I gotta say, Trooper, Arne was a harder call on the obvious. We did a lot of posts on the Annenberg Challenge, and the Obama-Ayers relationships a year ago. Steve Diamond was on the forefront there, as opposed to other more prominent journalists who seized the public credit for his stellar research.

Duncan was the aftermath of the Chicago school system after the Annenberg Challenge obvious failures, despite all the money spent. The thing is, despite his close relationship with his precedessors, Arne ended up with a relatively good reputation post-Annenberg locally. He actually rejected some of the Annenberg principles in the public school system… giving him some (very little) due credit.

So while I agree he’s cut from the same cloth in “social justice” curriculum and advancing political agendas via the public education system – just as Ayers and Obama believe – he was always a more elusive target to lend proof to these beliefs. I suspect that he’ll be showing his colors (as he’s doing with the suggested student exercises post-Obama lecture) now that he has a larger forum and more scrutiny. So right now, feeding him the rope is the MO we are forced to accept.

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MataHarley, Arne Duncan is Bill Ayres without Weather Underground ties. Both are folks that should never be in Government or positions to piss away Tax Dollars on Social Experiments that feed their vanity and benefit no one.

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Update to my comment above about Secy Arne Duncan’s backtracking on the “help your President” student exercise.
From AP, as republished on BreitBart:

[Education Secretary Arne] Duncan’s department has also taken heat for proposed lesson plans distributed to accompany the speech.

On Sunday, the secretary acknowledged that a section about writing to the president on how students can help him meet education goals was poorly worded. It has been changed.

“We just clarified that to say write a letter about your own goals and what you’re going to do to achieve those goals,” Duncan said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Other than that, I’d say that while his speech is not what I would call “inspiring”, as cbk believes, the suggested student exercise curriculum was necessary. Then the debate becomes whether this is a POTUS, pressuring school kids to per perform, or “inspiring” them to greater achievement.

On the latter, perhaps they should also be prepped that his is an administration that will be guaranteeing their “achievement” will only be rewarded in personal satisfaction… certainly not with evil capitalistic rewards.

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cbk, I understand what you are saying. So let me catch you up on putting two and two together, and the latest events backtracking the offensive suggestions by the DOE.

The hubbub came from the below document, issued from the US Dept of Education as suggested student exercises for the POTUS speech.

Please note that the student suggested exercise in question is item #2 in the last section, “extension of the speech”, where it suggests students:

Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the President. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.

WTF? “help the President”? I thought this speech was all about their staying in school, and setting goals for success for themselves… not “helping the President”.

I’ve read Obama’s prepared remarks on the WH site. For the most part, I don’t find any of it offensive save his vain “Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn.” Strikes me as rather pompous and filled with self-import since school budgets precede “the won” by decades if not centuries. But then his view of himself, as he relates to others, comes as no surprise. He is a man who wants to make the world feel that only Obama and his concept of governing is the answer to our woes.

Now perhaps there is a serious disconnect between Obama’s speech, and the Dept of Education’s edict of suggested studies around that speech. But there is no doubt that the exercise to write letters to “help the President”, collected and students to be “held accountable” for that promise to “help the President” is way over the line.

And apparently, after this was brought to the attention of the WH, they have decided to revise their suggested lesson plans by changing that study exercise to read “…”write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.” This is far more appropriate, and I have no problems with that alteration.

Now the question you should be asking yourself is, would that change have been made if the public had not got up in arms about the “helping your President” bit? I, personally, think Obama’s educational officials would have proceeded were not those, who saw this for what it was, becaming very vocal.

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@cbk:

making judgements and spreading lies based on other people’s lies

What lies are being told?

What lies are being spread?

stop believing the terror mongers who are just trying to make a name for themselves.

Who would those people be?

Start thinking for yourself – read the speeches, read the laws, read the bills on the Hill, make decisions based on that

That’s what we’ve been doing from the beginning.

What was your point again?

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I read the President’s speech and I find it inspiring. I plan on having my child read it and watch the video. I am a conservative, but people are making judgements and spreading lies based on other people’s lies. You blame the press, the liberals, the Democrats for doing the same thing. Its about time that the “conservative right wing” stop believing the terror mongers who are just trying to make a name for themselves. They are no better than the “liberals” that you so despise. Start thinking for yourself – read the speeches, read the laws, read the bills on the Hill, make decisions based on that instead of some lemmer’s blog that is crying the sky is falling just because he heard someone else cry that. Think, people!!!

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@james manning: Sorry to hear your sad news James. I have posted an update on the subject of Obama’s political indoctrination. Come on back when are ready.

I’d like to know how you address the black school teacher who rejects the Dems politicization of education.

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You know what. While I’m sitting writing this I just got an email stating that the co-host of my sports talk show has passed. I was hoping it was a joke but it doesn’t look like it is. So I’m done with this folks. Enjoy your weekend.

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@james manning:

So you’re saying that with such an important document, none of you took the time to save the original? Not even a screen shot?

Well, there you go demonstrating those stellar reading comprehension skills again. [Snicker]

Perhaps you can read back through my comments, heck read back through all of the comments on this thread, and point out for me, if you can, where anyone said that they did not save or take a screen shot of the original.

Do that for me please.

I can hardly wait.

I’m sure there is one out there but this isn’t my issue so don’t expect me to launch into a world wide search for something I think is silly to begin with.

As I said in #58, you’re obviously quite comfortable with your ignorance and only you can help yourself with that.

Your lack of knowledge does not constitute a need for me to educate you.

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@james manning:

How is Obama saying “I won” any different than Bush saying “I’m the Decider”?

Bush made that comment in the context of a personnel decision, not legislative debate.

Apples. Oranges.

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