Quotes like this from FDR scare me more than the prospect of the TV Remote batteries dying while the set is tuned to PBS during a Teletubbies marathon and make me think the Home School crowd, in addition to producing the smartest kids in the room, represent the smartest parents in the country. In the sixties, public education became the last vestige for radical communists and Weather Underground terrorists and their influence on each subsequent generation is becoming more evident and is gaining speed as indoctrination supplants core curriculum in students' daily schedule. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic are being pushed aside like a skinny kid at an Ice Cream truck to make room for Diversity Training, Green studies and playing games where no score is kept.A perfect example of this comes in the form of a book of letters written by children to Barack Obama being sold by McSweeney's. The letter writers were students at non-p
profit literacy center in, where else, San Francisco. A chill went up my spine reading editor Jory John's comment regarding the students reaction to November's election results: "They'd only known one president all their lives, and he didn't look like them. But when Obama won, it was like Christmas had been declared a permanent state of being." If The ONE's spending and giveaway programs are any indication, the comparison to Santa isn't that far off.
In itself, encouraging young minds full of mush to express themselves to the leader of the country is not a bad thing. I just don't recall much of this happening while George Bush was president. In fact, I remember stories about teachers having students write letters of protest to GW and giving poor grades to patriotic kids who dared be supportive of "that" president. There was an assignment having students renounce their citizenship. And, of course, there were stories of letters from students asking Bush to "stop violating human rights" and protesting the Iraq War.To say the tenor has changed in the chorus of voices speaking about the presidency in our schools is as understated as an Obama cabinet nominee's taxable income.
For all the arrogance I ascribe to The ONE, it does seem he is taking to heart some of the words written by these kids. Before you read the excerpted letters, keep in mind how much influence your child's teachers have on them and their opinions regarding everything from sexual mores to the role of big government in their everyday lives.Josef Stalin summed up the opinions of those who seek to indoctrinate: "Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed."
Before you send junior off to the school bus, keep in mind these words: "Our children are our only hope for the future, but we are their only hope for their present and their future."--Zig Ziglar
Dear President Obama,
I know you want to save the earth, but people don't want to clean. My life is to clean up all the world and help you to clean. I always dream of cleaning the world with you. I'll do anything for you because you are the president in this world.
Stephanie Gonzalez, age 7
Los Angeles
Dear Obama family,
When you move into the White House, turn on the heater so it won't be cold. You could also take hot baths in your new antique bathtubs. Or you could make hot tea and coffee. When I moved to a new house, I helped my dad. He took apart a chair and I carried pieces of it. If I were your helper when you move in, I could move everything! Have a nice day being the first family.
Nazrawit Dessie, age 7
Seattle
Dear President Obama,
If I want anybody to be president, it's me. I would clean the streets and give myself more money. I would also give everybody a piece of a Reese's candy. Every homeless guy or girl would get $50 for help and a place to sleep for the winter. My family and other families would get free gas for our cars; single people with no kids would have to pay. The money would come from copying other bills. The $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills would be copied one thousand times.
The paper would not come from trees but from hardened glue. The way to make it is by mixing water and glue together so that it looks like paper. You then put it in a fire, then let it cool in the freezer.
Weslie Jackson, age 12
Chicago
Dear President Obama,
I am 10 years old. I am a nice girl and I like to write. I wish you could be the first president of all the world. Obama, when I went trick-or-treating on Halloween, people were giving me candy and telling me to vote for you. Obama, I think it will be better if you tell the people that sell TVs, and all those things, to sell them for a lower price, because my mom and my dad are not working and not getting a lot of money. I want people that are not in a house and don't work to get something for Christmas. Obama, if I were president, I would change a lot of things in this world.
Paulina Rojas, age 10
Los Angeles
Dear President Obama,
Be a good president. I voted for you because you are nicer than the others. Me and my family think you are more helpful than McCain. Obama, if I were a president, I would copy the same things you are doing, because you are helping people who are from Mexico. Good luck, President Obama, on being a president. I am happy you are the new president. Obama, my sister is intelligent and so am I. I like to play my Nintendo DS. We are working hard for you. You are more intelligent than the others.
Sincerely,
Citlali Mora, age 9
Los Angeles
Dear Barack Obama,
I have a great idea for you: you should set up a special phone, a special place just for kids to call the president if they find things that are dangerous and can affect people, like someone smoking. This would be a special place for kids to talk to Barack Obama and let him know what's going on.
Another important thing that I want to talk to you about is cars and buses. There is a bus called the Galactic Wizard which runs on biofuel or vegetable oil. I think, instead of polluting the environment, scientists should work on those buses. You should make it so that everyone turns off any light whenever they are not in the room—that way we can save the environment and also pay less on our electricity. We can't just use up the environment until we have nothing, or we will starve to death. Nobody wants that, do they? I want to tell you, Barack Obama, if one day I could travel around the world and help people, I would definitely do it.
Dhamaril Nunez, age 9
Boston
Dear Barack Obama,
Congrats on becoming the president of the United States and slaughtering John McCain. I think that, unlike W., you should dodge other countries and not shoes. You should not be so quick to go to war and negotiate with terrorists. I like what you said about bringing the troops home from Iraq.
If you like my letter, know that it's from
D'andre "the King" Legrand, age 12
Brooklyn
Dear President Obama,
I want to tell you hi. Do you work with Santa Claus? Can I meet you in your house? Can I say bye to you after I meet you? And then can I meet you again? And then again after that?
Sergio Magana, age 5
San Francisco
"If I were president, I would help all nations, even Hawaii."
— Chad Timsing, age 9, Los Angeles
"I really hope you put America back together. No pressure though."
— Sheenie Shannon Yip, age 13, Seattle
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