Any mainstream journalists who pick up and legitimize the right-wing's kids-sing-for-Obama crusade ought to just quit
September 24, 2009 5:49 pm ET by Eric Boehlert
Because it's hopeless for you.
The only, only reason this twisted tale should be touched by the mainstream press is to use it as an example to highlight just how radical and unhinged Obama's critics have become. Otherwise, this idiotic crusade is 100% without news value.
The press must resist giving into it's growing, lazy tradition of pretending every time the right-wing raises a ruckus about some trivial pursuit that that means it's news. It's not. Who cares what's "generating anger from conservatives today"? That's not news.
And BTW, that's certainly not the standard the press used when Bush was president and his ideological opponents attacked him (in a far more sane manner.) In fact, the press din't give a damn what Bush's liberal critics thought from day to day. (i.e. Angry liberals = annoying.) So the press ought to drop the phony double standard that it's adopted under Obama. (i.e. Angry conservatives = important.)
The story about little kids innocently singing a song in praise of the president is, without question, void of news value. So journalists, a tip: Show some class and show some restraint. Don't take the bait this time, because legitimizing this sorry story's going to leave a stench on you, too.
Friggin embarrassing that THIS is the best we got for a left leaning cable channel!
Jesus Camp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxdt_f0hwUg
Also, I would add that it is worthless reporting that anyone of the Republicans that say anything about how hopping mad the Americans will be if we pass health care or limit debate on health care (mainly because the Republicans are stalling legislation)is just repeating the frickin' obvious. But the NY Times feels the need to quote them again and again and again.
If it were praising a Republican president, Fox News would call these kids the most patriotic class EVER.
Da-da-daaaa! Slower than a speeding bullett... Less powerful than a locomotive... able to enter tall buildings using the front door...
It's CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!!
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Sorry, couldn't resist!
Now they are reporting on a video made months ago about a song, which I think sounds fishy, with seemingly sarcastic lyrics with all the right's talking points and the reference of Obama by his full name, not to mention this was previously a Christian song... Did the right manufacture this song, this video, etc. to later make claims about the liberal agenda? Where did this video come from? It looks like it was from one of the organizers...
I don't know, but something doesn't seem right. It is also interesting that again, Andrew Breitbart is involved, posting this video on Big Hollywood at around the same time Fox News did...
I don't recall them as being slogans, but they do closely resemble conservative accusations... "He said we must be fair today Equal work means equal pay", "He said that we must take a stand To make sure everyone gets a chance"...
The fact that nobody knows who the filmmaker or the other person speaking.
This video was posted on youtube by a a person named Alteredbeat, with a profile picture of a graphic of a man shooting another man in the head, with the word "Socialism" beneath... the video was originally posted two weeks ago, along side a tea party video and a video of Mark Levin "exploiting imperfections and Obama's health care speech"...
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The Midnight Review
Mum Is The Word
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2006/04/17/out-of-the-mouths-of-babes/
Also remember Clear Channel's "Our Leader" billboard. That was a completely non-governmental affair that did not involve any whiff of potential authoritarian indoctrination of children, and it was a significant outrage which represented the fascist state of the country at the time.
As for this video, there may or may not be a story. What was the whole context? Was it student-led or teacher-led? What other black leaders got praised or mentioned during the school's Black History Month events? Was it partisan or is there any chance that Clarence Thomas or Michael Steele might have gotten some respect? What kind of discussions took place around the recorded event?
The right wingers who posted the video are not going to tell us the answers to these questions because they want to promote the one interpretation that they find most politically advantageous, but nobody has ruled out the possibility that they might be right. There is plenty of room for them to be wrong, too. Not enough facts are in to know. Given some of the lyrics, it could have been an anti-Obama song written by his detractors.
Real journalists could find the answers, determine what really happened, and then determine whether or not it warrants a story. The problem is that we have so few of them these days, and the mainstream media is guaranteed to build their stories from the Republican Party's press releases.
If there was any political indoctrination, "patriotism" is no more of a defense than it was under Bush. The President is a civilian with a very important job. The dangers of promoting the office to anything more than that, or of forming a cult of personality around one person or one party, especially when the state leads children in the promotion, should be obvious to anyone. We have a President, not a Fearless Leader. I spoke out often against Bush's "Commander in Chief of the American people" nonsense. That idea needs to die with his administration.
Saying these kids were "forced" to perform this song is ridiculous, too. When I was a kid we sang a lot of songs in school for various reasons and nobody had to force us to do it. It wasn't that we loved to sing, we would rather be doing other things, but it got us out of class for a little while. OR it was music class and that meant all we did was sing, anyway.
I can see how someone might be irritated that the lyrics took a religious song and made it political and added the president's name to it in place of Jesus, but even that is not news worthy.
Also, comparing it to the things that the media has been comparing it to doesn't make sense. The kids in those examples the media gives WERE forced to sing songs in praise of their country's leader, because I'm pretty sure the leaders insisted that kids in schools do that. Leaders that do that are very insecure, I think, and need to be constantly made to believe they're popular. Even if they have to force people to do it.
But, the president did not have any hand in this. He didn't insist that anybody sing songs about him.
At the most, I can see how this is local news for that town, simply because apparently some parents were very upset over it. But, not news that should've gotten national coverage, and certainly not worthy of even an honorable mention anywhere but a local paper for that town.
What silliness.