Thanks to school system for not showing speech
To the editor:
The Hagerstown TEA Party thanks Washington County Public Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Morgan and the school system for listening to parents and for providing a common-sense solution regarding Tuesday's speech to students by President Obama.
With this decision, the school system empowered parents to make decisions regarding whether or not their children would view the president's speech. This decision allowed parents to watch the program with their children and have a healthy discussion afterward.
Red flags regarding the speech appeared when the press found out the U.S. Board of Education was asking students to "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the President." Workbooks and activities have since been modified to remove objectionable content. We are thankful this partisan politicization has been exposed and removed from the U.S. Board of Education's curriculum guidelines.
Locally, the superintendent of schools has made the right decision to not politicize the school system by airing President Obama's speech live. It appears the school system just learned about the speech on Thursday. Morgan has used caution and wisdom rather than bowing to political pressure to air the broadcast.
The school system has appropriately listened to the parents that they serve and said "no" to unfettered access to Washington County's most precious resource, our students. This type of unfettered access to school students would set the nation's school system on a very slippery slope. The temptation for a president to politicize the school system to achieve political goals may prove too great to overcome. We are thankful and proud to know that our school system will not be participating in this activity.
Neil Parrott
Hagerstown TEA Party
Are you kidding me? How can I respect someones opinion on a matter that clearly is already so biased towards one side of the political spectrum that there is no point in even trying to reason with them? Do I need to remind them that George H. W. Bush did exactly the same thing and no one was running around claiming that it was going to corrupt our children. Nope, when the true red Republicans do this stuff they can do no wrong...
Clearly this opinion is not based on the content of the address, but on the politics of the writer. Our children deserve to hear from our national leaders, the deserve to know that the entire country is working for their future and that it is important for them to work hard. The only reason the school board didn't air the speech is because they have a weak stomach for people like Neil who writes into the Herald-Mail to rail against something that he really doesn't have much interest in other than that he is a Republican and the President is a Democrat.
If this country is to the point where people censor the president's speeches at the local level then we truly have entered a era of political upheaval. Personally, you respect the office that the President holds, I trust him to not do something stupid when talking to my kids and I think it is important that they understand he wants them to do well. I am ashamed of the weak willed folks at the school board that shut the access to a speech by our president, the leader of our country, the man or woman who we are all supposed to look up to and respect for who they are and what they represent.
I saw this in Mail Call today:
“I was calling to just let everybody know that I thought the Mummers Parade was one of the best that I’ve seen in probably the last 10 years.”
— Hagerstown
No Offense to anyone who really liked this parade this year, but the crowd that turned out for it was not something I would let my kids come out to. Constant swearing and vulgar comments. Hearing grown men and fathers talk about how they would have loved to knock someone out on their front porch while their kids are around?
Sorry Hagerstown, but you still have a lot of cleaning up to do before I consider these events worthwhile going to.
So the official election results have been available for several days now:
http://www.washco-md.net/election/2008Gen.htm
And to no surprise the McCain / Palin ticket won the majority in the county. What amazes me though is the fact that so many people in this area thought they would actually benefit from John McCain. I read the following in an article in the Herald Mail a few days ago:
David Peters, 27, of Hagerstown, disagreed. He said a majority of Washington County residents voted for McCain because the Arizona senator had more experience.
“(McCain) knows more about politics,” Peters said. “Obama didn’t know a lot. All he wanted to do was raise taxes. I wouldn’t have liked that. Now, it’s going to happen.”
I would love to know if David actually is making more than $250,000 per year. My money is on he is not making even a third of that. The simple fact is that Western Maryland average incomes have never benefited from republican policy. The vast majority of people out here are not executives but working class folks that need all the breaks they can get. When the median household income hovers around $35,000 per year, I find it hard to believe why someone would support a candidate whose tax plan pretty much only reduced capital gains taxes on people who make a lot of money with investments.
The fact is that most people did not choose McCain because they thought he "is the better man" as the article suggests. People in Washington county chose McCain and Palin because they hold much more conservative religious beliefs and he has Military service on his record. While there is nothing wrong with either, it is hard to say if they make him a better man than Barack Obama for leading a country. The presidency is about making policy, not determining Military strategy and tactics on the ground, nor is the presidency about setting the religious standards in this country.
When it comes down to who is the better person for the presidency, the better person is the one who can energize people, talk eloquently, rally the support of foreign nations and present a much more inviting face to the rest of the world. Not to mention make intelligent policy decisions without relying on only one strength to guide them such as military experience. It's time for America to realize that in order to be effective, we must utilize diplomacy but maintain the threat of military force, utilizing it only sparingly as needed. As Teddy Roosevelt said, "speak softly and carry a big stick."
Better to have people fear what you could do, then show what you can. I think Barack will understand this along with the rest of his military and policy team. I think this is something that someone not so ingrained in the military culture of the country can truly understand and utilize to great effect.
So do we have the best person from the candidates possible entering the White House? Yes, I think we do. Is he young and somewhat untested on the world stage? Absolutely. Is this such a bad thing? No it is not. Barack has a lot to prove and a lot to live up to, but bringing a non-insider attitude to the White House is a plus. He also has the presence of mind to surround himself with some of the greatest political and military thinkers of this era which will provide him with advice for the situations he has never faced in his own life. This will be a collaboration, a truly team effort and one that should make us all proud since pooling the strengths of individuals is what makes America so strong. I believe we will be proven to be strong once again in the coming four years as well.
The Hagerstown Federals proved that they were winners tonight. They proved that they went to play the game of baseball and the went to win the game fairly and not just play for the tie breaker. While I don't like the way the tie was decided, I know that it takes a winner to play a game as it was meant to be, regardless of the technicalities surrounding the advancement to the semi-final round of play.
This post is to you Federals, we are so proud of your accomplishments and you have brought the people of the area together as we rallied around your accomplishments. We can't wait to have you back home so we can celebrate your amazing run at the Little League World Series.
The Hagerstown Federals have beat Pennsylvania and are going to Williamsport to the Little League World Series!
Way to go Hagerstown! We are rooting for you!
While I must say I have not really followed the Hagerstown little league in the past, this year I am pumped about these guys. They are doing great in the regionals and look like they will be heading to the world series in Williamsport, PA! I must say that in New Hampshire we never played like this and as a transplant former little leaguer in my adopted home town I am excited to see my town kicking butt.
If you are interested in learning more about the little league you can visit their website here. If you want to see how they are doing keep your eyes on ESPN2 for more great little league baseball action!
So we have our new house and are just about all moved in which is why I have not been blogging much lately. Well that and work has been eating up about 70 hours per week lately and I only get paid for 40 of those hours, the joys of being salaried.
The good news is though is that we really have a great new house and I am pumped because it is wired for data and has a great yard with it. Tomorrow I will get to try out my new Cub Cadet lawn mower for real which will be really cool too since it is a big walk behid commercial style mower that should make mowing the lawn very easy.
The only problem is that I have no internet or phone service at this point so I am writing using a Verizon AirCard which is nice but pretty slow. But those are the breaks...
I know, I know... I haven't been blogging much at all lately. In fact, I hardly have posted anything in the last month, but that is because my professional life has been taking over and my blogging life has been taking the blows from that. I did go ahead and setup a social network site for people in Hagertucky though which you all can go and sign up for here:
http://hagertucky.ning.com/
Hopefully this will fill up fast and allow all of us Hagertuckians to hangout and swap contact information there. Networking is always good regardless if it is just for fun or for professional reasons. So go check it out and sign up today!
