President Obama, after facing excoriating criticism from parents and others for a planned speech to public school students that originally was accompanied but a curriculum that encouraged kids to support the president, stayed carefully in the encouraging mode during the broadcast portion of the speech today.

But in a conversation with students in the Wakefield High School in Virginia

used as a staging area for his broadcast speech, he couldn't stop himself from bringing up the subject of his biggest goal for his administration: his proposed health care takeover.

The issue came after a student identified as "Sam" raised a question about what motivates the president to do his work.

"Some of it is just you don't want to fail. Right?" the president said. "A lot of people are counting on me. And so even when I'm really tired or things aren't going exactly the way I thought they would be going, or there's just a lot of problems that are landing on my desk, I think about all the struggles that a lot of people are going through around the country and I say to myself, it's such an honor to be in this job; I can't afford to get tired; I just want to make sure that I'm doing the best that I can do for those folks."

He continued, "And one of the things that we started doing as soon as I came in – we get thousands of letters – I think it's 40,000 letters a day – letters or e-mails – a day from people all across the country, on all different subjects. And one of the things we started doing was trying to get 10 letters every day, sort of a sample of letters that I read personally. So at the end of my day, along with my big briefing book of things I have to read to prepare for the next day – education policy, or health care, or what's happening in Afghanistan – I have these 10 letters from ordinary folks," Obama said.

"And you read these letters and some of them are really inspiring. People talk about how they're the first in their family to go to college, and they're having to work full-time but they're sure that they are going to get a better job and a better career, and so they're sticking with it even though that it's hard.

"Some of the stories are really depressing. You hear about people who are sick but don't have health care, and suddenly they get a bill for $100,000, and there's no way they can pay for it, and they're about to lose their house," he said.

"And you're just reminded that the country is full of really good people who sometimes are going through a hard time. They just need a break. They need a little bit of help. Maybe the way things are set up right now isn't always fair for people, and that motivates you, because you say, well, I can't make everything perfect, I can't prevent somebody from getting sick, but maybe I can make sure that they've got insurance so that when they do get sick, they're going to get some help.

He elaborated when another student, in fact, asked about health care.

"Sean," said, "Currently 36 countries have universal health coverage, including Iraq and Afghanistan, which have it paid for by the United States. Why can't the United States have universal health coverage?"

"Well, I think that's the question I've been asking Congress, because I think we need it. I think we can do it. And I'm going to be making a speech tomorrow night talking about my plan to make sure that everybody has access to affordable health care," Obama said.

Components of the mainstream media ridicules parents who were concerned Obama's speech would become political.

On NBC, John Harwood said, "I got to tell you, as someone who has covered Washington a long time, this is one of the most ridiculous controversies I've ever seen, and so far as I can tell, the biggest danger to kids in this whole thing is a lot of the parents complaining aren't smart enough to raise them very effectively, cause if you think that a president coming into your kids schools saying work hard, stay in school is a danger to your kids, you've got some problems"...

According to the Hot Air Pundit, Brian Williams on the NBC Nightly News also asked how the president's speech got "hijacked."

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended the president's plan to encourage students and raise the issue of personal responsibility in an interview on CNN.

"The president spoke from the heart," Duncan said. "He's, you know, working hard on health care. He's fighting two wars around the country. It's the toughest economy since the Depression. And despite all of those challenges, he comes back day after day, week after week, to education."

Duncan dismissed concerns from Jim Greer, the chairman of the Florida Republican party, who said, "We have Barack Obama the auto king. We have Barack Obama the banker, soon to be Barack Obama the doctor. We don't need Barack Obama the schoolteacher. And the White House should have stayed out of the classrooms."

But a group of family-support and traditional values groups including the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, praised those schools where officials did not force students to watch.

"In some cases, the schools made this decision after parents’ complaints, but in other cases the schools took the initiative after realizing the public relations nightmare the U.S. Department of Education and the president had placed them in and they opted out. The AFA of PA commends those schools which have chosen to do what is best for their students and keep academics in the forefront of their mission,” said president Diane Gramley.

The group criticized Duncan and Obama for choosing "to undermine local control through bypassing school boards."

"Many parents have become aware of the social engineering that takes place in their children’s schools and are becoming increasing wary of President Obama and his association with questionable characters. President Obama and Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayes worked together on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge education initiative. This work included overseeing grants to Michael Klonsky, an avowed communist and a member of the militant Students for a Democratic Society," the group said.

"To fully understand the danger our nation’s children are in, one need only remember that Barack Obama and Arne Duncan are responsible for choosing homosexual activist Kevin Jennings as the new assistant deputy secretary, Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools. Yes, parents, school boards and administrators have every reason to be very wary of anything that comes out of the federal Department of Education and the White House,” continued Gramley.

