Politics USA: Education: Prez's propaganda TVcast to nation's kids continues to roil parents and media

A rush transcript from Fox's news program Special Report begins with a brief intro remark from the panel's moderator, Bret Baier, live Sept3,2k9:

Fox's news-show 'Special Report' Panel on White House's Controversial Lesson Plan [for School Kids] (Sept4,2k9)

Baier: The Department of Education did adjust the lesson plan that was accompanying the president's speech Tuesday to the nation's schoolchildren. They took out the part where the kids were supposed to write essays about how they can help President Obama.

So what about this? Let's bring in our panel: Steve Hayes, senior writer (The Weekly Standard); Mara Liasson (National Public Radio), and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer. ...

MARA LIASSON, National Political Correspondent, National Public Radio: I think they did the right thing by taking that sentence out. There is nothing wrong with the president giving a speech on back-to-school day, inspiring students and telling them to work hard and achieve their goals.

But there is something wrong about telling students that they should write essays about how they can help the president of the United States. That's just wrong, and it was some boneheaded bureaucrat in the Department of Education cooked that up and they were right to take it down.

BAIER: But to see the backsplash, if you will, from all these folks, if you will, saying how wrong it is to raise the question that the president would try to indoctrinate students to his political agenda, and all this talk.

You know, you see the left talkers out there saying how wrong it was to bring this up. Steve, the administration said, obviously we were wrong to put this in there in the first place.

STEVE HAYES, Senior Writer, The Weekly Standard: I think this is a case — look, I'm like Mara. I'm not particularly troubled at the idea that President Obama would give a speech to the nation's schoolchildren.

I don't agree with him on a lot. That's clear. I think he is a good role model. We could do a lot worse than have our kids look up to someone like President Obama.

That said, there is something creepy about how the Department of Education handled this. It wasn't just that question about how can you help the president and what has he inspired you to do? And their revision of that question is not what has he inspired you to do? It is has he inspired you to do anything? It is sort of a silly revision.

So you can see, given the amount of politicization I think we have seen from this administration broadly, you can see why people's concerns have been raised. But I do think some of the conservative talkers on this have gone overboard, making accusations that I think aren't supportable.

Obama's Department of Education is steering him into a stalinesque cult of personality (but in this case tailored to the youngest in an AmericanDisneyland-style ... you know the stalinesque background to Disneyland and Martel-micry consumerism)... But, yes, "stalinesque" if we extrapolate from the usual adult-focussed targets of such manipulation to the manipulation of the actual children by Obamystic Dept of Ed 2k9, teachers and school admins ready to play the game on their victims.

The Prez needs a good stiff lesson in sphere sovereignty within the American representative democracy (republic), applied by another kind of panel, of strong board. Spare the board, and spoil the Prez.

-- Politicarp