Politics and Partisanship Gone Wrong

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On September 8th, President Obama will be giving a speech directed at students about the importance of their education. And unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve certainly heard the chatter about how the President may potentially mislead our children and use them as “tools” to “promote liberal propaganda.” In fact, many parents are being encouraged to keep their children home that day to prevent such a possibility. So how does this mother see it? Unfortunately, I see this entire over-reaction as one more dangerous example of feverish partisanship gone wrong.

This particular round of hoopla began when Jim Greer, Chairman of the Florida Republican party, expressed his opinion stating that children need to stay home and away from any influence of the President.

“As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology.”

And since then, conservatives, bloggers, television pundits and everyday American citizens have all jumped on board with his train of thought. They are taking his spouts over apparent socialist agendas seriously. And now fellow citizens are keeping their children home that day, away from any influence at all from their own president.

Honestly? This is simply one more example of how out of hand partisanship has become in this country. Fear and anger are fueling extraordinary threats and suggestions. Discourse seems rarely productive, finger pointing is at an extreme and we all seem more polarized than ever before.

It’s human nature to pick sides and identify with a cause. The “Yes We Can” thing. The “Tea Party” thing. The “we’re going to get our country back the way we want it” thing has (as it was put so well) gone viral. And while I applaud reaction and discussion, voting and taking responsibility for ourselves – I cringe at the whole “Us against Them” of it all these movements have inspired. You’re bad, I’m good. You love war and protecting your money, I want my son home and you out of office. You love equality, I say it’s socialism. One or the other. Pick a side. And prepare to fight.

It doesn’t help that in the midst of this turmoil, we snap on our televisions and watch. Oh my. Olbermann, Limbaugh and Beck are in their usual froth, up in arms over the other. They speak well, they know their audiences, they fuel their fires and they herd their viewers into their own corners. Away from one another.

Not to mention that, in our post 9/11 world, fear-mongering has become a favorite vehicle of choice for various conservative messages. The terrorists will win if you don’t go our route. An attack on our country is imminent if you don’t support your president. And now, if you let your children watch this presidential address, he will infect them with his socialist agenda. Scary stuff. People buy in.

So where does that leave us? Well, we have a movement to keep children home on September 8th, telling our children that our current President is wrong (about… staying in school?) and equating his administration to a Nazi regime.

What has this country come to? Where is the reason? Rational thought? Hot heads and hype, over-reaction and outcry, sound bites and insanity are all thinking for us. When will cooler heads prevail and actually get something done? Remember? It’s up to all of us to fix our country. Not one President. Not one political party. And certainly not pundits and television personalities.

If we’re going to sit in our opposite corners anyway, then this country needs a time out. Let’s quiet down, take a moment and think. Change takes time, the process is slow. And if you want better leadership for your party, maybe entertainers like Limbaugh aren’t your answer.

And how about this. Have we ever considered keeping an open mind and accepting the fact that bipartisanship won’t undermine our cause? Is it too naïve to consider opposing views as possibly offering something constructive? Or is anger and polarized thinking the only way to accomplish our own unyielding agendas?

Finally, back to the President’s indoctrination of our children. Get a grip, people. The President just wants your kids to stay in school and become educated. Think I’m wrong? Here is his speech. Read it for yourselves. You can either spend your time ripping it apart looking for brainwashing double entendres or you can take it for what it’s worth: your President asking your children to stay in school and become our country’s next educated leaders. Lord knows we could certainly use some renewed optimism, constructive thinking and mature leadership on both sides right about now.

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