I think it would be an honor to have the President of the United States give the commencement speech at my high school graduation, and even cooler if it was Barack Obama giving the speech. The school that I coach at is one of six top schools that could get chosen to have President Obama give the commencement speech this May. I talked to a few people that are in that district and or work at that school and they made their opinions known that they did not want Obama to come to their school. Their only reason was they don't agree with him politically and "I don't like him". I quickly said, "well, I do.." and wanted to make sure everyone didn't appear to be sheeps agreeing with only those who spoke the loudest. I didn't want to keep my mouth quiet like I might in some other cases because I don't want to make people feel uncomfortable. But when they were being so over the top on their disagreeing with the possibility I had to say my opinion too.
Here's my problem, these were the same people (mixed with a lot of other people) saying if you don't support George W. Bush then you are unpatriotic, but if you don't support Obama, then you're a Republican. It seems to be very hypocritical and somewhat ignorant. Not only that, the school district is a very wealthy one, and about 95% of the kids in this area have had a very privileged life thus far. Also, 93% of the kids graduating will be going to college. Perhaps President Obama should be speaking to 1,700 kids that might appreciate the value of his message much more. The ones that truly need that inspiration and hope for tomorrow. To hear about first hand, the realistic work that it takes to achieve almost anything, the ability to have compassion for others and then do something positive about it, and the power to not rule by fear and bullying behavior no matter how much someone else wants you to.
Although, it might be nice to have him come here and let those irrational jerks shut up for a few minutes, and let him see that he does have support through this very red state. However I know some people are already wasting their time planning pickets, and boycotts and forcing their kids to swallow the same garbage they continue to believe despite reality.
At the end of the day you can believe what you want, and I will do the same. The easiest thing we can do is agree to disagree with respect and hope that those choosing to be ignorant will still gain some insight at some point in their lives. Regardless of any political party, the desire to see our communities and this country go in a positive direction should be the goal. Showing that it's important to be a good person and educate yourself rather then cling to a title that you don't quite understand. I do know one thing, it will all work out, and we've all got much more important things to worry about. Like, here's hoping the rain helps my newly planted garden grow...
Lemon out.
