The President's Speech on Early Childhood Education for Feb. 14, 2013 (VIDEO)

"I didn't ask you a question..." (VIDEO)

Cheryl, a teacher from Colorado, describes a roundtable she participated in with Mitt Romney.

Needless to say, it did not go well.

Progress for the People: Education - 2012 Democratic National Convention Video

The President's complete Speech from Iowa State University for August 29, 2012 (VIDEO)

Professor Derrick Bell and something called full context. (VIDEO)

Nice try, Andrew Breitbart. You lived as a racist, and clearly you died as one.

Watch Obama Speaks at Harvard Law in '90 on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

UPDATE: 11:19am Pacific:

A reader on the Daily Dish pointed something about this video that pretty much parallels what I thought all day:

When I saw that video making the rounds yesterday, I didn't watch it. Do you know why? I'd already SEEN it. It was part of a PBS Frontline documentary that came out in 2008. It's available for instant streaming on Netflix. Dud, indeed.

Here now is the Frontline Segment that I too saw, and downloaded, YEARS ago:



Hmm. Took ten times the grief from the Liberals on the Law Review than the Conservatives. Now where have I heard that before?

The President speaks in front of the UAW, and gives a BARNBURNER!! (VIDEO)

Oohhhh, YEAH!!

President Obama discusses College Affordability in Ann Arbor, Michigan (VIDEO)

I'll resist making any commentary...

...but I expect multiple visits to Columbus, OH in compensation.



UPDATE: 2:59pm, Pacific: Ugh. Denard Robinson was in the House? Well, Coach Meyer will be waitin' for him come the 2012 Season. GO BUCKEYES!!!

What heroism can look like... (VIDEO)

Yes, even here on a political blog, the Penn State Scandal's icy claw can reach in. But this was too good not to share.



To stand against the winds of adversity. To speak against the mob.  Man, that's something.

This may be Veteran's Day, and there may be bolder, more life-threatening, more life-changing kinds of heroism than this, but in terms of what it means to be an American? You'll find few better examples.

And bear in mind, apparently the kid wearing the Dorsett jersey (not a good thing in my mind since I'm a Redskins fan) is a cousin of Dorsett's. All the cheap shots thrown his way? The kid didn't blink. Good for him. I hope he runs for office, because despite his nefarious Dallas Cowboys connection, he may just get my vote..

Remember when Democrats were jumping ship to join the GOP? Well...

...its starting to happen in reverse:

Alabama State Rep. Daniel Boman, who entered the legislature as a Republican in November, is switching parties to become a Democrat after he says the GOP went too far in attacking teachers in the state.

Yeah, its only a State House in Alabama...

...but dang! It's Ala-freakin'-bama.

The Fireside Chat for May 20th, 2011 (VIDEO)

Having just given the commencement address at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, which has made inspiring progress in recent years, the President says Congress must replace No Child Left Behind to help all our schools thrive.

"Hello, Memphis..." (VIDEO)

Following up on my post from earlier this week.

Race to the Top comes through for Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, TN (VIDEO)

I'm hoping they put the speech up somewhere, because it looks like a good time was had by all.



This last bit was first caught by The Only Adult In The Room:

President Obama's Commencement Address at Miami Dade College (VIDEO)

President Obama delivers the commencement address to graduating students at Miami Dade College in Miami, FL.

Finally, something Megan Fox did I can watch without shame or loss of pride! Even though its a year old. (VIDEO)

Great catch by @steveweinstein.

After surviving the horrors of Transformers 1 & 2 (on HBO only, never in the theaters), I finally have a piece of Megan Fox footage I can watch without shame.

Hot for Teachers w/ Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green from Megan Fox

I'm just sorry I missed it when it came out. My bad.

But think, this was out there when y'all were going to the ballot box, and the problem's not only still there, its gotten worse.  Way to go people who didn't help re-elect Democrats.

TPM: Rep. Ron Paul: "Education is Not a Right" (VIDEO)

You can vote for who you want to, but this is who you're dealing with:

No one has a right to anyone's wealth, I don't have a right to come to you and say my poor kid needs 500 dollars for an education, an education is not a right, medical care is not a right.

-Ron Paul

Today

Why I still have very mixed-to-bad feelings about Michelle Rhee.

