Sept. 8: Obama's Speech To Students Is Logical; Criticism Is Not

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Here's a link to what President Barack Obama will tell schoolchildren today:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

For those who have listened to Obama since he started his presidential campaign in 2007, it's a logical follow-up to what he's told parents about their responsibility towards their children. Obama knows a few things about personal responsibility and about learning from family members and teachers.

It's also a logical follow-up to what previous presidents, including Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, have done in speaking to students.

Then there is the illogical: The mouth-foamers - including Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer and Miami-Dade School Board Member Marta Perez - who opposed Obama giving the speech for assorted reasons, each more ludicrous than the last.

Greer, one of the people who started the criticism, is now giving a back-of-the-hand suggestion that he'll let his kids watch the speech. Awwww.

Perez' comparison of the speech to something Fidel Castro might do in Cuba was especially idiotic. Perez, a one-time schoolteacher who was a long-time voice of reason and reform when corruption pervaded the Dade school district, knows better.

Former First Lady Laura Bush, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) are to be applauded for speaking out in Obama's defense. They get an A.

So does Obama. The critics, including Greer and Perez, get an F - and need to go sit in a corner someplace.