Obama in Vegas Yesterday

[Veretax]

Did anyone hear or see the entire text of Obama's speech in vegas yesterday? I happened to catch the tail end on cspan this morning and find myself really confused by what he said and for a moment thought maybe I'd missed something earlier. Specifically:

Did Obama really suggest that the government needed to get parents to turn off the TV, put down the remotes to check their kids homework, get involved with their teachers and schools, and that's what would save America?

Did I mishear? I hope someone on here saw the speech cause I'm rather perplexed at the moment.

[Skin'Em84]

Did anyone here the entire text of Obama's speech in vegas yesterday? I happened to catch the tail end on cspan this morning and find myself really confused by what he said and for a moment thought maybe I'd missed something earlier. Specifically:

Did Obama really suggest that the government needed to get parents to turn off the TV, put down the remotes to check their kids homework, get involved with their teachers and schools, and that's what would save America?

Did I mishear? I hope someone on here saw the speech cause I'm rather perplexed at the moment.

Good, I hope parents do. Too many parents just ignore what their kids do in school.

May be a slight exaggeration that it would save America, but I approve that message.

[Ax]

Yeah, my guess is, more people in Hinton, WV still do this without being told to. Unfortunately, in the big cities, it is exactly the lack of parental involvement, both in school, and in societal interaction skills, that are a big contributor to some of our worst problems.

No problem with that message.

[WVUforREDSKINS]

I can't believe it....

The President told parents to toughen up? He has spoke to kids about studying hard and learning too. What an ass..

[Burgold]

When I was a teacher the degree of parent apathy I discovered was staggering and just really depressed me. So, many parents are not actively engaged in their kids' lives.

And Obama has said this several times in several different ways.

[Veretax]

The question was if anyone heard the speech... because it wasn't just that he said those things, part of what he said made it sound like he would somehow MAKE parents do this, which to me smelt of totalitarianism and a front to freedom. While I agree that too many parents are not engaged. having the government enforcing remove usage? Seriously? And people say conservatives want to be in people's bedrooms.....

The problem is though I only caught the tail end of the speech, so I'm not sure if I heard this correctly, hence why I was asking if anyone else had seen or heard it, and could confirm that he said something like that, or if I merely misheard the very end of his speech.

[RabidFan]

The question was if anyone heard the speech... because it wasn't just that he said those things, part of what he said made it sound like he would somehow MAKE parents do this, which to me smelt of totalitarianism and a front to freedom. While I agree that too many parents are not engaged. having the government enforcing remove usage? Seriously? And people say conservatives want to be in people's bedrooms.....

The problem is though I only caught the tail end of the speech, so I'm not sure if I heard this correctly, hence why I was asking if anyone else had seen or heard it, and could confirm that he said something like that, or if I merely misheard the very end of his speech.

at least you aren't going into to this with a slant on his tone or anything.....sheesh

he's just doing his Joe Clark impersonation sans bat. :pfft:

[Veretax]

at least you aren't going into to this with a slant on his tone or anything.....sheesh

he's just doing his Joe Clark impersonation sans bat. :pfft:

Well it wouldn't be abnormal for a president to call out americans to be more responsible, heck, if that's all he said then I in fact agree with him (shocking as that might sound), but something in his tone made me think there was more to what he was saying almost as if he planned to make parents do this, and that to me seems a bit heavy handed if true, but because I didn't hear all of it, I can't be certain I heard everything in context correctly

[Burgold]

During the campaign, the early part if I remember correctly, he issued a call to arms in the black community saying that the time of blame was over and the time for responsibility and effort was now. Or something like that.

I'm guessing that this was very similar. I think the community organizer in him strongly believes that each parent needs to be an active role model and guide in their child's life and he is an advocate for this. It's the anti-nanny state speech. If anything, this rhetoric is the opposite of totalitarianism. It's declaring that the government is going to do your job for you, but you have a crucial job to do.

It's really the antithesis of the Conservative philosophy which basically says, when things get tough don't sacrifice, but go shopping. (At least that's what we were told in the early 2000's)

[WVUforREDSKINS]

My only feelings on this subeject (seriously) is that America is only as strong as our public schools are.

We have some of the smartest people and more than enough of the dumbest.

[Bang]

Barely a day goes by without someone complaining about the dumbing down of America, and a big part of the answer is most definitely at home.

~Bang

[DCranon21]

Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities' date=' because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.[/font']

[DjTj]

Did I mishear? I hope someone on here saw the speech cause I'm rather perplexed at the moment.

