Through a friend in the White House, I got an advance copy of the full text of President Obama's speech Tuesday. Below the fold
My fellow Americans, and especially children and educators [acknowledge local school leadership]:
thank you for inviting me. I want to talk with you today about your future and our nation's future. To give ourselves the greatest chance in life as individuals, and to make our nation's democracy as full and whole as it may become, each of us must take responsibility for a lifetime of learning.
That means that each of our young people must do two things:
- Stay in school.
- Give their utmost effort.
Because if you don't both stay in school and actually work hard at learning, you could turn into a complete and utter moron. And someone may, for some entirely inexplicable reason, hand you important responsibility.
That portends disaster.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. To that end, let me stop talking and show you what your future looks like if you don't stay in school and actually work at learning, and the terrible future that awaits our country if you don't:
When idiots run the world