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Jewish World Review
Jan 20, 2012/ 25 Teves, 5772
If Obama said what Newt said, he'd get a standing 'O'
By
Cheri Jacobus
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
If President Obama proposed in his upcoming State of the Union speech that inner-city kids get paid to be janitors in their own schools, Democrats in Congress would give him a standing ovation led by the members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
When Newt Gingrich suggested inner-city kids be provided the opportunity to earn money as janitors in their schools, the left responded with faux shock and indignation, immediately launching into its tired, predictable tirade, calling the Republican "racist" and accusing him of being condescending and insensitive. The audience at the South Carolina Fox News debate gave Newt a standing ovation. Obama campaign mastermind David Alxelrod is probably irritated he didn't think of it first.
In my family, as in most others all across the country, getting summer jobs as a kid was considered a good thing. A really good thing. There was no shame associated it. It would never have entered our minds that whoever gave us the job was being condescending in any way.
My youngest brother did, in fact, spend a summer as a school janitor, doing routine maintenance, getting the buildings and school grounds ready for the students and faculty returning in the fall. My brother went on to receive his master's degree in counseling psychology, becoming a vocational counselor helping those who have fallen through the cracks get back on their feet and know the dignity of work. My sister and her friends spent a summer as a mere adolescent in the fields detasseling corn, a job that, along with that of the school janitor, has been derided as somehow harmful and just downright wrong for young people to earn money doing. She, her friends and the parents apparently didn't get that memo, and were thrilled at the opportunity.
From picking blueberries, working at Dunkin' Donuts, babysitting and my favorite the summer I spent working the 4-to-midnight shift on a Mack Truck engine assembly line hanging heavy water pumps (got pretty buff that summer and had no need to join a gym, but had grease under my fingernails until Homecoming), my siblings and I, as well as most of my friends, did it all.
The left and the mainstream media are delighted and downright giddy, believing they've captured and bottled their "gotcha" moment to smack Republicans around with between now and Election Day. They believe Newt and the folks in the audience standing up and applauding him have exposed Republicans as racists.
But in their obtuse elitism that is so grossly out of touch with how America thinks, feels and lives whether one checks the box of "white" or "black" or "other" what the left seems to forget or chooses to ignore is that we were all young once and learned the value of these jobs. African-American parents across the country may be wondering why the left is now sending the message that their kids should feel anything other than fortunate that someone is suggesting a way for them to work and earn a little bit of money, and why Democrats and the media are screaming "racism" at the notion.
The stench of hypocrisy hangs heavy in the political air.
Not that I am in the business of giving Democrats political advice, but here's a freebie for President Obama: Steal the issue from Newt. It may even make things uncomfortable for Mitt Romney as the GOP front-runner, which would likely be your chief reason for doing so. But do, by all means, go ahead and include the proposal in your State of the Union address. You will be supported, you will get that standing O that you will need at least two or three of in the speech, as is tradition. But most importantly, poor kids, while still obviously being used as political pawns, as the left is so apt to do, will at least be the beneficiaries of something positive in their lives, rather than being held back and damaged by liberal dogma and the limitations of the agenda of the left.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
To comment, please click here.
JWR contributor Cheri Jacobus, president of Capitol Strategies PR, has managed congressional campaigns, worked on Capitol Hill and is an adjunct professor at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. She is a columnist for The Hill and appears on CNN, MSNBC and FOX News as a GOP strategist.
Previously:
12/01/11: Newt, Mitt and paper tigers
11/20/11: High-tech lynching, part II
09/23/11: Obama: Love me!
09/12/11: Waive wage rule, create jobs
07/25/11: Dems changed their tune
07/15/11: Clinton's bad advice
06/27/11: Cut, cap and balance
06/03/11: Weiner Twitter kerfuffle
05/16/11: Osama, Obama and 2012
04/19/11: Obama's charity state
04/12/11: Dems too crazy to win
03/21/11: Revere real journalism
03/14/11: Dems generous to a fault
03/07/11: Cut with a machete
03/02/11: $100,000,000,000 of waste is immoral
02/28/11: GOP 2012 hopefuls are getting in touch with their inner Cheesehead
02/14/11: Patriot Act needs diligence
06/15/10: Republican girl power
06/01/10: The petulant president
05/26/10: Party like it's 1994
04/26/10: For animals' sake, or yours
04/19/10: My friend Michael Steele should resign
03/16/10: Waste, fraud and abuse
02/24/10: Put down the shovel
12/22/09: Hurry up and slow down
11/24/09: Jury of peers
11/10/09: Czar light, czar bright
11/02/09: Reid's landmines
10/26/09: Public option for Congress
10/19/09: Big Brother wins
10/13/09: Dancin' DeLay
09/26/09: Paterson under the bus
09/14/09: Start over, Mr. President
© 2009, Cheri Jacobus
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