-By Jake T. Snake
Still recovering from the massive birthday party here at the Snake household for both the 7 and the 3 year old. There was a bouncy house larger than my first apartment, the entire extended family and hordes of screaming children. Truth be told they were all marvelously well behaved and the house was not dismantled during the party, so over all a smashing success.
I am chortling quietly to myself regarding the Obama's indoctrination of schoolchildren silliness dominating this week's news cycle. I am saddened as usual by the rhetoric of those of us on the left which is largely defensive, apologetic and allows the asshats on the right to set the terms of the debate as usual. Just once I want someone (other than Thers) to say "Yes, we are trying to indoctrinate your children, because you adults elected George Bush to be president twice and are obviously so far fucking gone that you can't be salvaged". I have school age children and although Obama is too centrist for my tastes I would love to have someone indoctrinate them with values a little closer to my own. I am not holding my breath though, realizing that most schools are conservative, reactionary nightmares. Plenty happens in the schools that offends my sensibilities like abstinence only sex education, but you didn't see liberals pulling their children out of school en masse because of it. I guess school isn't really that important if your ultimate goal is that you offspring be stupid, proud and slaves to unexamined rhetoric like most on the right.
I would like my children to consider the consequences that their actions have on other human beings. I would like them to see themselves as members of a community with responsibility for the well being of other people within their community and the vibrancy of the community as a whole. I would like my children to understand that the ends do not justify the means, that being ethical is an imperative, not an option to be exercised when it doesn't get in the way of your goals. I would like them to be able to respect others and embrace their differences simply because they are human beings, regardless of race, class, gender etc. Although frankly, I am OK with them giving religious people some shit, at least the pseudochristians who pretend to be about Jesus, but are really about power, ambition and subjugation of anyone who doesn't agree with their narrow parochial view of the world. I say fuck those people and I hope my kids will too.
I will teach my children that Reagan was a flaming asshole and voting against him was a joyous thing for me. I will teach them that we rise together or fall separately. I will teach them that compassion should guide their decisionmaking, not how much cash is in the deal. That family and community are entities worth investing one's time in. That power should be used gently and sparingly. That they are responsible for the well being of not just themselves and their family, but for the whole human family and they better damn well figure out a way to contribute to that well being or their existence is empty and meaningless.
Obama will not be giving that message to my older daughter through his address and that is a shame, because it is really time that someone starting deprogramming people from that cult called neoconservatism. I will have to relay these values to both of my children, which is the other reason this concern is silly. If your conservative values are so correct and eternal then they won't be threatened by Obama speaking to your children for a couple of minutes, now will they. Are they really so fragile that they can't stand up to that. Secondly, this provides you as a parent with a golden opportunity to explain your own values and their basis to your children and why they might diverge from the president's.
For the record, young people already know they have been sold a pile of shit by their elders and that they are kind of fucked.