Joe Guidry is the deputy editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune. He is a Tampa native and a graduate of the University of South Florida. He is married and has an adult son.

Jeff Stidham

Jeff Stidham grew up and lives in Bartow. He has been with the Tribune for nearly 22 years, the last 10 on the editorial board.

William Yelverton

William Yelverton is a Tribune editorial writer who has worked for the paper nearly 22 years. He lives in the Dade City area.

Jim Beamguard

Jim Beamguard is a Tribune editorial writer. He is a native of North Carolina and a graduate of Davidson College. He and his family live in Brandon.

Jackie Papandrew:

Jackie Papandrew is a freelance writer and editor. Her syndicated humor column appears in publications in the United States, Canada and India. She lives in Largo with her husband and children. Visit her website at www.jackiepapandrew.com.

Camille Beredjick

Camille Beredjick is a senior at Chamberlain High School, an avid musician and a scribbler with a quirky sense of humor. In the fall, she will be attending Northwestern University to study journalism, political science and music, and she plans to pursue a career in journalism.

Jim Harnish

Jim Harnish is in his 17th year as Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa. He and his wife, Marsha, have two daughters and two grandchildren. He is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and received the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Bethune-Cookman University. He is the author of six books and numerous articles and studies. He enjoys playing with his grandchildren and cheering for the Florida Gators.

Angela Hunt

Angela Hunt is a novelist living in Pinellas County with her husband and two 220-pound mastiffs.

Sheryl Young

Sheryl Young was a Tampa Tribune Community Columnist in 2005-2006. A freelance writer since 1997, including the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Tampa Style Magazines, St. Pete Times and nationally in Better Nutrition, Today’s Christian Woman and more. She’s received a First Place Amy Foundation national "Roaring Lambs" Writing Award, and has lived in Tampa Bay with her family for over 20 years.

Christie Gold

Christie Gold teaches English and journalism at Freedom High School in Tampa where she advises Revolution, the school newspaper. She has been both the Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year and Florida Journalism Teacher of the Year. She lives on a small farm in Wesley Chapel where she trains as a competitive equestrian.

Natalie D. Preston

Natalie D. Preston is a karaoke singing, only-child pouting, Seminole Tomahawk waving, newlywed bride blushing, 50-state traveling, girlie girl who loves to shop, read, run and jump up and down on her soapbox.

Fernando Figueroa

Gary Beemer

Interests include humor, politics, economics, community and world affairs, finance, people, religion, music, sports, current events, the arts and education.

Nicole Yunger Halpern

Nicole Yunger Halpern is an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, where she studies everything she can get her nerdy little hands on. Desired major: life. No, not necessarily biology. Life.

Kris DiGiovanni

Kris DiGiovanni is a Tribune Community Columnist, Huffington Post contributor, Daily Kos diarist, and teacher, who recently moved from NW Hillsborough to another planet - a small beach community in Pinellas County. She also blogs at www.sandscript.wordpress.com

H. David Braswell Jr.

H. David Braswell Jr. is an Information Systems Professional. He is a native New Yorker and a lifelong NY Giants fan. He attended college in California (Cal State Northridge) and moved to Tampa in 1998.

Sean Marcus

Sean Marcus teaches creative writing, journalism and reading at Chamberlain High School. He has one son and is expecting a daughter in early March. He can be reached at wuizabug@gmail.com

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Is the President Covered Under the First Amendment - or Just the Rest of Us?

Posted Sep 3, 2009 by Kris DiGiovanni

Updated Sep 3, 2009 at 01:55 PM

On September 8th, the President of the United States will directly address the students of America. His speech will be about

“persisting and succeeding in school”

He will challenge school children to

“work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.”

An excellent message, don’t you think? Now who could object to that? Well, the Florida Republican Party, for one. In a September 1st, press release Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer vehemently condemned what he labeled as “Obama’s Attempt to Indoctrinate Students”

Here’s a quote from his statement (which can be read in its entirety here)

I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology

So studying hard and taking responsibility for one self are “socialist” ideas? Apparently Mr. Greer had one too many cups of coffee prior to drafting his missive. His frantic warning to parents is that their kids

will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other President

A quick check of the facts reveals that none of those subjects will be included in the President’s address. The supplementary materials suggested for classroom use are all about how individual students can identify and work towards goals. Try as I might, I couldn’t find a single mention of cash for clunkers, bailouts, or death panels.

But apparently there is real fear that the leader of the free world will somehow poison the minds of our youth in his 15-20 minute address. In one viral email I’ve seen parents are urged to “Keep your kids home September 8th!”

Funny, I don’t remember a similar uproar when President Bush Sr. spoke to the nation’s students about saying no to drugs on September 12, 1989. Nor do I recall any objection to Reagan’s speech to school children on the Challenger tragedy.

Yet, some schools around the cpuntry are being inundated with calls and emails telling them not to show the president’s address and saying that children will not attend school if it is shown.

Despite assurances from the White House Tuesday by spokesman Tommy Vietor that

“It’s not a policy speech,” said White House. “It’s a speech designed to encourage kids to stay in school, which I think is a nonpartisan goal.”

Comments on online forums were more than a little disturbing.

“He’s recruiting his civilian army. His ‘Hitler’ youth brigade,” said a user at the Free Republic

“What’s he going to do, tell the kids to report their parents to the Thought Police if they don’t support Obamacare?” asked a commenter at DocStoc.com

Another declared, “My child is NOT a pawn for your administration’s use! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU! I cannot believe the mentality of this administration. My child will NOT “Pledge to be a SERVANT to Barack Hussein Obama!”

School officials say the resistance and objections caught them by surprise. They are now hurriedly deciding whether or not to air the speech.

IMHO, it is more than sad when the President of the United States cannot speak freely for a few minutes to the students in our country about the importance of doing well in school and staying the course. The high school drop-out rate in the US is as high as 75% in some major cities, and averages 48% across the nation’s 50 largest.

It may well be that the ones poisoning the minds of our youth are the parents who object to having their kids hear from the person who has sworn to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” which by the way, guarantees his, as well as our right to freedom of speech.

The author can be reached at KrisDiGiovanni at gmail dot com