A great Editorial letter from the AZ Republic. Yeah, I know they're conservative, but on this they got it right.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2009/09/04/20090904fri1-04.htmlConservative commentators suggest Obama wants to indoctrinate our youth. Where was that angst in 1991 when President George H.W. Bush spoke to 4.4 million students under similar circumstances?
One national conservative TV personality calls for kids to skip school the day Obama speaks. Perhaps adults urging that approach might benefit from a little pep talk on hearing all points of view - not just the ones they like.
Some have problems with the materials the U.S. Department of Education provided to schools for use with the speech. An early version called on students to "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president." It has been tempered to suggest students "write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals."
There's nothing wrong with criticizing the president. But when adults in positions of authority lend credence to the idea that children should avoid listening to the duly elected president of the United States, it smacks of partisanship gone corrosive.
There are some things a president - any president - does that transcend politics. Telling schoolkids to work hard is one of them.
Barack Obama - like every president before him - is president to all Americans. That's how our system works.