Huffington Post, CNN----
Laura Bush Praises Obama, Defends Back-To-School Speech
(Former First Lady Laura Bush talks CNN's Zain Verjee. She defends Pres. Obama's School Speech.)
Former first lady Laura Bush on Monday expressed support for President Barack Obama's decision to speak to the nation's school children, saying it is "really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States."
In an interview with CNN, Mrs. Bush, a former school teacher, said, "There's a place for the president of the United States to talk to school children and encourage school children" to stay in school. And she said parents and others also need to send that message.
Obama's planned remarks Tuesday to be broadcast by C-SPAN to many schools across the country has drawn protests from conservatives and some parents who said the president is trying to indoctrinate the nation's children. Some parents have said they plan to keep their children home from school because of the Obama speech.
"That's their right," Mrs. Bush said. "That certainly is the right of parents to choose what they want their children to hear in school."
"I also think it's also really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States," she said.
Obama in his speech will urge students to stay in school.
"What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country," Obama will tell the students, according to a transcript released Monday by the White House. "What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future."
Mrs. Bush also decried the extreme political partisanship in the nation.
"We're polarized. ... A lot of people on the right, a lot of people on the left. We've seen that for the last eight years. ... We're still seeing it," she said.
Mrs. Bush praised Obama's performance under difficult circumstances. "He's tackled a lot to start with and that's made it difficult," she said.
She said her husband has refused to criticized Obama because he believes the new president "deserves the respect and no second guessing on the part of a former president."
Still, she said Vice President Dick Cheney, who has been sharply critical of Obama, "has every right to speak out. ... It's certainly Vice President Cheney's right to say whatever he wants to say."
Mrs. Bush was interviewed in Paris, where she was helping promote global literacy as part of a United Nations meeting.
Republican President spoke to Students ... in 1991
The President of the United States speaks to students across the country.
One political party supports the idea, saying it will encourage students to succeed.
The other political party criticizes the speech, saying it is a political ploy.
That sounds a lot like the situation unfolding before President Obama's speech this afternoon to U.S. students -- except the other case was in 1991.
That time, it was a Republican president, George H.W. Bush.
And in 1986, President Reagan conducted a question-and-answer session with students -- an event that was nationally televised and included Reagan discussing political matters such as national defense funding and taxes.
Some Democrats responded furiously to Bush's speech 18 years ago to U.S. students, even launching Congressional hearings into the matter. Democrats asked the General Accounting Office to look into the expenditure of federal money on the speech -- but the GAO cleared the Bush administration, saying it had done nothing wrong.
A check of the Observer's archives shows no response by lawmakers and the public to Reagan's comments with students more than 20 years ago. Apparently, that was a gentler time in politics.
On Oct. 2, 1991, President Bush spoke to students at Alice Deal Junior High School in the northwest part of the District of Columbia.
The president's comments sounded a lot like those contained in an advance copy of Obama's speech.
"When it comes to your own education, what I'm saying is take control," Bush said in 1991. "Don't say school is boring and blame it on your teachers. Make your teachers work hard. Tell them you want a first class education.
"If you don't work hard, who gets hurt? If you cheat, who pays the price? If you cut corners, if you hunt for the easy A, who comes up short?"
Bush spoke shortly after noon that day, and his address to students aroused both opposition and support.
The opposition came from some Democrats.
The party that has supported Obama's speech today was critical of the idea in 1991.
"The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president," House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said at the time. "It should be helping us to produce smarter students."
His argument -- that the speech is a waste of valuable time -- is being used by some Republicans and conservatives who oppose Obama's address today.
Other Democrats criticized the speech as "arrogance of power," according to press reports at the time.
Of course, Republicans supported Bush's address to students.
"Why is it political for the president of the United States to discuss education?" Georgia Congressman Newt Gingrich asked. "It was done at a nonpolitical site and was beamed to a nonpolitical audience."
Interestingly, Gingrich appeared Sunday on "Fox News Sunday" and supported Obama's speech -- provided the president stays away from political comments.
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Sources: CNN, Huffington Post, Charlotte Observer, Wikipedia, Google Maps
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