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Obama Speech Didn't Turn My Kids Into Commies

School budget cuts more of a worry than socialist indoctrination

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 9, 2009 1:22 AM CDT

(Newser) – Despite the worst fears of some right-wingers, President Obama's back-to-school speech yesterday didn't turn Mary Elizabeth Williams' two daughters into "commie zombies," she writes in Salon. Her 5-year-old decided the speech was boring and left the room in a huff, while the 9-year-old decided to "work extra hard now because the president said it’s good to do that, and I trust him," she quotes her daughter as saying.

The girls are starting a fresh school year today at a much-loved New York public school ravaged by funding cuts, and have been asked to help provide supplies as basic as mops and soap, Williams notes. With that in mind, Obama's promise that he's "working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn" struck a much greater chord than any fears of "leftist indoctrination," she adds.

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Eighth-graders Elysa Moore and Xander Noe watch President Barack Obama's live speech to the nation's schoolchildren yesterday at Turkey Foot Middle School in Edgewood, Ky. (AP Photo/The Enquirer, Carrie Cochran)

Savannah Wright, left, and Marcus Durnell watch President Barack Obama's live speech to the nation's schoolchildren yesterday in Kentucky. (AP Photo/The Enquirer, Carrie Cochran)

Third-graders watch the education speech broadcast given by President Barack Obama, at Sequoia Elementary School in Sacramento, Calif., yesterday. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

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In my home, the most stinging criticism of the speech came from my younger child, who lasted 10 minutes before pronouncing it “boring,” grabbing her Hannah Montana wig and leaving the room in a huff. - Mary Elizabeth Williams

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Obama Speech Didn't Turn My Kids Into Commies