A nation divided

Today's Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports on the President’s plan to address the nation’s students in their classroom so he can challenge them toward excellence in their studies. I can’t believe this has met with such a political firestorm. It sounds like a great idea to me. What a powerful statement it makes to our children and youth that the President of the United States wants to take the time to speak to them a word of encouragement at the beginning of the school year. Some parents in Sarasota and Manatee counties and other locations throughout the nation, are objecting and threatening to keep their children home lest they be exposed to the President’s “socialist” views. Give me a break. Are we so divided as a nation that we would teach our children such disrespect for the Presidency? Some parents and educators want to see the text of the speech before it is delivered so they can approve or disapprove. Is there no such thing as trust left among us? Is not this the land of free speech? I was never a fan of George W. Bush and his policies, but I never hated him and I can’t imagine keeping my children home if I learned he wanted to speak to them while they were in the classroom. Like him or not, he was still the President. Of course, George W. Bush did address our children, soon after September 11, 2001. His father also addressed the nation’s children in 1991. I wonder if their speeches had to be approved beforehand. I am increasingly uneasy about the future of our nation, not because of the threat of foreign enemies but because of the enemy within. To paraphrase the familiar words of Pogo, “We have met our enemies and they are we.”