Re: WHAT?!?
 

Or even just put that money towards drug education in early grades. I mean, what are you going to do with the drug testing? Kick the kid out of school if he tests positive and put him in juvie? Because yeah, having more uneducated kids who have been in and out of juvie three times before they're 18 is really going to cut back on the drug problem. :rolleyes:

I agree that many many aspects of the speech just showed how out of touch Bush is and how simplistic his worldview can be. The whole No Child Left Behind thing? The drug testing? The abstinence stuff? BLAH. The speech sounded fine but the amount of truth contained therein was arguable.

Anyway here are some of my favorite parts of the speech/the accompianing Wisconsin kid chat:

(1) When the Democrats applauded for the Patriot Act's expiration
(2) How angry the military members in the audience looked
(3) Ted Kennedy
(4) Bush: "Too many kids turn to drugs these days because they are lacking positive role models . . ."
Kath: "'Like me, you know, with that whole coke-snorting thing!'"
(5) Bush: "Abstinence is the only sureproof way to prevent STDs."
Kath: "No it's not. Not sleeping with dirty people is the only sureproof way to prevent STDs."
me: "Like Blaine."
Dirty Blaine: "Yeah, don't sleep with me if you don't want STDs."

At least he admits it.
(6) That whole completely ignoring the first amendment thing, not so cool
(7) When my mom laughed at me as I was chugging away from my Nalgene bottle after Bush said "Iraq," "terror" and alluded to weapons of mass destruction three times in one sentence
(8) How Bush looked like he was trying so hard not to laugh through the entire speech
(9) How cute Tom Daschle is. Damn. I mean for an old guy.

There was something about gay steroid-abusing Muslims too . . .

No mention of OBL.

weapon of mass destruction became programs of weapon of mass destrution became programs related to weapon of mass destruction.

Re: Re: WHAT?!?
 

This is exactly how I feel. I actually started campaigning for myself as a write in at my place of work and have 2 votes so far :).

I have no idea who I am going to vote for but hell will freeze over before I vote for G.W.

Lookie, me and Dick have the same fashion coodinator.

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com...r983892591.jpg

I stood up and said "YOU GO DEMS!"

Ok not really. But I kept thinking of Will Ferrell the whole time.

Re: WHAT?!?
 

I literally screamed out, "WHAT?!?!?!" when I heard him say that. Drug testing is not getting to the root of the problem. Why not spend that $23 million on better after-school programs or public education. Drug testing kids won't stop them from using; kids will just find a better way of covering up their habit.

OH GOD IT WAS AWFUL. I went through about 2 Nalgene bottles but I was also trying to read some CivLib so I wasn't drinking as conscientiously as my cohorts.

23 million won't be enough to wipe a kid's ass. Get real.

And I couldn't care one bit about how teachers feel about the No Child Left Behind Act. Those unionized, lazy, corrupt people have brought down America's education system and the only act they'd love is one that takes responsibility away from them and allows them to do whatever they want.

-Rudey

Aren't NALGENE bottles 32 OZ? a quart...

Re: WHAT?!?
 

Give a man a fish, feed him for a day... Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.

The main issue w/ starving US kids stems from their crackhead parents spending the money on drugs. Stop the drug abuse, end the hunger... Look for a solution my friend, not a temporary patch. Get the drugs out of schools, they do not belong there. Bush may not be the best speaker, but he has great ideas. Granted, the Liberals in this board who bash him only bash his personal flaws. Typical.

Damn, you called me on it. :( I am just a lying liberal.

In my defense I was using my little sister's bottle where the numbers had all rubbed off.

If you actually agreed with the "Give a man a fish" jazz, you wouldn't agree with spending millions of bucks on drug testing, since drug testing doesn't address the root of the problem, just the symptoms. I really don't think drug testing is going to do anything about the drugs themselves -- it will just get the drug users out of schools. Which won't do much for them OR for anybody else.

And can you back up your statement about "the main issue with starving kids is crackhead parents" with any kind of statistics?

NO, I cannot. but I would assume that the majority of our hunger problems IN THE US are a result of drugs...

I actually think it does get to the root of the problem though. Hear me out... I think that most children begin using drugs while in middle/high school. If they can get through these times w/out using, they have a much better chance of being clean for life. I think most kids are just looking for an excuse to NOT use, and this would provide that excuse...

Ever been a teacher, Rudey?

My wife taught high school for a few years and worked her butt off, about 12 hrs. a day during the week and four or five hours on each weekend day between lesson plans and grading papers, etc.

Her father was on a school board, and her grandfather on the state school board.

The only complaint I ever heard from them about this was when the Federal or State government mandated programs, but gave them no funds to implement them.

If you are lucky and your district is able to pass bond issues, etc., that's not so bad, but when you're in a poor district that votes all of those issues down -- educations suffers.

It makes zero sense to me to punish a school that is below standards (whatever "standards" are) by taking away it's funds. That's counterproductive in the worst way. It just makes the school worse. It also punishes the good students in those schools.

very well said! my mom is a teacher and she works incredibly long hours to guarantee her student's success

Although this is off the subject of the State of the Union address:

I agree that's completely counterproductive to take funding away from schools who aren't up to standards. The State of Florida does exactly that. Jeb rates the schools based on FCAT stores. I hate, hate, hate standardized testing but that's a debate for a different time. Schools that rank as an "F" score have their funding taken away while schools that are ranked higher (ie- "A" and "B") will get more funding. Statistically, the schools that were ranked higher were in upper-middle class neighborhoods while schools with lower rankings are in lower-class neighborhoods. The poorer students aren't getting the funding that's needed to improve their reading and math abilities while the upper-class students are getting more money. It's a vicious cycle. The rich are getting more educated and resources every year while the poor get less every year. Teachers at the "F" schools are spending more time teaching their students how to take the FCAT rather than...well...teaching them. I know this because my Aunt and mother have taught at "F" schools. The system obviously doesn't work; Florida was ranked either #48 or #49 in the Nation in terms education. I'm so glad to be out of the Florida public school system.