Creepy collectivism in these lines from the classroom speech?

If you quit on school, you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country….

Don’t ever give up on yourself, because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America [is] about people…who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best….

What will a President who comes here in 20 or 50 or 100 years say about what all of you did for this country?…

Someone like him, he means, making it explicit:

I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down. Don’t let your family down or your country down.

I? Us? Then family and country. Wow. “Creepy” is right, “the president as national dad.”  Straight from the shoulder of the Maximum Leader.

Or as Dr. Helen asks, “Who Cares What Presidents Think?”

Rather than this “What can you do for your country?” stuff, she refers to Milton Friedman:

The paternalistic “what your country can do for you” implies that government is the patron, the citizen the ward, a view that is at odds with the free man’s belief in his own responsibility for his own destiny.

The organismic, ‘what you can do for your country’ implies that government is the master or the deity, the citizen, the servant or the votary. To the free man, the country is the collection of individuals who compose it, not something over and above them.

He is proud of a common heritage and loyal to common traditions. But he regards government as a means, an instrumentality, neither a grantor of favors, and gifts, nor a master or god to be blindly worshipped and served.

Can you imagine getting elected representative of the 7^th Illinois district on such a platform?  Telling people about their glorious personal responsibility?  After 70–plus years of creeping creepy collectivism?

Spokesman Robert Gibbs about objectors to Oh-bama addressing school children:

“It’s a sad state of affairs that many in this country politically would rather start an ‘Animal House’ food fight rather than inspire kids to stay in school, to work hard, to engage parents to stay involved and to ensure that the millions of teachers that are making great sacrifices continue to be the best in the world.”

It’s in The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room, where it picked up 420 comments as of 10:30 Monday night, the first of which, by “tropicgirl,” is quite good:

This would never have happened if people did not dislike the president so much. There are many reasons for that, and Glibbs [sic] needs to take responsibility for some of that dislike he has helped create, because of his sour attitude, along with the inexperienced, off-timing and condescending reputation those around the president have helped create. [Italics added]

Yes, these are flip wise guys, from Rahm E. on down.  Remember when gravitas was an issue?

The second commenter qualifies the first nicely, without shooting it down:

It’s not a matter of “liking” it’s a matter of “trusting.” I voted for him, regret it. The bottom line, “We – most of the American People” now, do not trust him.

If not most, then an awful lot.  He’s a jerk.

How we doin’?  Depends whom you ask.  Here’s a graph worth studying:

(Oops, not all of it prints, including note that says maroon dots are actual unemployment data, everything in blue was created by Obama’s economic team.)

It’s from Innocent Bystanders by way of Power Line, which notes that Biden says the stimulus is working better than expected, then adds:

Biden’s dissociation from reality is nearly complete, but one wonders: aren’t there any journalists who are capable of looking up the administration’s predictions and asking Biden fact-based questions? Or is that considered too much work? 

Yes.  Too much.

Biden also plays the morality card:

“I believe this was the right thing to do morally,” Biden said in a speech the White House billed as a major address. “It was also the smart thing to do economically.”

I wouldn’t say it that way.  I’d say it’s the right thing because it’s the smart thing, understood “we’d be derelict in our duty” if we didn’t do it.

But if it’s not working, it’s not smart, and therefore not right.  He’s better off leaving morality out of it.  It’s the last refuge of political scoundrels.

But what if “[t]he unemployment rate went up to 9.7% [in August], reversing the improvement we saw in July,” as Innocent B. says, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting?

And what if jobs are down too, as here?

Sign of government activity that is neither smart nor moral. 

Oh-bama is not welcome in schoolrooms in lots of places.   In the Detroit area,

Districts throughout the suburbs have been hit with complaints from parents who are worried about their children hearing a message from Obama that they won’t have a chance to preview.

I wouldn’t want him talking to my kids or grandchildren.  Don’t trust him.

The districts acknowledge that the message is intended to stress the importance of education and taking responsibility for learning. Some parents say the uproar is much ado about nothing.

Nope.  Nothing he and Axelrod do is about nothing.  Typical Democrats, always campaigning.  Stay away from kids.

Mike Reno, a member of the Rochester [MI] Board of Education, said the idea behind the message is noble, but the timing is bad because of the politically charged climate.

It will always be bad, because always politically charged.  Dems keep it that way. 

[Rory] Cooper [of Heritage Foundation] criticized Obama for pushing his message through both the official White House Web site and Organizing for America’s BarackObama.com. 

“Barack Obama needs to quit the perpetual campaign … he needs to choose which one he’s going to communicate with the American public through,” Cooper said.

But crisis mode suits them.  They dare not waste crises, because those are the golden harvest times for statist schemes.

For instance, health care legislation will (a) save money and (b) provide care for all.  Sure.  Increase services at lower cost.  No.  The cost of snake oil is what should worry us.  It’s going higher and higher, always does when Dems are in charge.

Later: I see Ann Coulter has an idea about that talking to school children, related to one of Oh-bama’s splendid czar choices.