Big Daddy
By Adam Graham (07/09/08)
Barack Obama wants seventeen weeks of your life--if you’re a middleschooler. He wants to require Middle and High Schoolers to do 50 hours of Community Service per year. And when you get to college, because you don’t quite have enough on your plate already, he’d like to make you put in 100 hours of Community Service.
Now, for a moment, let’s leave aside little practical considerations such as, “What constitutes community service?” Is helping with Vacation Bible School at your church community service? If not, why not? What about Mormons who, as part of their faith requirements, already render two years of service away from home? Why is the government going to add to that? Does forced volunteerism make kids better? Do the forced efforts of middle schoolers make communities better?
Let’s also forget for a moment (because our politicians will forget it for far longer) that under the Tenth Amendment, this would be an issue that would belong to the States or the people. Usually this type of thing is instituted at the school board level.
Despite government meddling from whatever level, as a matter of principle, teaching kids to care for others is not really a function of States, or even school boards, but rather it’s the job of parents and houses of worship to instill these values.
The presidency is an awesome responsibility as it is. But being Commander-in-Chief of America’s Armed forces isn’t quite enough for Barack Obama. It is not enough to succeed George W. Bush as President of every School board in America. Such petty usurpation of the rights of government entities are beneath the junior Senator from Illinois. Barack Obama will set the values of all of America’s children through a program, usurping the roles of parents as he goes.
What do kids need parents for? Under Obama, they’ll have Big Daddy.
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