America-hating President Barack Obama urged children to stay in school and work hard today. Ironically, many of them never got the message because their parents had pulled them from school to keep them from hearing this horrible, pro-socialist message of secret-Muslim indoctrination

Meanwhile, we have this story from Arne Duncan of the St. Petersburg Times, which notes Obama was not the first sitting president to speak "directly to the nation's schoolchildren about persisting and succeeding in school." As it turns out, at least one other president, George H.W. Bush, gave that same message in 1991.

According to Duncan, Bush's remarks were broadcast live by CNN, PBS, NBC radio, and something called the Mutual Broadcasting System at about noon on a school day (obviously). I think I actually remember hearing that address, if not watching it.

The complete text of that speech, delivered in Ms. Mollster's classroom at Some Such Jr. High School, can be found here. Like Obama's, it has nothing at all to do with politics, but rather is a long, boring list of reasons why students should take responsibility for their choices in life and stay away from drugs and control their own destinies and all the other typical rubbish adults push on children.

As Duncan points out, Democrats criticized Bush for delivering his speech in much the same way Republicans are complaining about Obama delivering his. I don't remember anybody saying they weren't going to let their kid hear the stupid thing, though. I think the complaints about Bush the Elder's speech were really more political theater than anything. At any rate, the speech never affected a single person I knew, and most probably don't remember it at all if they weren't actually inside Ms. Mostoller's classroom that day. That might not hold as true with Obama, who is something of a political anomaly, but the point is neither of these guys really delivered anything to the students beyond what was expected: "Stay in school. Work hard. Eat your vegetables." blah blah blah.

Reagan, well...that was something else entirely.

As Duncan noted in a more neutral tone than these guys, Reagan's speech and subsequent Q-and-A with students was little more than an advertisement about how badly Jimmy Carter had messed up the country, but with proper Republican stewardship, it was back on course. Though his speech is far more politically-oriented, it's still a freakin' yawnfest and, again, probably meant nothing to anyone except the students actually standing in the same room as the then-president.

At any rate, this sort of thing is nothing new and certainly nothing to wind yourself up about. Unless, of course, you're an idiot, in which case go nuts.