The real problem with the kerfuffle over Obama’s speech to the nation’s schoolchildren is being glossed over.  Once again, the left wing is so busy saying things like “Reagan did it too!” that they are missing the point entirely.

Like it or not, whether you voted for him or not, Barack Obama is the President of the United States.  He is the Head of State for the United States.  Constitutionally, he is endowed with all the Article II powers contained in that document.  By virtue of his being the first African-American President, his position as one of the pivotal figures in history is all but assured.

How can you possibly argue that it is inappropriate for him to address ANY population in this nation?  How can you possibly argue that it is a bad thing for school children to hear what he has to say?

“Well,” sniff the overzealous right-wing parents, ”What if we don’t agree with what he says?  What if he tries to push his socialist agenda on our kids? Don’t I have the absolute right as a parent to control who gets to speak to my kid?”

To all you overzealous right-wing parents out there, I have a message: Get. A. Grip.

If you think that your kids are so at risk of being persuaded by a single televised speech by President Obama that they will no longer pay heed to the values that you as their parents are teaching them, then you have bigger problems than Obama right now.  Parents are gods to their children.  Every single study that has ever been done on young children shows they will reflect at school the political values that they are taught at home.  Yes, that can change in the teen years.  But supposedly “impressionable” young minds actually receive the most significant influence from their parents, present in their lives and speaking to them every single day.  A single speech from a single man, even if that man is Obama, will not change that.

Do you seriously have that little faith in your beliefs that you do not believe you can have a discussion with your children about the ways in which your values as a family might differ from those they hear about in the President’s speech?  Contrary to your preference as a parent, your kids are not going to live inside a bubble their entire lives.  Sooner or later, they will meet someone, talk to someone, who has values different from yours, ideas different from yours.  If you do not have a plan for what to say to your child when that happens, if you do not know how to communicate why you respect others but do not share their values, then your problem is that you are incompetent parent. 

As for what you have a right to as a parent of a child in the public school system, well,  I must regretfully inform you that your individual preferences are not the only consideration in deciding what your kid will be taught on any specific day.  You have the right to keep your kid home if you don’t like what the school is presenting, but that’s really about it.

Quite frankly, we should be excited whenever the leader of our nation speaks specifically to our children.   Even if it is about something we don’t agree with.  The truth is that it is good for children to know that they should and do matter to their Head of State.  It’s part of raising civic-minded individuals, kids who are proud of this country and want to participate in its traditions.  People who are looking to silence voices they disagree with don’t understand what it is to be an American.

I am sorry to see the left in this country not voicing this opinion more clearly.  We are getting sidetracked on issues of who did it first, whether it’s closet racism, and other interesting but ultimately tangential points. Let’s understand what is really going on here.  The extreme right wing smells blood in the water and is determined to undermine Obama’s Presidency at every turn.  And they are shameless in their willingness to employ any possible means to accuse Obama of being “improper” in some way.  It is time for Obama himself to say “enough.”  This nation was built on the notion that ideas should be heard and discussed, both by grown people and children alike.  Anyone who suggests otherwise is forgetting that this is America.

Obama is the President of the United States.  His right to speak to even its smallest citizens should be inviolate.  What parents discuss with their kids afterwards about what they heard is their business, and their right.

What we really teach our children when we tell them that they shouldn’t hear the words of their President, because he isn’t espousing the party line we personally agree with, is that our identity as Americans is somehow less important than our identity as partisans.  It’s one more nail in the coffin of our national identity, our collective pride in our political system.  We should be teaching our children to respect our President, even when we disagree with him.  And the first step to respecting someone is listening to what they have to say.