Obama's parenting tips: "Can I get an amen here?"

[Bluebear]

While Hillary Clinton reminds voters that, if she wins, they can tell their daughters a woman can be President, Barack Obama is going deeper into parenting advice and telling them what they might “not want to hear.”

After a programmatic answer about issues in education to a mostly African-American audience in Beaumont, Texas, according to Shailagh Murray of the Washington Post, Obama asked, “Can I make this one last point?” and went into a riff about the role of parents.

“It’s not good enough for you to say to your child, ‘Do good in school.’ And then your child comes home, you’ve got the TV set on, you’ve got the radio on, you don’t check their homework, there’s not a book in the house, you’ve got the video game playing.

“So, turn off the TV set, put the video game away, buy a little desk. Watch them do their homework. If they don’t know how to do it, give them help. If you don’t know how to do it, call the teacher. Make them go to bed at a reasonable time. Give them some breakfast.”

As the crowd cheered, Obama asked, “Can I get an ‘Amen’ here?”

http://themoderatevoice.com/society/education/teachers/18124/obamas-parenting-advice/

====

Discussion point: do we need our political figures to give parenting tips, be 'moral' leaders, etc. The only reason I "might not want to hear" this advice is because I thinik we can take care of our own lives and what we feed our kids. Get gas prices down, get the economy going so people can put food on their families!

[MadBadger]

1. Crowd ate it up.

[revolve]

2. You really have a problem with a respected person giving this advice?

This isnt being a "moral" leader, this is giving good advice.

[Bluebear]

3. I said discussion point.

I don't know if it's a "problem" so much as it doesn't indicate what he will do about the recession, economy, etc. It seems more of a parenting talk-show topic.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

exactly....I thought that's what the Oprah Show was for...teachinng shit

[CatnHat]

72. Maybe Oprah

will get Obama his own show! :rofl:

When will this guy start talking about real specific issues. How condescending to preach down to people, like they don't know what to do raising their own children. He talks just a reverend. Amen--What??? His speeches are really ridiculous.

[Faygo Kid]

83. "teachinng shit"? Looks like you could use some "teachinng"

I keep telling myself, March 5. That's when the "shit" like this posted by the Hillary backers will fade away.

[ProSense]

4. "be 'moral' leaders" You're right, we need immoral leaders!

Nitpick much?

"As the crowd cheered..."

Nothing says audience approval like a cheering crowd!

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. Advice like "Just say no to drugs".

Or New Years resolutions. "Can I get a Amen"

It's the most empty Sunday go to meeting nothing waste of time farmer's almanac shitbird feelgood crap & they "eat it up".

[northzax]

6. parenting tips from a father

who lives in a different time zone from his children? From a man who is working hard to get a 100 hour a week job that will take him away from them even more? I am sure he will book a few minutes a day to see them in the west wing.

[Straight Shooter]

7. "Do good in school"?

Did he get an "Amen" for his grammar or his patronizing attitude?

Blame it on the parents, that's the ticket.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. plagiarized Bill Cosby eh?

[Raine]

Love it!!!

:thumbsup: :-)

[LadyVT]

Amen? Amen??? Separation of church and state? Amen???

[Barack_America]

23. There's a big difference between saying "amen" and advocating the dissolution...

of the separation of church and state.

BIG difference.

You want to go after the separation, then you go after the courts. It takes a bit more than saying "amen" to a crowd. And FYI, Obama believes entirely in the separation of church and state.

[LadyVT]

28. I don't know Obama, personally, so I don't really know what he believes,

I just know what he says in speeches. Which is, naturally, him being a politician and all, what people want to hear.

[PurityOfEssence]

39. No there isn't.

If he really believed in the separation of church and state, he'd vigorously advocate the dissolution of all faith-based organizations. He does not. Not only does he not, he praises them.

So what does his word mean?

The danger of what he's doing by blithely mixing godly oration with political rhetoric is to steadily, by repetition, conflate them in our minds. This is what's so insidious and sneaky. Maybe he doesn't know what he's doing, or maybe he doesn't understand the dynamic, but either way, it's terrible for anybody but blinkered theocrats.

