More of the Same

The right wing keeps on swirling down the pipeline of idiocy, hypocrisy and disingenuous. now they're claiming President Obama is trying to brainwash school kids by addressing them via television, in the classrooms.

Obama is urging school kids to stay in school and study hard. School districts in seven states have vowed to block Obama's speech.

There is a grain of truth to the objection by the Right Wing. The education system is a shambles. Kids are being taught to pass tests, not to learn how to find what they need to know. There are some good reasons to shun public education, though not education in general. But that's as far as the truth goes.

The move to block Obama's address is rooted in the same disruptive mentality as the town hall meeting debacle, the "Death panel" bullshit and the rest of the right wing's garbage.

Now if Obama can explain why kids need to study and work hard, on a level they can understand, it might cause a few who would otherwise shun learning to be curious about the world around them. That's what it takes to create thinking, caring people.

Skywolf.

The Passing of Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite has crossed over at the age of 92. An excellent summation of his life can be found at: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/17/walter.cronkite.dead/index.html

Cronkite was one of my life-idols. He, along with Edward R. Murrow, Chet Huntley, Elmer Davis, Paul Page, Dan Rather and (Later) Hunter S. Thompson, formed my attitude of telling the truth and, to quote Murrow: "Let the chips fall where they may."

It was Cronkite's dedication to telling the truth above all that guided my Journalistic career.

Even as a child, I remember watching Cronkite and feeling I could trust what he said. When I became old enough to do my own research, I found my gut feeling was correct.

I had the honor of having dinner with Walter Cronkite along with other Journalism students while at IU in the early 70's. I remember him telling me "Get the story fast. That keeps the boss at bay. But above all, get it right." He also told us to always do our homework on a story. Ask the questions that you, as a curious-about-life Journalist want to know about. Temper that with who you're addressing and find out all there is to know about a subject.
That's a lot harder than one might think. But it was good advice. I've endeavored to follow that advise throughout my life.

Walter Cronkite is the last of the pioneer TV Journalists...real Journalists, not some of the bozos we have now. The best we can hope to do is to do our own research, our own digging for truth. Cronkite showed us how. It's up to us to do the job.