Obama: Creates low expectations for Americans

Obama's "new normal" is unacceptable. Obama's America is one of ever decreasing expectations and the elimination of what has been called "American Exceptionalism." I know that Mr. Obama tells students to "get a good education" but then takes entry level jobs away. Summer jobs are often "entry level" jobs that help students get their foot in the door and that teach them a bit of professionalism. But the more restrictions and regulations that are put on private sector jobs, the fewer entry level jobs will exist because the businesses just cannot hire folks with all the regulations and federal demands. Many twists and turns to this issue but many of us can remember our first entry level job. And the hourly pay was driven by what the market would bear not what the government dictated. The eventual Americans landing from the Mayflower would have perished under the mind-numbing winters of New England back in the 1630's. Black Americans of yesteryear brought here across the ocean in deplorable conditions initially sold by their own chieftains and captured by Dutch and Muslim Slave traders would not have survived to build their own piece of the American Exceptionalism. Obama's has low expectations for us and he wants to ensure that we "meet" those low expectations. Well, we are going to pass off his "low expectations" and we are going to wade through and make our way through whatever briar patch the administration throws at us or throws us into. I want to include a few additions to that "American Exceptionalism" and add the tough and cheerful Aussies, the Brits who remember their roots and other nations built by slaves, indentured servants, or people convicted of trumped-up crimes and shipped to distant shores. Read the series on Australia and you'll know that "exceptionalism" is not an ideal; it is a character trait. Remember that Mr. and Mrs. Obama came along through the time of "affirmative action" when expectations were lowered for some folks; they came along after Bill and Hillary had been successful at Yale I think it was when grades in law school had been changed to "pass-fail". Not much of a curve there. Affirmative action is institutionalized racism and needs to stop for equality to prevail. Mr. Obama has not had to "work" for his academic credentials in the same way that men such as Dr. Thomas Sowell have or Dr. Walter Williams and others. I recall that Dr. Sowell was told one time that he should be glad for the help that "affirmative action" gave him during his journey through Harvard. And I'll not have the quotation correct but his response was that he owed nothing to "affirmative action" having completed his graduate work and such after 1956. For women and folks with varying shades of skin color, some should ask themselves if they met the standard or if they were short-changed because of "affirmative action." The expectations have been lowered for our youth and that has got to change. In somehow and some way, we need the likes of Admiral Rickover to lay down the law to our educational system and dictate a core curriculum strong not only in the math, physics, and science classes but also in the use and structure of English. And while we are regaining our exceptionalism on our own and pulling ourselves up by our boot-straps, when is the national Department of Education going to be eliminated and education turned over to the states. It is not a federal function. We don't need "cookie-cutter" education. We need another "sputnik" or something of that sort to spur our youth toward exceptionalism. I know we have many grand teachers who work hard and who are well-skilled in their subject matter as well as in the art of teaching...but you all know of teachers who should not be within miles of our students much less in the classroom. To those of you caught up in the cookie-cutter world of forced "lesson plans" and forced into meeting only the standards of mediocrity, I apologize. I know that you work your way around that but I won't tell... Where is merit pay for our exceptional teachers? And how can our teachers allow themselves to be "unionized"? I ask because I was encouraged into the "unions" too. Encouraged with the hint that promotions and pay increases may not be as forth-coming unless one towed the party line. To our teachers who struggle each day to bring the best to our students, thank you; and to the parents who support the teachers and their efforts on behalf of your young children and young adults, the children and young adults who are our future: thank you... It is parents and teachers, and students themselves, who often set the expectations. Set them on an ever increasing scale of success and growth and your students will meet them and reach higher. the love of learning is a wonderful, internalized mystery. It is a spark and a twinkle in your child's eye that needs to be fed. To whom do our children look: to you the teachers, the moms, the dads, and the grandmas and grandpas that build from your desire to teach your children to learn, to study, and to reach for the stars... Don't allow the "culture of low expectations" keep you back. And don't let anyone else's excuse keep you from success. Reach down and get a grip on your guts, tough it out, get the education you need and more, learn to "dress for success" and at work, keep your mouth shut about "your" problems. Let this be a guiding thought. The company or business that is paying you your salary and providing benefits more than likely hired you to do a job, not take up other employees time whining interminably about non-work related personal issues. Of course, we all talk about personal issues; just remember why you went to school, why you completed your education, and why you were hired.... And if you have it in your mind that you were hired to meet a "quota", set that out of your mind and do the job - the promotions will come and you can leave that "quota" junk in the dust as you excel and as the Army says, "Be the best you can be." If you don't think you are being the "best you can be" then get the skills to reach that goal. Don't allow anyone to wrap a blanket of "low expectations" around you, a quilt with so many excuses anyone would be discouraged. Shake off the quilt of "low expectations" if you do, you'll find that you'll reach your goals and exceed them. Roll up your sleeves and do the work and reach high expectations... You have public education that is not free; it is paid for by the taxes your neighbors and parents pay so do your best in the classroom to thank them. Sorry for rambling - I have watched students excel and I have watched them become mired in self-pity because the chip on their shoulder is a heavy burden, the chip affixed to them by the folks of "low expectations."