One more innocuous speech

Ho hum. The president delivered his speech to an auditorium full of high school kids Tuesday, and the world didn't come to an end. Children in schools across the country interrupted their school day to watch the speech. I doubt that the speech did most of them a world of good, but I also doubt that any were harmed by the experience. My oldest grandson, in a public preschool in Charlotte, watched the speech.

All this hype over something as innocuous as this speech? Some conservative talk-show hosts and bloggers had condemned the speech as an infringement on individual liberties, an affront to free enterprise and an insidious indoctrination into socialism. Others said, less dramatically, that the president's speech would be political propaganda. Lighten up, people!

I watched the speech last night on YouTube and found nothing offensive or alarming about. Like any speech by any politician in the long history of the world, this speech had a political element to it. President Obama told students he was working to get schools built and to provide them with books and other materials. Every politician toots his own horn sometime. But the focus of his speech was personal responsibility. He said:

"At the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless ...you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed."

Here's the YouTube video. You can see for yourself.