For every article about Michelle Rhee that I save in Evernote that's positive, there's at least one that's negative. In my gut, for me personally, I think she's a little too fascinated with herself.  (A chronic case of Ed Schultz disease, and in this case it's not a TV Show that's gone to her head, but a whole movie).

I think one of the points in this Slate piece summarized this doubt nicely:

The fact that Rhee is a hard-working Ivy League graduate makes the elite press respect her as one of their own. And Rhee's flair for the dramatic makes her irresistible. In his well-written and highly favorable biography, The Bee Eater, Richard Whitmire recounts that as a teacher in Baltimore, Rhee grabbed the attention of her students one day when she swatted a bee flying around the classroom and promptly swallowed it. As a chancellor, Rhee once told a film crew, "I'm going to fire somebody in a little while. Do you want to see that?"

If she's not careful (and Michelle Rhee often isn't), she can come off as..."Hey, if we just treat these brown kids rougher, they'll do better with less money!"

Why?  Because you say so?

I don't think Teacher's Unions are to blame for what's happening in Education.  I think it boils down to what usually ails progress in America, our fellow Americans.

We still keep falling for this bull@#$% about a free lunch.  We demand first class Government, with Third World Tax Rates.  We want the best, as long as we don't have to pay for it...ever.  We want to do things on the cheap, and are somehow shocked (shocked I tell you) that the kiddies grades and test scores are suffering.

Only we are that myopic, and Michelle Rhee didn't help.

At the same time, I think that Michelle Rhee's right about the problems we face.  I do think its too hard to fire problem Teachers.  I personally don't have problem with merit-based pay, but if we're going to do that, we really need to start paying Teachers like Doctors or Lawyers (Public Universities do it at the collegiate level).  And the notion of a Teacher spending even a fraction of their own meager pay to cover for supplies or books is obscene.

Still, I thought this paragraph really encapsulated my doubts about her, or at the very least, the rhetoric that blasts Teacher's Unions:

Most education researchers, though, recognize that Rhee's simple vision of heroic teachers saving American education is a fantasy, and that her dramatic, often authoritarian, style is ill-suited for education. If the ability to fire bad teachers and pay great teachers more were the key missing ingredient in education reform, why haven't charter schools, 88% of which are nonunionized and have that flexibility, lit the education world on fire? Why did the nation's most comprehensive study of charter schools, conducted by Stanford University researchers and sponsored by pro-charter foundations, conclude that charters outperformed regular public schools only 17 percent of the time, and actually did significantly worse 37 percent of the time? Why don't Southern states, which have weak teachers' unions, or none at all, outperform other parts of the country?

Kids, remember, don't tug on Superman's cape (VIDEO)

President Obama meets with students, their families and others that worked on the film, "Waiting For Superman". The President invited them into the Oval Office and the group then watched him depart in Marine One.



And yes, I remember being that age.  If I were those kids, I'd probably would have been more excited about watching a real live Helicopter take off than seeing the President.  Fortunately, I've grown up since then.

The worst part about Education funding?  It takes 18-20 years to see how good of a job it did.

The White House does a good job with these videos.  I have to confess, "Waiting for Superman" is a movie I'm almost afraid to see, but I'll bite the bullet and see it.

The Fireside chat for October 9, 2010 (VIDEO)

The President explains that even as we focus on creating jobs immediately, we must also ensure the economy is better for our children by investing in education – not cutting it by 20% as Congressional Republicans propose.

The President's Conference Call with Student-Journalists (AUDIO)

Right around noon today the President took some time for a conference call with college and university student-journalists. He explained that part of the reason he was reaching out was to keep them engaged with their democracy:



Bear in mind there ain't a lot of video here. It's all audio, intersperse with photos of the President.

The President's Interview on NBC's Today Show "Education Nation" (VIDEO)

An long format interview with the President ona major Broadcast network mostly on Education? Why, tell me more!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

By the way, the President's answer wasn't as harsh as the Post made it sound. The story covered the answer adequately, but the headline was a tad bit sensationalistic.

Matt Lauer took a stab at the Velma Hart issue, and failed miserably. Actually, he sounded like an idiot when he asked the question.

Lauer was better on the Clinton issue, and the idea that Democrats have not been rigorous enough.

And really, a Rahmbo question? Really??

UPDATE: 10:37am Pacific Sept. 28th: Okay. Maybe the Rahmbo question was legit after all.