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Today’s Lesson: Truth Panels and Censorship
2009 September 6tags:American Issues,Censorship,Communication,Constitutional Rights,Education,Exchanging Ideas,Free Speech,Freedom of Speech, Government,Ideas,Media,Obama Administration,Public Issues,The Little Guy   by Mitch Chester In law school they teach you to appreciate issues on all levels, from different viewpoints. It is not aneasy process, and the road to truly understanding problems and attacking them is a complicatedmixture of taking in various opinions and facts and developing one’s own individual and uniqueunderstanding. The road to learning is arduous and sometimes overwhelmingly difficult, but it feedsthe brain with the knowledge which is so desperately sought by the human animal in its quest tomake the right choices.One cannot learn without exposure to other viewpoints. True, I may not like what you have to say, but I need to be open enough to listen to your messages, so I can learn from it and decide what to believe. If our minds are not exposed to life’s different voices, we will not lead full lives, and wewill stagnate or recede.Appreciating the value of learning is not something we are born with. It needs to be taught and appreciated. That’s one justification for going toschool. From pre-K to the end of schooling, our teachers convey the message that we must seek understanding of all aspects of our world. Yet,for many, the message gets lost, and the need to learn, to
really understand 
things, is too often considered non-essential. That’s part of thereason our nation is in an intellectual and functional period of decline.So when the President of the United States wants to stress, by direct communication with students, the value of getting as much out of schoolas possible, he should be allowed to do so. School boards should be willing to embrace his message, for his is an intelligent and relevant plea,and it has been their mantra as well.Sadly, however, some school districts, teachers and parents are planning to block the President’s remarks on education when aired onSeptember 8.
It is nothing less than betrayal for teachers and educators to block the President from stressing the need for the very same educationalmessage to which they have committed their professional lives.
To silence a Presidential plea to students to get the most out of their educational process is to contradict and defeat the the urgency of teaching. It provides, at the least, lesson in incivility.Forcing those who may not be able to see the message when outside the classroom to diversionsin the form of free speech blackouts, is, plainlystated, morally and intellectually dishonest.
Message suppression in any form rarely works to achieve good, and often produces backlash.
 We witnessed that from Iran in June of this year.By permitting censorship of Mr. Obama’s message, the hand of ignorance will grip the very same institutions that are supposed to teach andform young minds. Allowing embargoes of Presidential remarks on education will teach that censorship of constructive discussion of publicissues is justified. It will set unhealthy examples for students to follow in the future. Blocking out the President’s right to encourage andinspirestudents will help usher in a new age of intolerance.
Critics have decried that White House plans a message of socialism, without any articulate reasons to back up such an assertion. Amessage about staying in school and getting the most out of it is as patrioticas apple pie and Old Glory. It is not a Democratic message,nor is it a Republican message. It certainly is not a socialist message. It is an
 American
message.
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Page 1of 14Today’s Lesson: Truth Panels and Censorship «9/17/2009http://sharedemergency.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/todays-lesson-truth-panels-and-censors...
 
Who better than the President of the United States to directly talk to the youth of our troubled times, directly, about the need for a good qualityeducation and to get as much of it as possible. The goal is to reduce the dropout rate and encourage students to work hard, not to change theAmerican form of government.If Mr. McCain won in November and tried to give such a speech, there would be no protests. But because Mr. Obama is trying the tackle thevery same issues we elected him to solve, and considering such a mission engenders passionate responses from all quarters, the White House iscriticized and censored on what should not be a controversial subject.
Critics have a right to express themselves. Those criticized should beafforded that right as well.
 We should not allow a modern form of book burning. Cutting off the President’s message is media burning.President George H.W. Bush addressed school children directly when he was in office. His 1991 message was to labor hard and reject drugs.Ronald Regan talked to students about the evil of taxes in 1988. Those messages got out. Parents that cared talked to their kids about themessages, and teachers were able to dialogue with their students about those messages. Why not allow for further discourse in the aftermath of this President’s speech to students?It is refreshing, that after 18 years, a President wants to talk about education to those who are being educated. Whatever he says, it can bediscussed and students can decide for themselves what the words mean.
Just like the nonsense threat of “death panels” deciding yourhealth care, we don’t need truth panels deciding that good-intentioned messages about education should not be conveyed from theWhite House because (and let’s admit it) of base political agendas.
Blocking Mr. Obama is nothing but approval of pure censorship. That’s one of the worse lessons society can teach. We are not in Iran,Venezuela, Cuba or North Korea, and we should not follow their examples.
Those who seek to close the ears of others would be the first to decry such treatment if it were to be turned upon them.
If today’s lessonis censorship, tomorrow’s lesson may be much worse, and cripple true educated understanding for a generation or more. Under suchcircumstances, a future America will not be able to dissect issues from different dimensions, and we will have the kind of nation that knows nowrong, because such wrongs might not be identified in the first place.Update 9.8.09. The President’s speech was delivered to schools across the nation today. It inspired students and teachers alike. 
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Page 2of 14Today’s Lesson: Truth Panels and Censorship «9/17/2009http://sharedemergency.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/todays-lesson-truth-panels-and-censors...
 
1.2009 September 6larsenrogers permalink  Great post. Thank you for a well thought out and sobering view.Reply edit 2.2009 September 8Jim Martin  permalink   I have not listened or read Obama’s message to our children, but unless it is a blatant political message I see nothing wrong in letting itgo out to our schools. Let’s face it the message of staying in school and bettering yourself needs to be heard by the minority audience asthey are the ones dropping out at a higher rate. Seeing the message from a bi-racial President may have more resonance then themessagefrom yet another white male.The problem is that since at least the Clinton Administration each President has politicized the office more and more and both the rightand left characterize each other with name calling as opposed to a true exchange of ideas. This means even what appears to be a straightforward good thing is attacked.Of course I’m more of a Libertarian and find that Ron Paul is one of the few voices that I consistently agree with and believe in. I nolonger believe our politicians see themselves as servants of the people, 95% of them believe themselves to be our rulers. The entireBush/Clinton/Bush/Obama regime has been nothing more then the selling of America to corporate interest and corporations are soullessentities.Way off track here, but I agree with the spirit of your post and wished our government really wanted a free exchange of ideas.Reply edit 3.2009 September 8Jim Martin  permalink   So now I went and read his speech and it was a solid one for kids in school. If my kids were still of school age I would have just echoedthe President’s sentiments when they came home that evening. The only thing I could see anyone complaining about is the names hechoose to highlight were all more “ethnic” names instead of traditional anglo-saxon names and maybe adding a Mary Smith to the bunchhe would have sounded more inclusive. Of course no matter how many names he choose someone could complain. Good speech and noreason for any side to complain.Reply edit 
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