Contact
Subscribe


Personally I'm More of a Taft Scholar

Jun 14, 2010
By .
Politics & Current Events

Today, one site of the blogosphere (a term I use almost exclusively to irritate Patrick) is agitated about something, and the other side is making fun of them for it.

Yes, I know you can say that nearly every day.

Today's issue: schoolkids encouraged, on video, to chant "I am an Obama scholar." The freakout, by Gateway Pundit on the right, has a partial quote:

For I, am an Obama scholar.
An Obama scholar.
And I will strive to be.
Outstanding. Brilliant.
I will achieve. I will be motivated with a positive attitude.

The ridicule, by Media Matters on the left, has the somewhat longer context:

Mountain. Move out of my way.
Mountain. Move out of my way.
Mountain of guns.
Move out of my way.
Mountain of drugs.
Move out of my way.
Mountain of violence.
Move out of my way.
Mountain of ignorance.
Move out of my way.
Because I. Am somebody.
And I can be. And I will be.
Anything. Anything. I want to be.
Doctor. Lawyer. Judge. Journalist.
Writer. Firefighter. Principal.
President. President. President.
Anything. I want to be.
If my mind. Can conceive it.
And my heart. Can believe.
Then I know. I know. I know.
I can achieve it.
For I, am an Obama scholar.
An Obama scholar.
And I will strive to be.
Outstanding. Brilliant.
I will achieve. I will be motivated with a positive attitude.
Mountain. Move out of my way.

I'm somewhere in the middle here.

I've already talked at length about why I find such stuff creepy and distasteful, and why I strongly oppose using children for political theatre. creepy. I understand, and acknowledge, the argument that these children — in a class made up mostly of African-Americans — need a strong role model. I just think that there's a line between acknowledging the success of one man, on the one hand, and making him a saintlike figure, on the other. I also don't care for associating actual achievement with political achievement, but that's just me.

By contrast, some of the reactions to this are just plain nutty. This isn't Obama's own fault. It's the fault of the culture, in which he is but one participant.

Last 5 posts by Ken White

10 Comments
Tags

10 Comments

  1. Patrick  •  Jun 14, 2010 @4:37 pm

    Your affected British spelling of theater bothers me far more than your use of that stupid coined word, which will be obsolete in ten years when the Singularity hits.

  2. Ken  •  Jun 14, 2010 @4:38 pm

    The notion that I can pass off spelling and grammatical errors as affectations pleases me.

  3. LawMonkey  •  Jun 14, 2010 @4:46 pm

    Taft, at least, offers valuable lessons about measuring bathtubs before you get into them.

  4. zarathud  •  Jun 14, 2010 @5:52 pm

    Reagan had the similar adoration in the 80s in my rural public schools. And remember watching the school teacher-astronaut onboad the ill-fated Challenger Space Shuttle? Blame the teachers for trying to use politics to find relevant role models. A dumb move, but understandable.

  5. Rick H.  •  Jun 14, 2010 @7:05 pm

    The selection of a politico for one's childhood role model is an indicator of a future serial killer. It's right up there with pyromania, animal torture and bedwetting.

  6. mojo  •  Jun 15, 2010 @8:19 am

    Take a look at the countries that require school kids to chant praises of the Great Leader, then look and see how many of their own citizens those countries have slaughtered.

    It's not pretty.

  7. gbasden  •  Jun 15, 2010 @9:23 am

    Yes, I'm sure detention camps and mass graves are right around the corner.

  8. CTrees  •  Jun 16, 2010 @3:50 am

    I'm more of an Andrew Jackson scholar.

  9. PatrickKelley  •  Jun 16, 2010 @11:40 am

    It"s not Obama's fault-maybe-but here's the deal. Is he as embarrassed by it as he should be? Cos if he's not, that would speak sufficiently as to his ego, and of the need for a good long needle with which to let the air out of it.

  10. Patriot Henry  •  Jun 17, 2010 @7:36 am

    "Mountain of ignorance.
    Move out of my way."

    So we are now encouraging kids to have mountains move out of their way on their command? Must be that a "shovel ready" "stimulus" program does the dirty work for them?