Why were NJ children singing Obama song scrutinized?
The Burlington Township School District in New Jersey is no stranger to political controversy. The district, which is being criticized for a video that shows elementary school students singing President Obama’s praises, drew howls in March 2007 when it hosted an “emergency management exercise” at Burlington Township High School. The purpose of the mock terror drill, according to a statement released by township officials, was to “evaluate the response and mitigation procedures” of police, fire and emergency medical services. But conservatives were incensed that the district invented a fictional right-wing fundamentalist group it called the “New Crusaders” for the exercise. Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin and other bloggers criticized emergency management officials at the time for allegedly singling out right-wing Christian fundamentalists. Township officials later apologized for any “insensitivities” raised. “The scenario chosen was intended to be generic in nature and never to of
BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A school for kindergartners through second-graders in a comfortable Philadelphia suburb has become the latest target of accusations by conservatives that schoolchildren are being indoctrinated to idolize President Barack Obama. The controversy grows out of a school assembly during Black History Month in February, when gripes about the freshly inaugurated president were still mostly hushed. That month, a group of smiley and fidgety students at B. Bernice Young School sang a medley of two short songs praising the president. The first song begins, “Mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack Hussein Obama/He said that all must lend a hand/To make this country strong again.” The second one was set to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and included the refrain, “Hooray, Mr. President.” While the performance is seven months old, the outrage is new and came about because of the discovery of a YouTube video. It’s been fodder for conservative opinion leaders such as columnist and blogger M
A school for kindergartners through second-graders in a comfortable Philadelphia suburb has become the latest target of accusations by conservatives that schoolchildren are being indoctrinated to idolize President Barack Obama. The controversy grows out of a school assembly during Black History Month in February, when gripes about the freshly inaugurated president were still mostly hushed. The notion that schoolchildren are being subjected to partisan politics rather than taught civics emerged earlier this month before an Obama speech to students was played in thousands of schools. Superintendent Christopher Manno defended the performance in Friday’s editions of the Burlington County Times. Sources: http://www.google.
