Oh, it sounds like they're trying pretty hard to do something.
Not something reasonable, of course, but something.
Note also that the guy objecting to this (and providing an alternative location for kids who want to see Obama's speech) is a Baptist pastor.
Apparently 50 people showed up at a school board meeting near me to protest one school's refusal to show the Obama speech. I was pretty heartened by that, though still somewhat surprised that it happened in a metro-area (as opposed to exurban/rural) district.
A black Baptist pastor. Note that race matters for any of this.
I did really like Amanda Marcotte's post, the best argument I've seen for why the very normalcy and even clichéd aspects of Obama's speech were what frightened people.
If you're teaching your child that the president is illegitimate, crazy, and immoral, and then your child hears a banal speech from a guy in a business suit about the importance of staying in school, that might introduce some cognitive dissonance.
This stinks.
Plus, Bush is not the president.
Thanks for the timely reminder to be thankful that my state is merely inept.
If you're teaching your child that the president is illegitimate, crazy, and immoral, and then your child hears a banal speech from a guy in a business suit about the importance of staying in school, that might introduce some cognitive dissonance.
I have read similar things often, yet people seem to suffer very little in the way of cognitive dissonance, if the conformity that one observes is anything to go by.
OT:
The cover of "Girl from the North Country" by Lions, from Sons of Anarchy, is on iTunes. I like it quite a bit, for reasons that elude me.
The fact that conservatives are able to present Obama as illegitimate, crazy, and immoral at all given his public persona and how familiar people are with it at this point speaks volumes about their ability to overcome cognitive dissonance (among other things). Leaving aside the spectacularly insane illegitimacy stuff, Obama comes across as quite sober, serious, intelligent, and upstanding. There's no shortage of craziness and immorality among politicians, of course (this guy, for example), but fitting Obama into that mold takes some impressive cognitive willpower. Which suggests, of course, that most of this isn't really about Obama himself at all, but more about what he represents to the right.
I have read similar things often, yet people seem to suffer very little in the way of cognitive dissonance, if the conformity that one observes is anything to go by.
I meant that the children would feel the cognitive dissonance, not their parents. I agree that the parents rarely seem to.
Alfred Lubrano's book on working-class kids who got to college (he calls them "straddlers," but the title is escaping me at present) is compassionate in describing how a milder version of this phenomenon happens with some first-generation college students. Some parents may want their children to go to college so they don't have to do manual labor. But then the child goes to school and gets introduced to all of these liberal ideas and new vocabulary, and all of a sudden they have an entire lens for viewing the world that may be in severe conflict with their parents' worldview.
In Lubrano's telling, the students end up feeling like they have a foot in both worlds (i.e., straddling) because they're educated beyond the point that their family and childhood friends feel wholly comfortable talking to them, and yet often find themselves not feeling at home in the white-collar worlds that they've been educated for.
Parents aren't always wrong when they fear that exposing their child to a different value system will lead to that child adopting those values. Scared racist people who don't want their children to think of a black president as normal are right to fear having a presidential speech televised in schools, because it's going to be one of the best wordless arguments for normalcy you can imagine.
I'm surprised any Republicans showed up to Barry O.'s speech tonight. For heaven's sake, they might've been accidentally indoctrinated!
That one guy did his best to counter the lies.
This guy. But then they ended up making him apologize.
(In case you're wondering, no, I don't get all my news from TPM. I get half there, and the other half from Yglesias.)
If you don't know about today's deliciously sordid sex scandal, you really ought to click through the link in 12. Of course, it'll be totally overshadowed by the health care reform speech. Thanks a lot, Mr. President. Way to ruin the fun.
And now I see that everyone's arguing over Wilson in the other thread. I think I'll stick with this one.
Conflict avoidance. How long have you been in grad school? Like, two days?
I wonder if that resignation will inch the California legislature closer to a better budget vote in the future. Probably not.
How long have you been in grad school? Like, two days?
About a week.
OT: So, Hermione goes to my school now. That's weird. I can only imagine the kind of annoying douchebaggery she's going to be subjected to.
Probably not.
Given that he's from Orange County, yeah, probably not.
I can only imagine the kind of annoying douchebaggery she's going to be subjected to.
If I recall the previous discussion, the Eurotrash kind.
I'm really pleased with all the punctuational nomenclature we've got going on here.
Is Nixon spinning in his grave? Discuss.
OT: So, Hermione goes to my school now. That's weird. I can only imagine the kind of annoying douchebaggery she's going to be subjected to.
It must be awkward, going to college and knowing everyone has already seen your genitals.
I would think it would, contrariwise, diffuse a lot of awkwardness.
Wait, everyone has seen her genitals?
I was unaware of that. She is almost always beautifully dressed, however, and I envy her closet.
There are some paparazzi photographs of her in unfortunate moments.
I, personally, have not seen her genitals.
I, personally, have not seen her genitals.
...yet.
I suppose 33 shouldn't be a question, since I haven't seen her genitals. So clearly, not everyone has seen her genitals.
