Third Graders Sing Obama's Name at Christmas Program

Yesterday, I attended my nine-year-old daughter's Christmas program at her elementary school. It's been a tradition since my oldest son attended the same school many years ago. After yesterday's production, I'm not sure if I'll want to go until 2012.

I was always proud of the fact that the elementary school my kids have gone to and continue to attend wasn't one of those PC schools. In years past, the students sang "Away in a Manger" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in celebration of the Christmas season in between strains of "Frosty the Snowman" and other fun Christmas songs. While hearing reports from other schools that no religious carols were sung, our tiny, rural elementary school defied that mindset...until yesterday.

Gone were the traditional songs of seasons past. This year, Christmas was all about peace, love, the Grinch, Peanuts, and the Chipmunks. One song performed by the fourth grade (my daughter's in third) was titled "An Adult Wish List." Many of the teachers at the school joined the kids in singing this song that, from the teachers' part, referenced how they grew up but they still have a wish list for Santa. The kids' part? Singing about how they wish for lives that weren't broken and no wars. While wanting peace in the world is a noble idea, I'm sure that if you asked them what they wanted for Christmas, the students wouldn't respond "Global peace."

Uneasy with that selection, I waited for the nausea to pass while my daughter's third grade class took the stage. They sang festive songs while my daughter kept waving frantically at us from the stage. This was HER moment, and no one was going to make her sing if she didn't wish to do so. What a diva!

The last song performed by the third grade was "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." After the children sang, the audience was invited to sing along for one more go-round of the traditional Christmas song. While we sang "...you would even say it glows", the kids replied (of course) "Like a lightbulb!!!" It was fun until we reached the end of the song.

As the audience sang "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer....you'll go down in history!", the reply from the kids stunned the entire venue. Their reply to that last line? "LIKE BARACK OBAMA!" I damned near had a stroke. And the anger and resentment over that has stayed with me since.

Since my daughter's class was done and I had to get ready for work anyway, I stood up and left without watching the other classes. I felt awful in doing so, but I didn't want to hear any more PC drivel.

As luck would have it, a group of teachers from that school had their Christmas get together at the bar where I work last night. All of them know me, and they know that I'm not a psycho parent who complains about the least little details. I approached one of the teachers and expressed my disappointment over the program. My point was that I didn't care what political ideology the music teacher subscribed to, but I felt that the kids shouldn't be indoctrinated. I also made the point that ANY historical figure could have been used in the Rudolph song. Michaelangelo....George Washington....Martin Luther King..... History's chock full of great people. PICK ONE! Why BHO? He'll go down in history, all right....as the president who did the most damage to this country in less than a year.

Later in the night, I was talking to someone who works at the school in another capacity. When I related the story to them, they expressed surprise that the music teacher used BHO anyway after a parent allegedly found out beforehand about the indoctrination and called the music teacher to ream her a new one. So now we not only have indoctrination, but we have it in defiance of what parents may feel.

I'm going to watch the rest of the Christmas program on television as our local cable company carries the district's channel. I'm curious to see what other crap was done after I left and before I fire off my letter to the superintendent.

I'll probably watch with a bucket close by.