By Mel Mazuc, Executive Editor
I’m ready to punch someone in the face.
Don’t be alarmed; I don’t really mean this, but it’s nice to think that maybe I could knock some sense into somebody’s head. I’m just frustrated, thinking nostalgically back to the days where politicians really wanted things for the good of the country, where they weren’t shady governors with what must clearly be toupees adorning their heads (and their own line of shampoo), and where what they said really meant something to people.
These days may have never occurred, but I have to hope in my heart that they did at one time. Reading headlines, I take trips down memory lane where the President wasn’t a celebrity; he was just a powerful guy, doing powerful things for the country. For me, the only thing that changed is that Obama is a celebrity. I still think he’s trying to do good for the country; he’s obviously still powerful.
You may not agree; that’s okay. I won’t judge your politics, as long as they’re real.
“To an extent, misinformation has always occurred between the two parties. Do I think it’s detrimental to what’s trying to be achieved? Yes,” Lynn McHenry, AP Government teacher said.
What’s changed politics for me is that politicians (for the most part) no longer care about me, or you, or anyone but themselves. They’re all out to get each other, at the expense of anyone, or anything, including their dignity.
“[Politicians] just want to say whatever will get them elected. They don’t have anything to support it,” senior Taylor Krause said. “[Politics are changing] for the worse, because [politicians] aren’t trying to help the people anymore, especially in the House and the Senate. They’re just trying to get by for reelection.”
Sophomore Tyler Dungey said that politicians “are only saying things from their perspective sides. [Politics have] turned into more of a beauty contest.”
What’s even worse is that people believe them: people who don’t watch the unbiased news, people who don’t read the paper, and people who have no idea what’s going on, all stewing together about things they know nothing about. Take ‘Obamacare’ for example. Death panels? Are you kidding me? Obama’s in his first year in office, and people think he’s trying to control the country and kill elderly folk? I can nearly guarantee you, that’s not his main goal.
“Having not read the proposed health care bill language verbatim, I cannot believe that any proposed legislation out there would try to diminish quality of life. Death panels raise my suspicions. How and why did [the GOP] come to that interpretation?” McHenry said.
And the latest scandal, which hit us here at KHS: his speech to kids on staying in school. At 2:28 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4, an e-mail went out to teachers in the district, letting them know that they couldn’t show their students Obama’s live ‘stay-in-school’ speech to students unless they had a signed letter from a parent saying it was okay. The trick was that Monday was Labor Day, and the district had no school. This effectively disabled everyone from showing the speech before it was screened.
“I definitely think teachers should be able to show the students footage of their president,” Krause said. “[Obama is] going to say what he’s going to say. By pre-screening it, we’re only showing students what we want them to see.”
“{The} general societal reaction [that Obama was] brain-washing was ridiculous. I was concerned that so many people were fine with assuming the worst,” McHenry said.
He’s not the first president to give this speech, but he’s the first to be accused for it. Even after the contents of the speech were published online, people griped about how he was going to talk about abortion. Well, that came right out of left field.
“Stay in school, kids. Always do your homework, and, if you can, try to get into a nice college. Oh, and I almost forgot! Have an abortion if you ever get the opportunity!” I don’t think so.
McHenry said that people were comparing Obama’s speech to President George H.W. Bush and President Ronald Reagan’s speeches.
“It’s not possible to compare them apples to apples,” she said. “Technology is not the same, and before, you couldn’t show a speech to an entire school.”
Mchenry said she doesn’t feel that any child’s or parent’s rights were violated, and that the decision was “appropriate in a curricular sense.”
Personally, I think if the speech was posted online, parents should have returned the earplugs and blindfolds they bought for their kids to wear that Tuesday. The bottom line is, I can’t preach to politicians, so I’m preaching to you: if you’re going to criticize him, that’s absolutely fine. I have never expected anyone to love absolutely everything about him, from his stance on health care to the number of hairs on his right big toe.
But if you’re going to criticize him, have something to back it up. Can anyone prove anything about these death panels? Did Obama say anything about abortion during his ‘stay in school’ speech? And don’t tell me that the only reason he didn’t was because you caught him red-handed before he got the chance, because I won’t buy it. Be smart about your politics, and care about the truth. Do some research. Don’t just stand there like the disaster of the year (I’m not naming names, Sarah Palin), and feed blatant lies to the public, because, chances are, some people are going to be stupid enough to believe them.
“I think people, as they evolve from their teen years to adulthood, through parent influence, they’ve come to a set of beliefs and values on politics,” McHenry said. “[Misinformation and lies in politics] affirm those beliefs.”
We need the reality back in politics. I prefer the reality where Barack Obama isn’t a non-natural-born neo-Nazi hell-bent on killing old people, forcing his abortion beliefs on kiddies, and taking over the world to make black people the dominant race. So take some time to read up on your politics, and keep your mouths shut unless you know what’s really going on, because there are enough idiots out there to last a lifetime.
You have my word in print: if death panels are a real thing, I’ll eat your gym socks.