And I quote:
Every so often, throughout our history, a generation of Americans bears the responsibility of seeing this country through difficult times and protecting the dream of its founding for posterity. This is a responsibility that has fallen to our generation. Meeting it will require steering our nation's economy through a crisis unlike any we have seen in our time. In the short-term, that means jumpstarting job creation, re-starting lending, and restoring confidence in our markets and our financial system. But it also means taking steps that not only advance our recovery, but lay the foundation for lasting, shared prosperity.
When you say that this is a responsibility that has fallen to our\generation, wouldn't it be more accurate to say the next eight generations to come? I mean, let's be honest. Your generation isn't making the tough choices and sacrifices you talked about at the inauguration. Your creating more debt and spending money that you your generation won't be around to payback.
What about “restoring confidence in our markets and financial system?" You might be the best in town at reading off of a teleprompter (a career on SNL in your future?) but, restoring confidence hasn’t been your strong suit. Every time you talk, the markets tank. It’s not how you’re saying it; it’s what you’re saying.
And, for further clarification, when you are talking about being able to handle more than one challenge at a time, I think you’re a little confused. You said, “Likewise, President Roosevelt didn’t have the luxury of choosing between ending a depression and fighting a war.” Actually, he was given the gift of a war that helped us out of the Great Depression, which enabled him to claim credit for the recovery for a depression he had actually prolonged and exasperated.
You concluded:
Of course, no matter how innovative our schools or how effective our teachers, America cannot succeed unless our students take responsibility for their own education…. And, to any student who’s watching, I say this: don’t even think about dropping out of school.
Wait, we have effective teachers? Sorry, sidetrack. How do you expect students to take responsibility in an age of irresponsibility? An age in which teachers won’t take responsibility for their teaching, parents won’t take responsibility for their parenting, and politicians won’t take responsibility for their policies that have helped us into the current mess.
Don’t worry, Dad. No one is thinking about dropping out of school. We know, we know. It is our job as patriots to get an education, so that we can enter the workforce, be productive, and make a bunch of money so that you can tax the hell out of it, villainize us for being “rich” and support the failed policies of socialism and keynesian economics that you seem bent on pushing!
When you say "our generation," is this who you're talking about?
Not to be too critical, but public school teachers are subjected to so many differing outside forces that it's difficult to hold them to be individually responsible for much of anything beyond their own individual actions.
ReplyDeleteYou're quite right in your analysis of Obama's speeches. It is amusing how Obama preaches responsibilty while he proposes various types of legislation that takes reponsibilty away from people and lays it at the foot of the federal government. Universal health care, green energy, etc. I guess the idea is for us citizens to not worry about it and just pay, through the nose, for it for generations.
Anyway, on that happy note, welcome to blogging. Glad you're here. We need more reasonable voices and opinions on the Net. And thanks for the link on your Blog List.