The very casualness of the religious entreaties is what's so very scary. It's more than mere "ceremonial deism", it's more than just relaxing secularism a bit, it's a vigorous and continuous attempt by many--aided by him--to infuse so much religion into public debate on political issues that it becomes completely accepted in people's minds that religion is NECESSARY. The implications are deeply ugly, and treating this lightly is either an incredibly naive mistake or deeply cynical underhandedness.

It's the breezily casual usage of religion in politics that's the most scary.

[Barack_America]

46. Then I guess we no longer have a separation of church and state.

Considering that Bush doesn't necessarily believe in it and has been advocating faith-based initiatives and throwing in "amens" for the past 8 years.

Never mind the courts, it's rhetoric that determines these issues.

Oh and FYI, you might find the article linked in this thread an interesting read:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4831589&mesg_id=4838123

[PurityOfEssence]

55. We don't; why do you want to make it worse?

It can always get worse. There are plenty of zealots out there to pitch in and help.

Playing with religion is dangerous; look at the McClurkin affair: Obama THOUGHT he was just whipping up a frenzy from the faithful and reminding him he was one of them...

As for Senator Clinton's cozying up to religion, I don't like that either, but at least she doesn't CONSTANTLY bring it up in her political rhetoric like he does.

[David Zephyr]

101. Bill and Chelsea bowed their heads with dutiful looks in Joel Olsteen's megachurch in Houston today.

They had that 'oh so sincere look' on their faces. Christian piety.

Meanwhile, Hillary flirted with letting Obama hang on her Muslim smear on 60 Minutes.

Don't give the Clintons a pass on playing the religious card. They make Obama look like an amateur. They do it CONSTANTLY.

[unblock]

57. "he'd vigorously advocate the dissolution of all faith-based organizations"

methinks (mehopes) you might have overstated your position just a tad?

separation of church and state does NOT mean politicians must advocate the destruction of all churches.

[PurityOfEssence]

74. Ooops. I meant defunding federally supported ones...

Yes, quite badly stated on my part. Although I DO feel that churches should be taxed, and that not doing so is a bit of a violation of Article One, I wouldn't want to shut them down.

Thanks for the gentle rebuke of my sloppiness; many others would have seized upon it with glee.

Article One serves the purpose just fine: no endorsement of the concept of religion (not just of a particular one or particular group of sects, but of the concept itself) and a pledge to protect believers' right to worship as they please.

I was, as you suspect, referring to faith-based charities that get federal funds; I wouldn't advocate disbanding the groups themselves, just denying them our money.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

81. ROFLMAO!!!!! You Think Separation of Church And State Means A Candidate Can't Say Amen?

Oh, that's rich!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[ecstatic]

86. I know you're not that out of touch with pop culture nt

[theboss]

97. I've been on this for, I think, five years....

And I've been saying forever that the anti-religion crowd needs to come to grips with the facts that:

1. Black voters are the core of the Democratic Party and
2. Black Democratic voters are probably more religious that White Republican voters.

[NMMNG]

9. Of course you know if Hillary had said something similar,

people would have been bitching that she reminded them of their mother/grandmother, and that that really turned them off blah, blah blah.

[Straight Shooter]

12. Except Hillary would know to say, "Do well in school."

:)

[goclark]

60. I am African American and Obama speaks the English

language.

That is insulting of you to make it appear that he is not smart enough to address his audience properly.

In fact,he was correct! He was speaking " Black English." That is the language that we use when we are talking informally, when we are among friends.

Many do not take the time to understand that African Americans speak to each other on several levels. We know how to go back and forth in our conversation depending on the audience.

Yes, Hillary would have said,"Do well in school" and the audience would have no problem understanding those 4 little words.

I am reminded however of the time that she appeared at an African American church and she started her remarks by saying... " I ain't in no ways tired!"

She was trying hard to relate to her audience but she did not. She shouldn't have even tried that one ~ but she didn't know any better.

Rarely do African Americans appreciate a White person trying to pander/relate in that way. Especially in a public setting.

