Why You Should Watch It ~ Sad I even feel it's imperative to write this section
If you can tape it, then please do, even if you watch it while getting ready in the morning. The President of the United States deserves the full attention of American citizens, especially when he's doing a live interview and taking out questions. NBC is doing it commercial free so it's only a half hour of your time.
They'll be talking about the state of education in America and that's a hugely significant issue right now. If you don't already know why then you really need to watch this show. Every American citizen should watch it because we need to know what's going in order to make changes happen and cast votes in November that are based on informed decisions.
Don't want to hear lame excuses like we can't change anything because we sure as hell can if we start actually caring instead of just complaining. Complaining and whining about the state of affairs is not the same as actually caring. I don't care how powerless you feel because it's your choice to be powerless. You might even be right that there isn't a damn thing we can do to change things, you aren't right but I wouldn't care if you were because we cannot possibly know if you are right unless you actually try to do something.
What can you do? Start with just listening. I mean actually listen for the whole 30 minutes while President Obama talks with Matt Lauer. After you've heard about all the issues they talk about, not just the ones you care about or missed b/c something early on gets your panties in a bunch, think about it. Think and share your thoughts - however and wherever you want - discuss it with your family/friends, blog about it, write about it on Facebook, Tweet it, write an email, write a letter, tag a wall, hang up posters or whatever. I don't care how and I don't even care what you say as long as you say something or just ask questions. The first step to change is to get a dialogue started.
Surely we can do that much. We can do a whole lot more and I talk about that in another post soon. Right now, I'm asking all of my fellow Americans to step up and listen to what our President has to say, to think a little bit and say something themselves. 30 minutes of your time. Listening. Thinking. Discussing, asking questions, and/or putting your opinions out there. Is it really too much too ask of citizens who claim to care about the country?
If it is, how about just the 30 minutes of listening. No need to actually think or say anything. Just listening for 30 minutes. If that's too much too ask then we probably are screwed and stuck with whatever the vocal, active citizens give us. Regardless of how small the minority is, I can assure you that so long as they speak they'll get what they want.
Why? Because they are asking the people in charge to do something, threatening their jobs if they don't do it (as they should b/c it's the reason we have the right to vote), and they'll follow through while the rest of America listens to sound bites, commercials run by those groups, media coverage of the issues they've raised because the majority of Americans use their voices to complain among friends instead speaking to the people in office who have the power to enact change if we bothered to demand it.
That's far beyond sad, it's sick and it is insulting to the brave folk that fought to found this country and every person that has fought to defend and preserve the liberties afforded to the citizens lucky enough to live in the Land of the Free. Just a reminder folks, freedom is not free and its guarantee is only as good we make it. Every citizen citizen has not just the right but also the duty to vote and it's that power that gives the people the guarantee that the freedoms granted in our Constitution will be upheld. The men and women who go into the service to defend America can only do so much, they'll protect us from outside threats but the rest is up to us.
How To Submit Questions and Why Last Minute One Might Still Make the Show
It's a bit last minute but you can still submit a question that may get asked during the interview at Education Nation ~ NBC website. It's a simple form, only requires your name, email and your question (obviously). I don't think it's too late because I hadn't even heard about the broadcast until they announced during the Jets game tonight and doesn't seem like a whole lot of know about the submit a question opportunity judging from the Google search results.
Presumably the network wants to ask at least a few viewer questions and they'll need a fairly large number of submissions to get some decent ones. My basis for that assertion? Statistically speaking there will be a fairly large number of questions that are very similar because the topic is limited to education, regardless of where they stand people will be asking about the same issues and a substantial number of people will have the same concerns regarding particular subjects.
That limits the pool of questions that NBC has to choose from as does the entirely irrelevant questions people surely have submitted because we don't pay attention to what topic is at issue so we ask whatever is on our minds and of those who know the topic is limited, some simply won't care will submit off-topic questions thinly disguised or tangentially related to education.
Add to that the jokers and extremists who'll use the "submit a question form" as forum for stating their opinions just because it's somewhere new to bray about whatever their issue is and it doesn't really matter that only the poor, unpaid intern stuck with sifting through submissions to get that type of sh!t out might actually read it. And lastly, but ironically enough given the topic is education, I'd be amazed if a bunch of questions didn't get tossed for being unintelligible.
Oh my, I really am getting a little pessimistically jaded. Still a bit of idealist and optimist left though as this post demonstrates. I am encouraging people to submit questions after all. Though that's secondary to actual purpose of this post. Letting people know that President Obama will be discussing the state of education in the United States during a live, commercial free interview with Matt Lauer tomorrow morning at 8am on NBC so that can Tivo it.
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