Another contrived brouhaha

At noon on Tues., Sept. 8, President Barack Obama will speak to students at Wakefield High School in Arlington County. The address is intended to motivate students on their first day of school; it will challenge students to take individual responsibility for their success in school.

The speech will be televised on C-SPAN live.

While many parents will be glad for some help in motivating children to do the right thing, apparently some in the metro Richmond area are not. A Richmond Times-Dispatch article about how area school systems are handling complaints from parents who object to their children seeing/hearing the speech documents the situation.

School officials in Powhatan County have opted not to broadcast the speech, said Debbie M. Jones, vice chairwoman of the county's School Board. She referred more specific questions to Superintendent Margaret S. Meara, but attempts to reach her yesterday were unsuccessful.

Judging from the tone of some of the 396 comments (at this writing) under the article, it’s seems we’ve got another contrived brouhaha bubbling. To some who posted comments it was another opportunity to call the president Hitler, or a communist, or both a fascist and a commie at the same time.

Obviously, such people are so unhappy that Obama won they mean to thwart his every move in every way, every time. Moreover, the more miserable they can make anyone who supports Obama feel the better they like it. Going mean to thwart is easy for them.

The most passionate Obama-haters aren't above using their children to score imaginary points in a twisted game that exists only in their sore-losing minds. When reasonable, fair-minded Republicans avert their eyes from dirtball shenanigans such as this they undermine their credibility.

So, now a back-to-school message to students has become an issue. It's silly and it's galling. Nobody is better off for this becoming a bone of contention.

Update: "Reaction to Obama's speech is tragic, sinister and sickening."