Barack knows exactly how to relate to people depending on the setting and he certainly got his message across to the loving audience.

He is gifted in many areas and his ability to talk to a wide range of people is one of his talents.

That's why he is loved all over this world by millions of people!

[bigbrother05]

64. Thank you

[Straight Shooter]

75. Yes, Obama morphs into whatever chameleon-like shape he wishes to be, for his audience.

The same thing we've been criticizing bush for all these years, as when he puts on his Texas twang.

According to other posters on this thread, it was a mixed audience. So I guess you're saying he was talking past them, as that isn't the manner in which they speak. Or maybe it is. Maybe people who need to stay after their kids to do their homework and who don't have even one book in the house wouldn't know the difference between "good" and "well." Or maybe he doesn't appreciate that they understand his messages in other forums, such as TV interviews, where he speaks in the vernacular of the Harvard-educated borgeois he is.

There was an opening in 1996 for somebody with local residency to run for the state Senate but the constituency had a lot of black and poor. Barack Obama was not very black oriented in politics in a neighborhood where deep black is often preferred. And he was not poor: aristocratic, well-educated and rather dreamy, using such words as “epiphany” and not given to talking much about smelling the meat a-cookin’ the Democratic machine prefers. For a time he had trouble relating as Barack Obama with constituents whose names were something like Charlie Chew and Emil Jones (chain-smoking, hefty, easily-perspiring Emil Jones, a state senator in an adjoining district, then the Democratic minority leader of the Illinois State Senate). In his new neighborhood, Democratic liberalism comes undiluted, straight from the bottle; Obama liked to stir political concoctions with vague nuance: that was the way he talks to adoring whites now. But he had to learn how to talk not Harvard or southern black gentility but South Side. He was a master at blurring distinctions. But let me tell you that blurring distinctions is not what the Democratic machine does on Chicago’s South Side.

Here his old boss, the old liberal Jewish Judd Miner, tough as an old boot, applied venerable Jake Arvey old-school moxie from and cracked some heads. The order came from downtown that Obama was to go to the state Senate. And when there was some complaining, Senator Jones, the epitome of black working class that its adherents call “pick and shovel” said to his workers who kicked that Obama wasn’t one of them: “Y’all shut up! This guy is ours! And you will take him, hear me?” Jones was leader of the Senate Democrats and one of four top state officials who negotiate the budget with the governor ... on the South Side. Now he is Senate President, the second African-American in Illinois history to hold the post.

Under Jones’ tutelage, Obama learned in his local speeches to speak South Side and added it to his repertoire along with southern gentility and university talk. He proved to be a good student; he talked in blunt declaratives; once in Springfield he could do all three. He could and can switch to all three voices. I have a local ABC talk show on politics and he wanted on. So one day I passed through the metal detector to find him lounging around and talking to the state troopers in terms they understand. He signaled me, came over and said with a winning smile: “Say, Big Guy, when do I get on your show?” And, of course, just like that he was on.

http://www.tomroeser.com/blogs/default.asp?categoryID=54

[oasis]

99. I've been suffering from "Obama fatigue" for weeks. His pontificating has become unbearable.

:puke:

[Lucinda]

13. LOL

Sooooooo true.

[northzax]

14. no, if Hillary said this

to this audience, we'd be hearing about how racist she is.

[NMMNG]

19. That too

That whole fried chicken thing....:hide:

[denem]

70. 'That whole fried chicken thing'

:puke:

[ProSense]

24. You mean like when she said

Ghandi worked in a gas station?

I think your comment is race-baiting.

[northzax]

49. oh please

you would be first in line.

[polticalpout]

27. I think the fact is Hillary can address women in ways Obama can't and Obama can address

a black audience in a way Hillary could not. I'm not saying this is right but I think this is a reality.

ie: Hillary could say things to women that if Obama were to say it to them he would be attacked for doign so and vice versa for Hillary with a black auidience.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

20. damn straight they would have...watch the drool fest here tho

[xchrom]

10. here's the problem with moralists --

in the end few people are really more moral than the person they're standing next to.

it always sounds good and you get people worked up and feeling superior -- the above scenario is perfect -- but it's as hollow as straw.

