Your Daily Mindjob
This is my personal blog where I'll offer up some political straight talk as well as thoughts on technology and pop culture. That should give me plenty to talk about. The world can give you one heck of a mindjob. Think like me and get your daily dose.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Crazy Talk From The Right: Indoctrination

Over the last eight years, subjects like prayer in school and intelligent design have been pushed into the education curriculum by right wing zealots, but when Barack Obama wants to give a 20 minute speech to our nation's youth, the same folks throw a temper tantrum.

This must mean one kind of indoctrination must be better than another. But that's only if you indulge the paranoia that Obama's speech is some form of indoctrination. It only rings true if the speech itself was somehow political. Even in its original form prior to the edits, the speech was not political. Asking to help is not partisan unless you twist it into something with your own corrupt paranoia.

But let's be serious about this for a moment. It has nothing to do with the content of the speech. The speech is a straw man. Has nothing to do with the root of the problem.

Even prior to day one of this administration, the right wing nuts out there had their minds made up. Doesn't matter what Obama does. Whatever it is, they don't trust it. Whatever he says, they don't like it. Doesn't matter if it's good for our country. It came from a liberal, so it must be bad, even if it's good.

Indoctrination...not a new talking point.

Of all the paranoid comments I read and hear from the nuts on the right, indoctrination is up in the top five. The entire education system to these nuts is just one giant liberal brainwashing machine. It's really one gigantic paranoid delusion. Liberal media. Liberal schools. Liberals, liberals, liberals. So what if a few professors have more liberal curriculums? I can name some local profs in political science and economics who run their own conservative slanted web sites. Guilty as charged? The beauty of a solid education is how it provides the critical thinking skills which allow us to make up our own minds in the face of conflicting information.

Can't go to college. Those damn college professors are gonna fill your mind full of liberal nonsense.

Where will you end up without a college education? A high school diploma is not enough anymore. In order to compete in the job market, you've got to acquire an advanced degree.

The alternative:
This is how we become the United States of Stupid. Want an entire country convinced that they don't need schooling? Want an entire country that doesn't believe in science? Want to fall behind every other country with regards to technology? That'd do it.

If this speech is part of the liberal indoctrination, flourishing stupidity is the GOP equivalent.

Reminds me of Kathy Bates in The Waterboy. Everything is the work of the Devil. No book learnin' for her boy. Well folks, that character was nuts.

What are you going to do without a college education? Do you want to get a good high paying job? Well then, get yourself an education or expect to have a job with your name on your shirt.

Don't believe me? Then why, as a parent, would you deny your child an entire day of learning just because of a 20 minute speech? Keeping your kid home from school is simply not a good decision as a parent. It sends the wrong message. In fact, it sends the exact opposite message the President will convey in his speech. Poor kids.

Want another example of GOP indoctrination? Read my post on how the local airport plays the National Anthem multiple times a day. Blind patriotism anyone? Want a real Hitler Youth comparison? That's the ticket. Anyone remember how the Jews were portrayed? Disreputable. Evil. Jews were supposed to be ruining the Aryan way of life via the press and intellectual influence, among numerous other things. Liberals have become the new Jew. For years, liberals were called fascists. When confronted with the accusation, we countered with historical facts comparing fascist policies to Bush policy, not Clinton policy. Now that Bush is gone, it seems all the right wingers can come up with is to spin the fascism card back in the other direction one more time. Do they plan on exterminating liberals? From the rhetoric we've already heard, that's not much of a stretch for some leading right wing voices.

Chew on that for a while. Then decide who should be more paranoid.