The REAL Story of Stuff!

It seems that day by day, I'm discovering new and admittedly clever ways that radical left-wingers are trying to indoctrinate the children of this great country. I just had the displeasure of watching one of the most horrifically biased pieces of media I have ever seen. The movie is called "The Story of Stuff", hosted by activist Annie Leonard. It can be viewed at www.thestoryofstuff.com for free, but there's no need to go all the way to the big bad Internet to watch it. Chances are your kid has already seen it. Six thousand educators already have, and seven thousand schools have played the video, according to the Glenn Beck program.

Now that all the lefties who read this (though I can't imagine why they would) have had coronaries and been removed by the paramedics, allow me to go on. This video, while seemingly innocent and even educational about the capitalistic system, distorts facts so wildly that it is impossible for me to believe that Ms. Leonard did so accidentally.

She begins by pointing out that we, the United States of America, are a culture of consumption. This is somewhat true, however it's only part of the story. In a free market system (better known as capitalism), consumers produce, buy, sell, and use product, theoretically with minimal government control. Before the Obama administration took power, the government ran 33% of our economy. Now with the nationalization of the banks, car companies, and (God forbid) the newspapers, it's closing in on fifty percent.

But back to the video: Miss Leonard, while passionate in her views and no doubt a true believer IN those views and values, is factually wrong on many fronts.

1. She claims that we only have 4% of our original forests left in this country. She is TECHNICALLY correct, in that we have consumed nearly all of the ORIGINAL trees that once grew on this land. However, she neglects to balance her assertion with a pesky little fact; namely that we have REPLANTED every tree we've cut down AND THEN SOME.

2. Miss Leonard claimed (half-truthfully) that President George W. Bush, after 9/11, only told the American people to shop in order to honor the victims of the worst attack on our soil since Pearl Harbor. Simply put, this is blatantly false, because I watched the State of the Union Address on that day and President Bush DID in fact urge Americans to pray and grieve in the speech, and in subsequent speeches thereafter. He did also, however, tell us to go shopping, which I thought was a little petty considering the death toll of the attacks.

3. Miss Leonard claimed in her video that our system is based around a "toxics in/toxics out" methodology. She claimed that the corporations, using their power and influence, are the ones putting flame retardants in our products, such as pillows. What Miss Leonard did NOT say was that it is due to GOVERNMENT REGULATION that these flame retardants are even considered being put into products such as this. She also neglects to mention that China, not the United States, has the worst industrial regulations in the world, leading to lead in the products they produce, among other things.

4. Miss Leonard, in preparation for the above, claimed that the government's job was to "take care of" the people. It's "their job." That is utter HOGWASH. The framers of this country believed in LIMITED government, and created the Constitution to achieve those ends. Miss Leonard's misguided belief comes from a twisted interpretation of the general welfare clause of the Constitution, which states that the government shall "promote the general welfare" of the people. Yet, miss Leonard believes that the government should not only promote that welfare, but PROVIDE it. The Founders would have had her on the first thing smoking back to London if she'd tried proposing that the government should provide entitlements for the people.

If this is the kind of education my children will receive in the public school system, then I will be keeping them OUT of it completely, and give them their education myself.

View the video if you don't believe any of this. If any of my information is incorrect regarding the video, feel free to correct me.