You Want to Sing? Here's Some Songs for You

A group of protesters decided to offer a New Jersey school some new songs to sing:

Protesters brought some different songs Monday to an elementary school where students sang in praise of President Barack Obama, bringing criticism from conservative commentators who said children were being indoctrinated.
About 70 protesters stood on a sidewalk across the street from the B. Bernice Young School waving flags and homemade placards, singing "God Bless America" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and chanting slogans such as "No indoctrination" and "Free children, free minds."

A smaller group of counter-protesters watched and occasionally heckled them.

The school is in a diverse suburb 15 miles northeast of Philadelphia and landed in an uncomfortable national spotlight last month when the video, shot last school year during an author's visit, surfaced. In it, second-graders sang a medley that began, "Mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack Hussein Obama/He said that all must lend a hand/To make this country strong again."

Some critics of the president say the song was overtly political and follows a pattern of Obama being viewed as an idol rather than a politician.

Monday's 90-minute protest, held while the school was in session and attended largely by members of anti-tax organizations from around the state, was an outgrowth of that sentiment.

I hate to see kids brought into these political confrontations, regardless of which side uses them.