[polticalpout]

11. Giving advice on how to make the country better is what I heard

Making our kids healthy will help the healthcare problem in some ways and making them smarter will make out nation more productive. Imagine, a president understanding the common man and woman. Amen.

[DUyellow]

15. why don't we discuss the 45min before that, and the next 20 min after that. lets just take 2 min...

out of his TOWN HALL meeting out of context and get all ticked off.

[K Gardner]

16. Might want to check out the positive comments here about

his remarks before you try to diss him for being real. I do want to thank you, however, for the vicious remarks you made last week about my child on a thread here. So before you go slamming Obama for giving "parenting tips", take your own advice. At least Obama had something good to say.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4825827&mesg_id=4825827

[Omega3]

33. that's big talk coming from somebody who just lied through their teeth about HC's SNL appearance say

ing she was booed when no such thing occured. you have no credibility here.

[K Gardner]

42. Check out post 95 on that thread. It would be a bit

ridiculous to LIE about something that was on TV. I heard what I heard. As for your insinuation as to my "creds", I only have to look back at your history here. By the way, why are you following me into a different thread talking about what is in another.. that's just a bit strange, and creepy.

[Honeycombe8]

17. These things are directly related to the NCLB program, the healthcare crisis,....

the "teaching to a test" issue that Obama talks about, and other issues.

It's about time that a leader spoke about what we ALL can do about problems, and not JUST about what the government can do.

[DUyellow]

25. Line right before this.... "We can spend all the money in the world on education....

but if parents are not parenting then it is useless." ~it was something like that, not word for word. But he has a point.

[Honeycombe8]

34. I agree. nt

[Binka]

44. The Leave No Millionaire Behind Program Is RUINING Our Schools

Push the test; the test, the test, forget history and science and liberal arts, (liberals once embraced these ideals) these fuckers want to defund schools, where children don't test well, and treat kids like robots. I wonder how many of the posters upthread have a child in the public school system today. It is GOD damn brutal.

Obama was speaking to those people who are just fucking in up to their eyeballs with this bullshit. I am a single parent who works 45 hours a week. I am not a religious type but I do not care that he said AMEN, he could have said "Do you guys give two fucking shits about our children because I do." And I would have cheered him. This kind of negative crap just really chaps my ass. Again how many of you upthread have kids and are busting your ass for them?

The crowds cheering him are not blithering, slobbering, duped, idiots. Give it a MOTHERFUCKING rest.

[AZBlue]

18. With the huge number of horrible parents these days and the high price our kids

are paying for it, I'm glad someone's finally saying something!!

[Beausoir]

21. Like Obama has been any sort of a daddy to his kids. With his insane schedule? Puhleese.

I don't need him to tell me how to parent my kids.

He left his kids in the dust to further his ambitions.

[ProSense]

29. "He left his kids in the dust to further his ambitions."

Are you alright?

[DUyellow]

3 more days of this crap...

[DUyellow]

30. back it up... prove that he hasn't been a good dad...

[Beausoir]

35. Oh c'mon! How involved could he be in the lives of his kids?

Most of us are working people. We don't have the luxury of hired help to raise our children while we chase our dreams.

Who, exactly, do you think is raising Obama's kids right now?

[DUyellow]

40. their mother, father, grandparens, Mother never goes more then 2 days away from them. Father could,,

be calling every 2 hours. Point is, you have no idea.

[Kittycat]

22. I see nothing wrong with what he said. So what's your point?

[Bluebear]

68. I made my point. You just don't happen to agree with it, but thank you for posting.

[Hoof Hearted]

26. I'd just personally prefer they left the calls for "Amens" out of it.

Turns me off.



OFF.

[polticalpout]

32. To me ' Amen' means "right on" and has no religious connotation. /nm

nm

[goclark]

62. Right ~ in that context, "Amen" meant "right on"

We have a long way to go in Race Relations on this Board. :(

[FrenchieCat]

31. Anal......

that's what some posters at DU have become.