So clearly, not everyone has seen her genitals.
Ah, but in context "everyone" clearly meant "everyone at Brown."
Interesting that that's the first thing that came to essear's mind.
The "new mouseover!" thing is kind of old, but I really want 43 to be the new mouseover.
It can also be interpreted as obliquely referring to an old thread!
(Kind of a strained interpretation, admittedly.)
I had to stop reading the gossip blogs because of all the damn up the skirt shots. It made me feel gross by association (even though I know that some celebrities deliberately do such things).
It's never too late to perv on Hermione. That's what we're learning.
I had to stop reading the gossip blogs because of all the damn up the skirt shots. It made me feel gross by association
They are disturbing. And I find it a little surprising that there's enough of a market for that sort of thing to make it worth the paparazzi's while.
52: And I find it a little surprising that there's enough of a market for that sort of thing to make it worth the paparazzi's while.
You sadly underestimate the public's love of the vulgar and the titillating. Those shots are worth large sums of money, along with first pictures of celebabies and dead bodies of the rich and famous. It's a Jerry Springer culture, with a dollop of the National Enquirer.
"Genitals" may be a stretch.
They're supposed to stretch. Anyhow, it was just pubic hair.
That one guy did his best to counter the lies.
I suppose Wilson should be commended for not leaping to the floor and trying to beat the President. South Carolina politicians are crazy like that.
It must be awkward, going to college and knowing everyone has already seen your genitals
Shouldn't apo have a response to this?
Bush is a horrible person and all, but it would be an interesting experience to see an ex-president in the flesh. I certainly would have liked to see Nixon when I was in grade school.
Obama loves the bipartisanship too much. I would prefer that he actively work to get the liberal agenda enacted so that the Arlington Independent School District would have a point.
At first I thought 31 was misremembering stories about Equus. Hermione isn't the only actor in Harry Potter who will have a hard time leading a normal life henceforth.
30: Why in the world would he be? That phrase is generally used to indicate that a person would be disappointed by those carrying on his legacy, but what reason does Nixon have to be disappointed by Republicans? (Incompetence, perhaps. Fair enough, but he obviously screwed up plenty too.) It's his party and it has been ever since.
That phrase is generally used to indicate that a person would be disappointed by those carrying on his legacy, but what reason does Nixon have to be disappointed by Republicans?
I was thinking he might be disappointed with the particular Republican (who shares his hometown) in question. For the "getting caught" part, if nothing else, although he would probably have other reasons. Wasn't Nixon a bit of a prude?
It must be awkward, going to college and knowing everyone has already seen your genitals
But what a marvelous ice-breaker at those boring freshman mixers!
62: Don't joke -- the kid on the cover of Nevermind now picks up women by asking them if they'd like to see his penis . . . again.
61: Ah, that guy who talked dirty about his mistress on tape was from Nixon's hometown? I never knew. And yeah, I guess you might be right. I didn't know Nixon was particularly prudish, but it's plausible.
63: Interestingly enough, Wikipedia doesn't confirm or deny.
I'm 27, so I was too young to be paying much attention to Nirvana when they were new. I mean, sure, I know who they are and I think I might even have Nevermind, but my first exposure to the band was by reputation and pop culture references rather than music itself or a music video. So reading the article about that album, I find myself a little respectful towards or impressed by them or whatever. For example:
The album's tentative title Sheep was something Cobain created as an inside joke towards the people he expected to buy the record. He wrote a fake ad for Sheep in his journal that read "Because you want to not; because everyone else is." Novoselic said the inspiration for the title was the band's cynicism about the public's reaction to Operation Desert Storm. As recording sessions for the album were completed, Cobain grew tired of the title and suggested to Novoselic that the new album be named Nevermind. Cobain liked the title because it was a metaphor for his attitude on life, and because it was grammatically incorrect.
The Nevermind album cover shows a baby swimming toward a US dollar bill on a fishhook... there was some concern because Elden's penis was visible in the image. Geffen prepared an alternate cover without the penis, as they were afraid that it would offend people, but relented when Cobain made it clear that the only compromise he would accept was a sticker covering the penis that would say, "If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile."
64. I believe retired Presidents get to use the title for life, like Colonels and Generals. (Stephen Jay Gould had a story where Jimmy Carter decided to phone him for some reason in about 1990, and the aide on the line was all "The President will speak to you now", and Gould was thinking, "Who is this guy?"
64, 67: Governors too depending on circumstances. Howard Dean was introduced as "Governor Dean" now and then while at the DNC.
I don't know how widespread this is, but a tradition exists that holders of certain offices and titles are entitled to them for life. FBOFW, it's not just Bush-worship.
65: Ah, that guy who talked dirty about his mistress on tape was from Nixon's hometown?
Although it is hardly even the "same town" for all practical purposes. Nixon was raised there when it was a dusty agricultural outpost of less than 1,000 residents. Today it is a suburban/exurban community of 70,000, and among the most affluent in Orange County.
