IF WE’RE LOOKING FOR EXAMPLES OF ‘INDOCTRINATION’…. So, President Obama wants to encourage kids to do well in school. The right is throwing a fit, accusing the White House of trying to “indoctrinate” America’s children. Fox News has even begun promoting the idea of having parents keep children home from school so they won’t be able to hear the president’s pro-education message.
The attacks are even more insane than usual, but it’s also fun to make note of some history.
ABC’s Jake Tapper noted today, for example, that in 1988, then-President Reagan spoke to students via C-SPAN telecast. During Q&A, Reagan “talked about opposition to gun control and other issues.” Does this count as “indoctrination,” too?
Steve M. has an even more recent example.
And do you know what the administration is calling the “community service” organization the president wants kids to join? The “USA Freedom Corps”! That’s right — “Corps”! It’s a civilian fascist army! You don’t believe me? It’s right there on the section of the White House Web site specifically dedicated to children!
No, wait — it’s on the archived Bush administration White House site for children.
It was Bush, so there was no indoctrination going on there, no sirree. Nor was there any indoctrination going when — at a time when the White House was trying to brand Bush’s foreign policy with the name “Freedom Agenda” — the White House kids’ site offered a “freedom timeline” that attempted to link the “American Response to Terrorism” to stories about U.S. history touchstones such as the Underground Railroad, the Statue of Liberty, the March of Dimes, and the Berlin Airlift.
The Bush gang’s supplemental educational materials encouraged teachers to tell kids how those historical touchstones “relate to today’s efforts to preserve freedom.” They also encouraged classes to “explore the biographies” of Bush and Cheney.
None of this generated criticism, and because Bush was a Republican, this doesn’t count as an effort to “indoctrinate” children. But if President Obama wants to deliver a stay-in-school message, it’s an outrageous and unconscionable abuse.
These people are crazy.
Of course, it doesn’t have to make sense; it just has to fit into the conservative scorched-earth strategy.
