"You Know I'm Right"

From Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times:

On the campaign trail, Democratic front-runner Sen. Barack Obama...drew wild cheers as he told a mostly African-American crowd that parents need to shape up, turn off the TV, help their kids with their homework and stop letting them grow fat eating Popeyes chicken for breakfast.

It's not good enough for you to say to your child, 'Do good in school,' and then when that child comes home, you got the TV set on, you got the radio on, you don't check their homework, there is not a book in the house, you've got the video game playing.

So turn off the TV set, put the video game away. Buy a little desk or put that child by the kitchen table. Watch them do their homework. If they don't know how to do it, give them help. If you don't know how to do it, call the teacher. Make them go to bed at a reasonable time. Keep them off the streets. Give ' em some breakfast. Come on. ... You know I am right.

I am a strong believer in the theory that American parenting has become a joke and that something has to be done about it. But what to do? I am not a parent and never will be, so I haven't thought about a solution all that much. But a president who can inspire from his bully-pulpit is an excellent place to start.