Obama Under Fire on Message to Students

(Sept. 3) -- The right side of the blogosphere is buzzing about next week's presidential speech. Not the address to Congress about health care reform on Wednesday -- the message to America's schoolchildren he'll deliver Tuesday morning.

President Obama's speech on the day many kids start classes this year will urge students to be responsible and stay in school. But some conservatives are up in arms over what they see as an attempt to spread Obama's "socialist ideology," as Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer put it. There's even an online movement encouraging parents to protest by calling in to work sick and keeping their children home from school on Sept. 8.

The White House denies there's anything political about Tuesday's speech, but the government's suggested lesson plans for teachers have been changed because of the conservative criticism. A call for students to write about "what they can do to help the president“ has been cut.

An incident in Utah is also stoking fears about government indoctrination of students.

The principal of an elementary school in Farmington showed this "I Pledge" video at an assembly. It begins with images of President Obama talking about patriotism, hard work and responsibility, followed by celebrities making pledges. Most are apolitical, but in one clip, Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis says, "I pledge to be of service to Barack Obama."

Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Utah Eagle Forum, blasted the video as "radical, leftist propaganda." A school district spokesman says the PTA board picked the video and the principal -- who hadn't seen it before it was shown to kids -- has apologized.

The 1969 auto accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne haunted Ted Kennedy personally and politically for the rest of his life.

In just-released excerpts from the late senator's upcoming memoir, Kennedy admits he "made terrible decisions" and his behavior at Chappaquiddick was "inexcusable." The book 'True Compass,' to be published this month, includes regretful accounts of his heavy drinking and womanizing -- but also new details about life in the Kennedy family.

Speculation about who might take Kennedy's Senate seat has focused on other Kennedys. But there's a new name in the mix -- and he's not even a Democrat. Former Major League pitcher Curt Schilling is expressing "some interest" in running. Schilling -- a World Series hero for Kennedy's beloved Boston Red Sox -- is a registered independent who supported President Bush in 2004 and John McCain last year.

Even with no Kennedy in the Senate now, the family legacy remains everywhere in Washington. A new White House photo of Sasha Obama and her dad in the Oval Office is just one reminder of that.