A student interrupts Obama at a D.C. event and is acclaimed as a hero by some on the far right – especially members of the Tea Party, who believe the president is arrogant and is just an orator in an empty suit. While explaining that all writers sometimes have difficulties finishing a speech, President Obama was interrupted by Osman Yaya, a student from Bennett Middle School in Maryland, who felt that he had covered every angle of the topic.
A student interrupts Obama at a D.C. event, is hailed as a hero by some, and called a rude child by others. So, which one is he?
On Thursday, President Barack Obama, who is determined to be the most active lame duck president in history, visited the Anacostia Library in Washington, D.C. to unveil a new initiative named ConnectED Library Challenge that will most likely get attacked by the GOP.
Mr. Obama claimed that the ConnectED Library Challenge will make it possible for students in low-income areas to get easier access to books in libraries and online.
The ConnectED Library Challenge will receive about $250 million in free e-books from major book publishers including Simon & Shuster, Penguin Random House and HarperCollins. More than 30 cities and counties will take part in the initiative.
Obama launched the program in Anacostia because a recent report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed that 81% of D.C. 4th graders read below grade level.
Jeff Zients, a chief economic adviser to the president, had the following to say about the initiative:
“The problem is clear, and it’s also clear that access to books is part of the solution. By expanding kids’ access to books, we can help foster a love of learning and build the reading skills needed more than ever in the 21st century.”
The president sat in front of 30 students, (hundreds of students watched the launching via Skype in their classrooms), as he was being interviewed by a young student named Osman Yaya from Bennett Middle School in Salisbury, Maryland.
Mr. Yaya asked Obama questions that were posed by other students and were submitted via Facebook and Twitter. One student wondered if Obama ever had writer’s block while writing a speech. The president replied by saying that it happens to all writers and added:
“Many writers get blocked because they worry that what they are doing is not going to be that good the first time they write it.”
As Obama was talking about first drafts and the fact that there are no perfect writers, the 12-year-old student interrupted him by saying:
“I think we’ve sort of covered everything about that question.”
Obama understood that he was talking too long and replied while laughing:
“Okay, Osman thinks I’ve been talking too long.”
The video titled “Student Interrupts Obama” has gone viral with many people applauding the young man for “shutting up this arrogant president,” or for “telling Barry stop wasting tax payers money.”
The truth is that the student was asking the president to wrap up his comments because it was lunchtime, and they were eager to go eat.
During the event, President Obama revealed that as a child, he loved “Dr. Seuss,” followed by the “Hardy Boys and later “Great Gatsby” and “Of Mice and Men.”
Obama has also encouraged young girls to be passionate about math and science and to dream big – because he is the living proof that a man with his unique background can obtain the highest office in the land – what the heck – who are we kidding – in the world.
What are your thoughts on Obama’s encounter with Osman Yaya?