Here is the transcript of that final question:

Q Good morning, Mr. President. My name is Terry Wright (phonetic) -- and I teach math right here at Green Valley High School. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Excellent.

Q And my mom is right behind you in the top row.

THE PRESIDENT: Where is Mom? Mom, raise your hand.

Q Right there.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, hey, Mom. (Laughter.) You're a very young looking mom.

Q Thank you. My question is this -- and I'm speaking on behalf of all of us math teachers up here -- when you were a freshman in high school specifically, did you have math homework every night? And if you did, did you do it? (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, ah. (Laughter.) The answer is yes, and sometimes. (Laughter.) But, first of all, let me thank you for being a math teacher, because we need more math teachers. (Applause.) We need more science teachers. We need more teachers generally who are enthusiastic about their work and their jobs. So thanks to all the teachers here. We love teachers. (Applause.)

All right. Now, we are actually -- unfortunately, our students are falling behind in math and science, internationally. We used to rank at the top, and now we're sort of in the middle of the pack when it comes to math and science performance.

This is why one of the things that I've been emphasizing this year -- and this actually hasn’t been subject to a lot of controversy; this is an area where we've been able to get good cooperation between Democrats and Republicans -- is promoting math and science education, promoting technology education. The more that we are moving our young people into these areas, the better off this economy is going to be, because that means we're producing engineers, we're producing scientists, we're producing computer programmers.

So we want to make sure that we are recruiting more math teachers, we're recruiting more science teachers. We want all outstanding teachers to be getting higher pay. (Applause.) We want to make sure that there's constant professional development when it comes to the teaching profession, so that if you had the best way of teaching math five years ago, it might not be the best way of teaching math five years from now, and so you should be able to go back and constantly sharpen your skills.

To the students I want to say this. We're doing a lot of work on education reform. We are doing a lot to bring in new teachers, to improve classrooms, to make sure that they're all connected to the Internet, to make sure that college is more affordable. (Applause.) But let me just say that it won't make any difference if our students aren’t working a little bit harder. (Applause.)

Now, I'm not saying all of you aren’t working hard. I'm sure many of you feel like you are working very, very hard -- because Malia and Sasha always tell me how hard they're working. (Laughter.) But I really do think that we're going to have to emphasize in the next decade that we're competing around the world, and America will continue to be number one as long as we are just as hungry as other countries.

So if our kids are spending all their time playing video games, and somebody else's kids are getting the math and science skills to invent video games -- (laughter) -- we're not going to be number one. I mean, it's as simple as that.

So the need to turn off the TV, put the video games away, buckle down on your work, making sure that parents are checking their kids' homework and talking to their teachers -- (applause) -- being accountable, being responsible -- that's what's going to make sure that we continue to thrive, we continue to excel into the future.

Thank you, Henderson. I had a great time. Bye-bye.

http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/22616195/detail.html

It sounds like Obama is going to send federal agents to everyone's house, take away their video games, monitor their TV watching, make them read the Koran, and replace their teachers with illegal immigrant homosexual crack addicts. :maniac:

[ThinSkin]

It sounds like Obama is going to send federal agents to everyone's house, take away their video games, monitor their TV watching, make them read the Koran, and replace their teachers with illegal immigrant homosexual crack addicts.

That's what I took away from the speech too.

[twa]

It sounds like Obama is going to send federal agents to everyone's house, take away their video games, monitor their TV watching, make them read the Koran, and replace their teachers with illegal immigrant homosexual crack addicts. :maniac:

It was only a matter of time :point2sky

[Koolblue13]

It sounds like Obama is going to send federal agents to everyone's house, take away their video games, monitor their TV watching, make them read the Koran, and replace their teachers with illegal immigrant homosexual crack addicts. :maniac:

GAY?!? NO freaking way will my guberment force the gay on my kids.

I knew it.

Seriously though, it did sound a little like that, but he has a great point and he is right.

[Burgold]

That's what I took away from the speech too.

It was only a matter of time :point2sky

Just one more reason that there's no right wing Daily Show or Colbert report. I can't believe they took DJ seriously.

Republicans have no sense of humor whatsoever. Maybe it's because they all got such a poor education and are opposed to parent involvement.

[ThinSkin]

Just one more reason that there's no right wing Daily Show or Colbert report. I can't believe they took DJ seriously.

Republicans have no sense of humor whatsoever. Maybe it's because they all got such a poor education and are opposed to parent involvement.

I'll let twa speak for himself, but I was trolling for idiots, and it looks like I.....

