No Jedi mind tricks?

Well the speech has been given. And so far there has been no 911 calls from middle A-merry-ca that little Johnny is trying to work on his basketball moves. And that little Heather, all of a sudden, has a crush on Bow Wow. Kids weren't walking around the school yards like Zombies chanting "yes we can." In fact, the parents who held their children back from school today for fear of the black man in the White House brain washing their kids, look downright foolish. (Not that it took much to accomplish that feat.)

There were no hidden messages. (Unless it was hidden to black folks, because I didn't see it) No "Jedi mind tricks". No Socialist propaganda. Just a president talking to the nation's children and telling them how to do the right things. There was nothing controversial about it. In fact, you really have to ask yourself why it was so controversial in the first place. Hell even Laura Bush was on board with his O ness on this one. And she was actually a school teacher.

"Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer," ... "And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is."

That seemed to be the theme throughout the entire speech. No politics, no secret indoctrination, just an honest to goodness talk that every parents should be having with their own kids. So protesters like the one who greeted his O ness with a sign that said "Mr. President, stay away from our kids" really needs to get a clue. In fact, I have some news for the wingnut who was holding that sign: I want you to stay the hell away from our kids. And if you have kids of your own, DHS (or whatever they call youth services in your state) should step in right now and take the little "rug rats" right from under you.

So the republic survives. At the end of the day even the wingnuts didn't have much to chirp about. Well, most of them.

This blogger sums up what this might be all about best: (Besides the other obvious reasons, of course.)

" ...the speech comes just as Americans are debating Obama's health-care proposals. Malkin and other conservatives find the timing suspicious.

Presidential speeches to students are nothing new, of course. Ronald Reagan addressed the nation's schoolchildren in 1988. That was an election year. Reagan talked of maintaining traditional moral values, a cornerstone of George Bush Sr.'s presidential campaign.

Try to find a moment in history -- especially recent history -- when Americans aren't involved in some manner of divisive political debate.

Granted, maybe some teachers, being human beings, get carried away with their political views. That happens throughout the political spectrum. It's an indictment of blind partisanship, not liberalism.

Whatever danger it presents pales before the danger of people losing faith in public education because teachers have been reduced to simple-minded stereotypes."

Sadly, that's just the way they want it.