A Call to Brains: Obama's Education Address

(Time setting: This is the text of my Editorial during Tuesday morning's Radio show, which aired prior to the President's address.)

Never before have so many had so much to say about which we know so little: the text of President Obama’s educational address was released only yesterday, so all of the hand wringing and cold sweats over the President’s brain washing of our Youts was pure political speculation. I didn’t know what the President was going to say; you didn’t know, and none of the nattering naybobs of negativity quoted in the media knew. It was much ado about nothing.

Today we know.

In a few hours, we will hear.

Tonight we’ll be awash in analysis of these solid points:

• To get a good job, get a good education.
• 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.
• A good education is a responsibility of citizenship in America; if you quit on school, you’re quitting on your Country.
• Set your goals: whatever you resolve to do, commit to it.
• Being successful is not easy—there are no guarantees. People succeed because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you.
• 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 the curiosity and passion to learn something new.
• Don't ever give up on yourself…when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

I don't know what is so radical about those points.

I don't understand what is so dangerous about those ideas.

From the looks of some of our "social failures:" deadbeat dads, unwed teen mothers with several kids from multiple fathers, and people wondering when the "gov'ment" is going to help them with a hand-out, I'd say we need to brainwash more kids into this line of thinking.

The President is going to remind our kids—and us—that 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.”

If you are among the parents who thought you’d keep your kids home from school today so they wouldn’t be indoctrinated by Barak Obama, I dare you to present a better argument for staying in school. In fact, how could anything you could possibly say about “staying in school” have any credibility whatsoever if you keep your kids home today?

I am not a fan ofBarak Obama.

But I applaud the points he will be making today—as reflected in the text released yesterday.

I am a fan of America, warts and all. It’s not perfect, but I defy you to show me a better system.

Barak Obama’s challenge to the Yout’s today is one that each of us should take to heart: 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?

Questions posed to kids; answers to which we should all be trying to solve, whether we’re in the 7th grade, or in our 70’s.