Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

I agree with you completely. Ask. Whats the worst he can do? Say NO?

... [edit] ...

Seriously.

Cordially,
Pavan Davé

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

Rationally pointing out factors of reality isn't whining.

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

Craig,

You are correct, but this thread isn't about the factors as to why President Obama may choose not to come.

This thread is about asking President Obama to come to Atlanta and see first hand some of the 'promise of the future'.

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

That is exactly what is being discussed here. Should we invite Obama? That is the question we are asking ourselves. Many of us came to the answer of no. You may think yes. Either way, it certainly does fall into the topic of this thread.

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

Ya'll are being way to nice. <rest of comment omitted because of violation of CD Rules>

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

No, you are incorrect. Read the OP.

The topic brought up was to invite President Obama, Not whether or not we should invite President Obama.

I believe we should invite as many political figures as possible, including President Obama, and let them see what motivated american kids can do. If FIRST is ever to change the culture, then we need to start with those we've elected to public office. JMHO.

I believe we should let them decide if it is prudent, or not, for them to come. Us Making that decision for them is rather presumptuous, don't you think?

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

Why should we worry about the security or the little details?

Just write letters to Obama to show him that FIRST is something that his constituents care about enough to take the time out of their day to write to him about. Every day Obama personally reads ten letters from the public, and who knows, maybe one of those will be about FIRST. It doesn't hurt to try.

Whether he decides to come to the event, or make a [prerecorded] speech via webcast, or just write a letter congratulating the participating teams for helping the long term goals of this country, is up to him and his staffers. And whatever the choice would be, the event organizers and teams in Atlanta would adapt.

Without a doubt, Obama certainly is our most tech-savvy President ever. I'm sure it would be well within the realm of possibility of having him record a short speech to broadcast at the event congratulating teams, mentors, and volunteers.

FIRST is not a partisan issue. The goals of FIRST (increasing STEM education and awareness, improving students' skills and education to help the economy, etc) line up with goals of both Democrats and Republicans. Our past three Presidents have supported FIRST in some way, so there should be no reason not to seek the support of our current President.

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

Okay to appease a few requests, I think that we all need to be very careful about what we write her. The forum has strict rules about political threads right now this is not a political thread it is a thread about alerting the leader of our country to The FIRST Culture and to let him know there is this little competition in Atlanta. But please take a moment and think, sure it would be cool to give your opinion about Obama or the current state of the government or countless other things that have to do with politics but remember, why ruin a perfectly harmless thread trying to discuss informing our president to FIRST for your own pleasure.


Thank you for the moment of time you took to read this

Mike Schroeder
CD MOD Team

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

Quite right. We can assume with some certainty that the Secret Service would handle the details, soon after the acceptance of such an invitation. The paranoia about weapons and locking the stadium down isn't reasonable at all. As a society, it's ridiculous to be in constant fear of someone attacking the President, wherever he may go, to the degree that he can no longer make a simple public appearance.

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

Ok, as requested, I re-read the first post. This is what I found.

Notice the part I bolded. This statement, is the one that says, if your team agrees. It inspires us all to ask ourselves, do we agree with him? Should we try to write to our president? That is why people simply responded, no I don't agree. Granted, the poster was probably expecting everyone to say, sure I agree...I'll get right to making the letter. But that simply isn't how it works. If you start a thread like this, you are opening it up to be discussed in every aspect of the topic. This includes disagreement. I'm really sorry that we don't agree on this particular topic, and in all honesty I am not going to argue whether or not to invite him. Those points have been made previously. All I am trying to say is that this does all fall into the original thread topic even if it wasn't quite what the writer intended.

Furthermore, making the decision for him would be telling him that he is not welcome. Nobody has done anything of the sort. We are just choosing not to invite him. If he decides of his own accord to go to Atlanta, that is his choosing.

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

Annnnnd this thread has gone off into hilarious tangents that I wouldn't have imagined. Honestly folks, enough bickering. If you choose to invite President Obama, go for it. If you don't, so be it. It's not up to you guys to worry about the logistics or the possibility of it happening. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, we try again next year.

But as for my two cents, I can't see why you wouldn't invite President Obama. As others have said, the worst that could happen is that he declines. But I think it would benefit FIRST's profile tremendously if he does show up.

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

Shortly after the inauguration, as they were talking about the new part of the whitehouse.gov site that was supposed to make it easier for you to submit feedback to the White House, I sent out a message introducing FIRST in general, and offering to provide more information upon request. To date, I haven't heard anything back...

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

As your second paragraph states, you have no problem with him coming to Atlanta if he so chooses. So why are you arguing?
If you don't want to write him an invite, don't. Nobody is forcing you to.
And if you have no problem with him attending, why are you attempting to persuade others not to invite him?

Your argument makes very little sense to me.

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

Hmm that makes me think that we shouldve invited Former President Clinton to the NYC Regional..hmmmmmmm

But anyways, Obama's going to the FIRST Champs would be awesome!
That just makes me wish I was going even more....sigh

Re: Invite Obama to Atlanta, we already did
 

I am not trying to get people to not invite him. I am trying to get them to stop suggesting that any statement other then "Yes, lets invite him" is off topic. Read above. Others say, that posts on the reality of the situation is not on topic. As you said, I don't care about Obama's travel plans. If I wanted to meet him, I'd have met him during the election season. He was just down the street. On topic is more then agreement. It involves all discussion that has to do with Obama going to Atlanta. That is the only thing I'm saying. Don't dismiss somebody's ideas as off topic just because you don't agree with them.

As I've stated, arguments related to the Obama travel is relevent to this thread's nature. However, this little discussion that has arisen from it, is not. Please allow people to voice their opinions on the Obama matter. However, as for this debate that I accidentally started, consider me withdrawn. Do me the favor of not asking me any questions, and I will not post in this thread again.