The Red Scare of 2009??

I had to give myself a few days to calm down after the craziness that happened here in Queen Creek over President Obama's speech to school children. I was disappointed that our school district didn't give our kids the choice to watch the speech. They just made an executive decision to ban it from all classrooms. However, I was APPALLED at the emails and Facebook comments regarding the speech. I will not give names but here are just a sample of what was sent around:

"??? voted 'No' in the "Should President Obama be allowed to address school children?" poll! What's your opinion? Can we say, Hitler? I will not allow him to brainwash my child."

AND

"It is my personal opinion that this is an attempt at indoctrinating our youngsters from the highest levels of government. We need not look too far for history to teach us that many dictatorial and socialist leaders and regimes throughout time have found great success in beginning by indoctrinating the very young."

Comments like this made me think, "When did we get so paranoid and why are these people choosing to live in fear instead of having Faith?" There is so much talk about Obama being a SOCIALIST that it is driving me crazy. I think many people are confusing SOCIALISM and COMMUNISM.

It reminded me about learning about the Red Scares from 1917 to 1920 and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. Remember these Scares were characterized by the fear that communism would upset the capitalist social order in the United States. I seriously think this is what people are so afraid of now. If we all think rationally, Obama is not trying to upset the capitalist society in the US, he simply wanted to encourage kids to stay in school and to work hard and be responsible..... is that such a bad thing? Do we seriously need to pull our kids out of school and call Obama HITLER? Seriously PEOPLE??

I found this in the editorial section of the paper and LOVE it: "Although I was quite young during the "Red Scare" in the early 1950s, I always wondered what it was like to be in fear of rousing Sen. Joe McCarthy's suspicions. Now I know. I see near-hysterical people shouting at their legislators to keep our country from becoming socialized or even (gasp) communist. Now parents want to keep their children out of the classroom so that they don't have to be subjected to watching their president inspire children about education. These parents need to get a grip, set a good example for their children and let them learn to think for themselves, something many of the parents have not mastered."

Hayden then came home from a friends house and he told me, "??'s Dad said, You are Mormon and your parents voted for Obama?" I guess I wasn't aware that being a Mormon automatically made you a Republican. I am a registered Republican, however I study and vote the issues. I would never stand in a voting booth and vote for someone ONLY because he is a member of the GOP.

Did you know that Senate Majority Leader HARRY REID is a Member of the Church. Yup that is right a DEMOCRAT and a MORMON. Imagine that??

Here is what he said about being a Democrat and a Mormon and I agree with him 100%. "I think it is much easier to be a good member of the Church and a Democrat than a good member of the Church and a Republican." He went on to say that the Democrats' emphasis on helping others, as opposed to what he considers Republican dogma to the contrary, is the reason he's a Democrat.[50] He delivered a speech at BYU to about 20,000 students on October 9, 2007, in which he expressed his opinion that Democratic values mirror Mormon values."

I just find that many Republican's are filled with anger and rage and they are so quick to be defensive about every little thing. The more I hear and read, the farther I am pushed to the left. While I don't agree with everything President Obama is and has done, I do consider what the alternative might have been if the OTHER guy would have won the election. Wow, that is a terrifying thought! I choose to continue to live in FAITH, knowing that I dictate my kids and my family's future. I will not fear the US government or those elected to lead our country. I will continue pray for their wise decisions and that they can lead our country in peace.

Oh by the way, I did watch the speech with my kids after school and you know what?? They thought it was cool that the President was talking to them. They laughed and pointed at each other when he talked about too much time playing video games, and Hayden said he didn't hear anything he hadn't heard from Sal and I already. I appreciated the "brainwashing" that President Obama did last week. I hope you did too!