A tongue-in-cheek cheer for Supt.

I would like to thank Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard for “protecting our schoolchildren” from what apparently was our president’s attempt to unduly indoctrinate them.

I’m sorry he was “troubled that so many folks believe we were susceptible to political considerations and/or complaints regarding this decision.”

I can’t imagine any pressure being exerted by the predominantly Republican constituency who are still traumatized over November’s election. Also, the less than a week’s notice (of this questionable address to be given by the president of the United States) just simply wasn’t enough time to “prepare district servers for the broadcast.”

How fortunate that “no one brought up the idea of broadcasting the speech in school gyms and showing it to students there.”

Bravo, well done!

I want to thank Hubbard for protecting our children from hearing our president say such provocative and manipulative things as, “Every single one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is.”

The president also said: “At the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents and the best schools in the world, and none of that will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities.”

If that weren’t enough, he continued with: “The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.”

I’m sure thankful our children were not exposed to that!

I’m glad the president made the speech available before televising it so that Hubbard could read it to determine that the potentially harmful, subversive content needed parental approval before making it available to the children in our school district.

Undoubtedly, President Reagan and President George H.W. Bush submitted the speeches they gave to schoolchildren for “approval” before delivering those years ago.

I’m confident that every parent withholding approval will read the entire speech and see for themselves the controversial content and the disarming influence their president is trying to exert.

The examples of that content I’ve given are just a small portion of what President Obama said, but you get the gist of the message.

I’m thankful to Hubbard for protecting our children in spite of the fact that many prominent Republicans like former First Lady Laura Bush, Newt Gingrich, etc., thought the message appropriate and inspiring.

I wonder if Hubbard ever thought of doing what the Fox network did. Ignore airing a speech given to our nation’s schoolchildren by the president of the United States, and instead televise a reality dance show! That would have helped and encouraged our children.

I think it’s obvious that the fear felt by so many is not paranoia but justified, and again, thank you, Hubbard, for your bravery, assertive control and leadership.

CAROLYN FITZ-GIBBON is a resident of Newport Beach.