Can't even say Amen now!

But I guess, God Bless America is popular since Hillary says it all of the time. :eyes:

[BenDavid]

36. excuse me, the clintons win the parents contest....all ya need to

do is look at the remarkable Chelsea CLinton....Enough said....Obama and michelle will have enough time to rasie their kids up proper.....

[DUyellow]

41. no better place than in the White House.

[bluestateguy]

37. I agreed with him 100%

Part of the problem with our education system in this nation are unsupoprtive and/or incompetent parents. You can spend all the money you want on education, pay teachers more, technology in the classroom, smaller classes; I'm all for that stuff. But it only goes so far if you have parents who do not value education in the home, and do not supplement their children's education with worthwhile activities. People who can't or won't do that should not be parents.

[Bluestar]

38. Forgive Barack--he thought he was at a revival meeting

People have been treating him like the second coming, so why not? Amen indeed!

[goclark]

63. I am diappointed and shocked by the lack of knowledge

about African Americans in this thread.

:(

"Revival Meeting" is insulting.

[Beausoir]

43. Obama is the LAST person I would accept parenting advice from.

He has a problem with gay people.

He has a problem with women.

And his children are invisible to him.

[Name removed]

47. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Barack_America]

48. What a nasty and completely ignorant thing to say.

I suggest that you start coming up with links to back these claims up or edit your post.

Does this look "invisible" to you?

[bluestateguy]

50. That's, um, well....

Bullshit

[Bluerthanblue]

56. you clearly have a problem with the truth-

and with Obama-

:shrug:

hope you find a way to work through it.


peace~

[davidthegnome]

45. Amen

No need to bicker about simple logic.

[anonymous171]

51. I love how HRC'ers think that Hillary is only woman ever to be in politics.

"While Hillary Clinton reminds voters that, if she wins, they can tell their daughters a woman can be President"

So, a woman can't be president? Then why is Hillary even running?

[John Q. Citizen]

52. Who did JFK think he was telling America to be physically fit? The nerve!

[TheDonkey]

54. SHAME ON YOU JFK!

Meet me at Popeyes, then we can have a real debate.

[TheDonkey]

53. Yes, Obama should be allowed to talk about nutrition. For Gods sakes give it a rest

[NastyRiffraff]

58. Personally, I don't feel comfortable with a politician giving parental advice

Not in that sort of detail...with the Popeye's, the VCR, etc. etc. Even telling them how to furnish their home.

Y'know what, Barack (or any other politician who thinks he or she knows ALL about how other families should behave): you have NO business...none...telling me how to raise a family, or how to treat children.

Had he said something general, like we should all pay attention to our health, and that educating our children is vitally important, that would have been okay. But to specifically instruct people he doesn't even know about what to eat, what to watch, even what to BUY (a "little desk"), is arrogant.

As for the "Amen," I don't care for it, but it doesn't offend me as much as Barack the pretend family counselor.

[Levgreee]

71. He was actually being sort of sarcastic/silly when he said that, FYI

[gravity]

59. I really don't understand the problem

I guess people are looking for ways to be offended.

Who is against someone saying to eat nutritiously and read more?

[Bluebear]

69. Thank you for posting. I didn't say I was offended.

My discussion point was whether it is the function of politicians to give life tips, but thanks for posting.

[DDQ]

61. Can I get an Amen here? What happened to the democrats?

I think people will be studying this nomination for years to come.

First the misogyny--as a women I knew it would happen--I just thought it would be more from the republican party

Then the religion within the democratic party--again I thought this would be coming more from the republican party

[Chulanowa]

73. As others have pointed out, it is not religious in usage.

It means exactly the same thing as "hell yeah!" in the manner Obama was using it.