WND reported a day earlier when a text of Obama's speech was released.

It had the president telling students to wash their hands to avoid the flu and stay in class.

"We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that – if you quit on school – you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country," the prepared text said.

As WND reported, worksheets originally provided by the U.S. Department of Education encouraged teachers to ask pre-K through 6th-grade students the following questions:

• What is the president trying to tell me to do?

• What is the president asking me to do?

• What new ideas and actions is the president challenging me to think about?

The suggestions also included asking students to write down "key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful," make posters of their goals, create a "supportive community" by sharing those goals with one another.

Junior-high and high-school students may be asked to brainstorm answers to the following questions before the speech:

• Why does President Obama want to speak with us today?

• How will he inspire us?

• How will he challenge us?

• What might he say?

They are encouraged to take notes while Obama speaks about personal responsibility, goals or persistence. As part of a "guided discussion," they may talk about what Obama has inspired or challenged them to do.

But the speech plans – promoted directly to schools and teachers bypassing parents – raised objections from the beginning. It also drew accusations that the speech may even be a violation of the law.

"Obama has pushed his political agenda to the extreme by forcing himself on America's children," Staver said in a statement today. "Obama's political agenda on healthcare and his expansive vision for government is being rejected by the American people. Now Obama is after our children, who, like some socialist members of Congress, have not read the healthcare bill. Americans do not appreciate the president's attempt to use our children as political pawns in his game of chess. Mr. President, you must abide by the rule of law and stop this illegal activity. Our children do not belong to you," said Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel as well as dean of Liberty University School of Law.

Staver's critique cited 20 U.S.C. § 3403, which regards the Department of Education and states, "No provision of a program administered by the Secretary or by any other officer of the Department shall be construed to authorize the Secretary or any such officer to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system."

Staver's concerns were echoed by others as well, including Liberty Legal Alliance spokesman Matt Barber, who said, "Not only is this a violation of federal law, it's just plain creepy. It's surreal. Obama's actions here are right out of the playbooks of Saul Alinsky and Chairman Mao. Soviet Russia? Sure. America? No way. I'm furious. Hands off my children, Mr. President!"

WND also reported when the Texas Justice Foundation warned the "classroom activities" suggested by the president's administration connected to the speech possibly were illegal.

"The questions, comments, evaluations and analysis that occurs before, during, and after the president's speech will clearly 'reveal information concerning political affiliations' and probably, 'critical appraisals of other individuals with whom the child(ren) has/have close family relationships' (such as parents)," the foundation said in an analysis of the situation.

"This is perhaps one of the greatest invasions of personal privacy and injecting political affiliation into the public school system in the history of the United States," the Texas Justice Foundation said.

The group cited the Pupil Rights Amendment:

"It also violates 34 Code of Federal Regulations Section 98.4[c] [1] and [2] that defines psychological testing as:

(1) Psychiatric or psychological examination or test means a method of obtaining information, including a group activity, that is not directly related to academic instruction and that is designed to elicit information about attitudes, habits, traits, opinions, beliefs or feelings; (emphasis added)

(2) Psychiatric or psychological treatment means an activity involving the planned, systematic use of methods or techniques that are not directly related to academic instruction and that is designed to affect behavioral, emotional, or attitudinal characteristics of an individual or group. (emphasis added)

Texas Justice Foundation officials said the group activities suggested by the Department of Education "are not directly related to academic instruction and that are designed to elicit information about attitudes, habits, traits, opinions, beliefs, or feelings."

"At this time of intense controversy over the president's far-reaching plans to transform America, it is incredible that he would consider using children to advance his political agenda," Justice Foundation President Allan Parker said. "It violates the constitutional right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children, federal law and is perhaps the greatest intrusion of a president into the education process in the history of the United States. In the opinion of the Texas Justice Foundation lawyers, it is both morally and legally wrong."

Liberty Counsel described Obama's actions as "an unprecedented and an illegal political move."

WND telephone calls and e-mails to the White House press office did not generate a response.

Officials with the Thomas More Law Center said they suggested to concerned parents that students go to school, wearing black arm bands.

Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel for the center, said, "Many Americans view the president's speech and the distributed lesson plan as an attempt to foster the cult of personality. It provides a pretext for liberal teachers to engage in political indoctrination. Students should not have to miss school because of the president, but can teach him a lesson in constitutional protesting by wearing the black arm bands."

This type of protest, the law firm notes, was the same type of student protest of the Vietnam War that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

www.wnd.com/index.php