There were many who had reason to be outraged by
President Obama’s State of the Union address: the military whose funding has
been cut, and who have been besmirched as emotionally
unstable while they are forced to be sitting ducks in battle and
then face the potentiality that the administration will abandon
what others had died for, like Fallujah; the millions in the middle class whose
health insurance has been dropped or whose premiums have doubled and who are
losing jobs to illegal aliens and are insulted by the idea that a job that pays
$10.10 is something to aspire to.
But I want to focus on Obama’s continued efforts to
re-educate America, to re-educate her people so that they become shriveling
dependents who long for a leader who will unilaterally make decisions for the
masses.
Only such a people could believe Obama’s claim of having
“a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the
middle class and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class.”
Only a well-educated, independent-thinking populace could
feel the chill of words regarding “congressional action.” Conflating America
with himself, Obama said, “America does not stand still, and neither will I. So
wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand
opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Once again, there was discussion of government
job-training programs. (Has anyone actually gotten a job as a result?) To
prepare “tomorrow’s workforce” (and that’s all it is: a workforce, not an
educated citizenry), we must guarantee “every child access to a world-class
education.”
Translation: indoctrination into world citizenship.
Obama referred to one “Estiven Rodriguez,” who “couldn’t
speak a word of English when he moved to New York City at age nine.” Apparently,
Rodriguez “led a march of his classmates – through a crowd of cheering parents
and neighbors – from their high school to the post office, where they mailed
off their college applications. And this son of a factory worker just found out
he’s going to college this fall.” Obama referred to the army of tutors and
teachers that helped him, but immigrants have done far more with only night
classes, and often working two or three jobs.
Then, said Obama, “Five years ago, we set out to change
the odds for all our kids. We worked with lenders to reform student loans, and
today, more young people are earning college degrees than ever before.”
There is a reason why this government wants to monopolize
student loans to produce more “peace and environmental justice studies”
graduates: Democrat voters.
Obama invoked the misleadingly named “Race to the Top”
contest (really a race for stimulus funds attached to federal education
standards called Common Core). He claimed, it “has helped states raise
expectations and performance. Teachers and principals in schools from Tennessee
to Washington, D.C. are making big strides in preparing students with skills
for the new economy – problem solving, critical thinking, science, technology,
engineering, and math. Some of this change is hard. It requires everything from
more challenging curriculums and more demanding parents to better support for
teachers and new ways to measure how well our kids think, not how well they can
fill in a bubble on a test. But it’s worth it – and it’s working.”
Notice how he didn’t reference Common Core, now dubbed
Obamacore. After test scores plunged and mass confusion ensued, even the New York NEA
teachers union came around to opposing Common Core. “Problem solving, critical
thinking” are hallmarks of progressive
educators, like Linda Darling-Hammond, close pal of Bill Ayers, who
has been in charge of designing one of the two Common Core national tests. And what, exactly, is wrong
with filling in a bubble? It means the test-taker has to know something
and the grader can’t give extra points for correct attitudes.
What, also, is the “new economy”? Did we not need
science, technology, engineering, and math in the old, twentieth-century
economy?
By stating “It requires more challenging curriculums,”
Obama admitted what Common Core proponents deny: it does change the curriculum.
These are curriculums that eliminate most history, except that which advances
the U.S. as racist,
sexist, homophobic, imperialistic, etc.
The reference to “New ways to measure how well our kids
think” is not reassuring when the Department of Education promotes
the idea that “educational strengths” include “social competence” and “ethnic
awareness.”
The new standards do not involve knowing about the
country’s founding or the Constitution. Such students might understand this
pre-speech message from Jon Carson of Organizing for Action:
“Friend –
“Tonight, President Obama made sure everyone knows:
“He’s not waiting for Congress. He’s taking action now,
and he’s going to explore every method in his power to restore real opportunity
for all Americans.”
Then he asks for a $5 donation.
But kindergarten is not early enough. Said Obama, “The
problem is we’re still not reaching enough kids, and we’re not reaching them in
time. That has to change.”
He cited “research” to justify making “high-quality pre-K
available to every four year-old”: “Research shows that one of the best investments
we can make in a child’s life is high-quality early education.” Funny, how they
always say “research,” but not which research or what the research
actually says about government-funded
preschool.
Nonetheless, “As a parent as well as a President, I
repeat that request tonight.”
What if Congress doesn’t snap to and fulfill his
“request”? Well, Obama has friends: “And as Congress decides what it’s going to
do, I’m going to pull together a coalition of elected officials, business
leaders, and philanthropists willing to help more kids access the high-quality
pre-K they need.”
Such “coalitions” must ensure that Obama fulfills his
promises: “Last year, I also pledged to connect 99 percent of our students to
high-speed broadband over the next four years. Tonight, I can announce that
with the support of the FCC and companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint, and
Verizon, we’ve got a down payment to start connecting more than 15,000 schools
and twenty million students over the next two years, without adding a dime to
the deficit.”
Of course, Microsoft is in the “coalition” of “business
leaders and philanthropists.” The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the
biggest funder for Common Core; all tests must be taken online. The other
companies surely appreciate the business, too.
Obama’s Department of Education is redesigning high
schools: “We’re working to redesign high schools and partner them with colleges
and employers that offer the real-world education and hands-on training that
can lead directly to a job and career.” It seems all bases for government
control are being covered. Oh, and “real-world education”? It means being trained
for a job—only. (See my review
of Terrence O. Moore’s book The Story-Killers.)
The feds have not only taken over financing, but they now
want to rate colleges. But this is how Obama put it: “We’re shaking up
our system of higher education to give parents more information, and colleges
more incentives to offer better value, so that no middle-class kid is priced
out of a college education.”
The Education Department is appealing to the youth vote
by holding “summits,” inviting college “student experts”
to weigh in on college “accessibility” and “affordability.” The youth experts
have spoken and Obama heard: “We’re offering millions the opportunity to cap
their monthly student loan payments to ten percent of their income, and I want
to work with Congress to see how we can help even more Americans who feel
trapped by student loan debt.”
The scary part came when he used himself and Michelle as
examples: “The bottom line is, Michelle and I want every child to have the same
chance this country gave us. But we know our opportunity agenda won’t be
complete – and too many young people entering the workforce today will see the
American Dream as an empty promise – unless we do more to make sure our economy
honors the dignity of work, and hard work pays off for every single American.”
Oh, you mean college students should write theses like Michelle
Obama’s? Can we all write “Princeton Educated Blacks and the Black Community”
and investigate how “attending Princeton will likely lead to my further
integration and/or assimilation into a White cultural and social structure that
will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society”?
Education was bad enough back then. As a result, we have
her in the White House with her Columbia and Harvard educated husband. It can
only get worse when he invokes “widely shared” prosperity, calling on Americans
to “toil” together, and summoning “what is best in us, with our feet planted
firmly in today but our eyes cast towards tomorrow. . . .”
This appeared here and I would like to thank Mary for allwoing me to publish her work. RK
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