[Koolblue13]

Republicans have no sense of humor whatsoever. Maybe it's because they all got such a poor education and are opposed to parent involvement.

Maybe it's because Republicans take parenting seriously and don't find it funny, that the Libs are letting their kids run around naked, long haired, smoking dope and making free love, instead of respecting the sanctity of marriage and family. That's how you catch the gay, ya know.

[Burgold]

I'll let twa speak for himself, but I was trolling for idiots, and it looks like I.....

Someone doesn't understand the meaning of an evil smiley, do they? Cheers.

[WVUforREDSKINS]

ehhh...Burgold is pretty far from an idiot.

Welcome to the tailgate

[ThinSkin]

ehhh...Burgold is pretty far from an idiot.

You know, I didn't think so, but it sounded like he actually thought twa and I were serious. Maybe this little exchange between the three of us, is just Absurdity Gone Wild, and if that's the case, I'm sorry I inferred a derogatory opinion of Burgold.

[Veretax]

First off some of the jokes in this thread were awesome LOL.. I love it anyhow.

My only feelings on this subeject (seriously) is that America is only as strong as our public schools are.

We have some of the smartest people and more than enough of the dumbest.

We poor more poor capita into the schools pretty much every so many years, and get the least bang per buck, If what you say is true, then God Help us.

So if our kids are spending all their time playing video games, and somebody else's kids are getting the math and science skills to invent video games -- (laughter) -- we're not going to be number one. I mean, it's as simple as that.

So the need to turn off the TV, put the video games away, buckle down on your work, making sure that parents are checking their kids' homework and talking to their teachers -- (applause) -- being accountable, being responsible -- that's what's going to make sure that we continue to thrive, we continue to excel into the future.

Thank you, Henderson. I had a great time. Bye-bye.

http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/22616195/detail.html

DJ Thank you for finding that, so I did hear correctly then, there was an implied statement in making parents put down the remote and the games and not the kids. Or at least one could infer that from how he said that. Because ultimately how do you make parents who are irresponsible be more responsible, it certainly does sound like nanny state to me. I mean isn't that what the communists said, they aren't our kids, but wards of the state in effect?

Its a shame, it actually was a good answer up until that point, something that all americans could rally behind, and then he has to parse those words to reveal the Big Government mentality. Sighs...Well at least he didn't have to mispronounce Navy Corpsman this time..

The other thing that concerns me on the surface, is the 'constant professional development', I mean seriously, has remedial math changed that much in the last 50 years? Has Algebra, Geometry or Algebra 2? I mean its not like we are teaching discrete math in High school or anything.

Don't get me wrong I think having a highly trained work force is a good thing, but the reality is that teacher certification programs keep some very qualified candidates who would perhaps consider teaching as a profession, and have a degree or experience actually using and applying what they've learned in a class room setting from even setting a foot forward. Heck, in WV if you don't get so many CEUs to advance every so many years, you lose your ability to teach. Many times it doesn't even matter if the CEUs relate to the fields you teach.

My wife has a degree in education, and she got behind on her CEUs right after our first child was born, and now its an up hill battle to get recertified, and then what just to be a sub? I told her it wasn't worth the expense or hassle for how little she gets paid every day, not for all the worry and cost it would be to have someone stay home with our kids all day. (Even given that the one son could in theory go to public school now, we currently home school)

Still, its frustrating for sure. Should teachers earn more, probably, but I think pay increases should be tied to results, not just the typical hand out of more money just because you've been there so long. Maybe that's just me.

I'm curious what others on this board feel about that issue.

[alexey]

Did Obama really suggest that the government needed to get parents to turn off the TV, put down the remotes to check their kids homework, get involved with their teachers and schools, and that's what would save America?

something in his tone made me think there was more to what he was saying almost as if he planned to make parents do this, and that to me seems a bit heavy handed if true, but because I didn't hear all of it, I can't be certain I heard everything in context correctly

That special sparkle in Obama's eye made you think he's out to getcha. You are a hoot. :ols:

Well maybe I should actually address that, considering that you're serious and all. Can you please provide any example of Obama advocating or trying to implement anything that remotely resembles a nanny state, a totalitarian state, any totalitarian action, any forceful or unconstitutional action of any kind, or anything of that sort? In other words, can you show that your concerns grounded in reality in any way?

[WVUforREDSKINS]

We poor more poor capita into the schools pretty much every so many years, and get the least bang per buck, If what you say is true, then God Help us.

This is hilarious.

As a poker player, I can't figure out if this was a bluff or not. I'm thinking its not.