tame as little Ms. Muffet.
Why, after all these years do I still have this song in my head?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qZfN7cdm_M&feature=PlayList&p=22DEDD1EE22AEAD2&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1
There is NOBODY whose panties get as bunched as Mr. Fleming’s, and there is NOBODY who is as entertaining when he’s hiding that pantie-knot jamming up his keester as Mr. Fleming.
That’s why I like the guy!
So, did you all complain when the kids sang a song about W? And they were praising him for Katrina!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/25/flashback-students-sang-b_n_300372.html
I blame the internet. Heck, World War I would never have happened without all the lies and distortions online.
Seriously, teachers have been making kids do politicized stuff like this forever. They made me and my classmates sing “This Land is Your Land,” a socialist’s sarcastic tribute to the U.S. of A., as though it were true praise. My mom in the 1940s was pressured at school to buy war stamps, and refused. (She was a radical pacifist then, poor girl.) There are a zillion examples.
The left since Rousseau has maintained that the state can do a better job than parents raising children. So I’m not surprised by the video, nor particularly alarmed, because kids are kids, thank goodness. My hunch is, these younguns forgot what they were singing about the instant the bell rang and they got out for summer vacation.
Cliff 9:21. The songs you referred to were patriotic songs about the country as a whole, not idoltary pledges to a specific individual. War stamps was a another country as a whole task as was rationing, black outs and grandma volunteering to go to the factory to screw on bomb fuses. That was the greatest generation and I saw it again for about 6 months after the 9/11 bombings. Now, here we are again.
I’m relatively still young, but how I yearn for the Beaver Cleaver days of the past. We are shadows of our parents’ culture and vision, HUGE patriotism, big families, churches full on sundays, nativity scenes everywhere at Christmas, simple pleasures, kids making their own fun instead of having it handed to them or the requirement of sitting in front of the TV playing video games, respect for elders, community closeness, full serve gas stations, no fast food, delivered milk in glass bottles, low crime (i.e. playing outside until way past dark without having fear of slow moving white vans pulling up), etc. Yes, there were problems, racism, Cold War, bad snow boots, carburated engines, but the current is nothing compared to that past.
Damn, was that fun.
Duh 9:22… I see what you’re saying on idolatry. I was more focused on the general politicization of — and state intrusion into — the classroom.
FWIW, “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie, a hero of the left, was his sarcastic slam at America in general and his antipathy toward private property in particular. It’s a politicized message, and simply was never patriotic. The 5th and 6th verses make that clear.
As for the war stamps, it’s not right for the state to impose on children to pay for something that’s the responsiblity of informed adults. That includes paying for a world war.
And yes, all of your Beaver Cleaver examples are spot on. It was a fun time, and a good time!
Bill, “Yankee doodle” was originally used by the British to mock the Colonialists and the Colonialists used it to throw it back into their face. So the song was actually a testimony to our spirit of freedom, not a President.
This song just illustrates the politics taught in our school system. Conservatives don’t have to make up this stuff. It’s around you if you want to see it!
PP,
If you would mobilize your family we could easily out number this group. I will gladly direct.
Rusty