Back-to-School Speech Anger Rooted in Race

School budget cuts more of a worry than socialist indoctrination

(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. More»

(NEWSER) - The eagerly anticipated speech President Obama will deliver to the nation's schoolchildren tomorrow contains none of the socialist indoctrination conservatives had apparently feared, Politico reports. Rather, an advance text indicates, he urges kids to work hard, not expect to get something for nothing, and "wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well" to fight the spread of swine flu. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama drew on his own childhood today to encourage students to stick with school to discover their passions and talents, a message nearly overshadowed in advance by criticism from conservatives who feared a socialist agenda. Some of the furor had died down before the noon address—the Florida GOP chief who started much of the "socialist" criticism deemed it "a good speech" after reading the prepared text, and Newt Gingrich and Laura Bush also voiced support. More»

Obama press secretary also hints at possible racially-driven censorship

(NEWSER) - Robert Gibbs fired back today at critics of President Obama's planned address to school children, calling it "a little bit of the silly season," the Hill reports. Noting that that Ronald Reagan and the elder President Bush both made school addresses, he painted Obama's critics as censors, making a reference to school districts that "won't even let" students "read Huckleberry Finn." More»

Republicans denounce speech as 'socialist' indoctrination

(NEWSER) - Conservative critics are blasting President Obama’s plan to give a speech on education in Virginia next week as a ploy to brainwash the nation’s children, the Washington Post reports. The address, which the White House is encouraging educators and students to watch, is part of a push to “spread President Obama's socialist ideology," says the Florida Republican Party chair. More»