[MagickMuffin]

65. From the Lilies of the Fields: Amen, Amen, Amen

See the little baby, Amen
wrapped in a manger Amen
On Christmas morning,
Amen, Amen, Amen

See him in the temple, Amen
Talking with the elders, Amen
Who marveled at his wisdom
Amen, Amen, Amen

See him at the seaside, Amen
Talking with the fishermen, Amen
Walking the side pales
Amen, Amen, Amen

Oh, to in Jerusalem, Amen
On the top branches, Amen
He talked in splendor
Amen, Amen, Amen

See him in the garden, Amen
Lord have mercy, Amen
Blessed savior
Amen, Amen, Amen

Before Hiram, Amen
They crucified him, Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

[Tatiana]

66. If I'm doing my job as a parent, it doesn't really matter what he says. (He's right.)

As an educator, if parents did some of those things, some of our struggling children would be more successful, IMO.

[Liquorice]

67. If Bush would have said these things

democrats would be jumping all over him. "Do good in school"? Something is not right here. I know he is too intelligent for that to have been a mistake. I guess he is trying to appeal to republican voters. :think:

[Evergreen Emerald]

76. It takse a villiage to raise a child.

Famous, profound words.

[RestoreGore]

77. But don't you know? His girls are "above average"

As he has said many times in speeches. The rest of us don't know how to parent. What arrogance. His broad brush is simply ignorant. But of course, they all LOVE our children when it comes to sending them to war.

[QC]

78. Shrub's nonstop godtalk is bad, but Obama's nonstop godtalk is good.

I can't quite figure it out, but that seems to be the new rule.

[chascarrillo]

79. Yeah, you'd think that Obama would be nominating an HHS Sec and a Surgeon General or something.

:sarcasm:

Also, whether you dig this or not, you have to admit that he's doing a better job of warning against diabetes-risk behaviors than the ballooning Mike Huckabee.

[BlackVelvet04]

80. I can only imagine the outrage of D.U. if bush had asked a crowd

if he could get an Amen.

[conservdem]

82. I am glad he said it and I agree with it.

[PITBOS]

84. Absolutely we need them to be morale leaders*

*

[readmoreoften]

100. A "morale" leader is a cheerleader. A moral leader is a preacher.

And welcome to DU and all that...

[Raejeanowl]

85. Sounds Like Another Revival Meeting To Me n/t

[whatchamacallit]

87. This post is pure shit. Can I get an Amen?

<wank-off hand gesture smiley>

[ecstatic]

88. Amen! nt

[Bluebear]

93. So is your membership here if that's all you have to add.

Another newbie for the ignore pile.

[NorthernSpy]

89. This just proves it: some people will bitch about A N Y T H I N G...

Absolutely anything.


It's true.

[Bluebear]

94. What's interesting is I make positive posts too. You, on the other hand, pure contraryness.

Why is that?

[LWolf]

90. He's right.

He won't get an "amen" from me; if I wanted to hear someone ask for an "amen," I would have attended a protestant church service today.

He won't get my vote, because I don't like his platform or his rhetoric.

I don't mind agreeing with him when he's correct, though. In this instance, he is correct.

[tokenlib]

91. It was an awesome town meeting..Obama was in tune with the audience...

..and he was not in a lecturing people mode--he was identifying with them and sharing common sense sentiments that most of us already know in our hearts. Having watched the event, I find a lot of this "criticism" to be a bit cynical and very off base. Barack was engaging the audience, most everyone was having a positive experience, and a lot of good humor was being shown.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

92. Glad to see that he got something out of the Million Man March ....

It helped him deal with his parental abandonment issues.

[bluestateguy]

95. That's a really cheap shot

Do you even have evidence that he attended that march?

[Bucky]

96. As a teacher who sees the effect of parents who don't parent, I loved his speech

Sure, it was just red meat. But he's doing what Teddy Roosevelt called "using the bully pulpit" of public leadership. He wasn't telling people how to run their lives and he certainly wasn't trying to actaully run their lives; he was just pointing out the truth that often some parents in our a communities ask their children to live up to standards that they themselves don't meet.

And those kids tend to be the ones that interfere in the ability of teachers to deliver a quality education to the other kids in the class.

[cooolandrew]

98. The genius part of this is with the TV off. No-one watches the false smear & momentum goes on.

Still very valid advice for parenting, they are the future of the world give them smarts they can outwit the spin machine.