Too much precious oxygen was wasted in protestations against President Barack Obama's back-to-school message to kids, delivered on Tuesday. Advocating hard work, responsibility, diligence and determination in academics is about as non-ideological as it gets.

This was the substance of the president's school speech. "The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best," he said.

Few truer words have been spoken. The most effective part of this speech wasn't its themes of patriotism and self-reliance, which are as old as America itself, but rather its soft, airy wording sprinkled with pop culture references, such as Harry Potter, iPhones, Google, Twitter and Facebook.

The language of youth, in other words, delivered with the softened appeal of a parent without any bracing dictums of authority. Obama's speech was effective in that it knew its audience well, and framed the message to suit their sensibilities and hold their interest.

This shouldn't mask the fact that, overall, the speech was soft. The president missed an opportunity to level with kids, of all ages, about serious issues such as substance abuse, by invoking his well-publicized use of tobacco and admittance of drug use in his published memoirs.

Having a president speak to schoolchildren about their personal failings in a direct, unvarnished way would have been refreshing, to say the least.

Or, President Obama could have remarked more about respecting races and culture in a school setting, by using his presidency as an example of America's vibrant multiculturalism and how intolerance is intolerable. His administration — for children particularly — is a symbol of this fact.

Instead, the president stuck to the safer route — the "study hard, stay in school" route — which he embodies from his own childhood struggles and successes, but a message he — as president of the United States — couldn't deliver with any more impact than many of his predecessors.

True, this made his speech impervious to claims of "socialist indoctrination" and other pap that circulated during the days leading to it. By adhering to tried-and-true encouragements, Obama delivered a speech unassailable by any political side, but unfortunately it said precious little.

Health care

President Obama cannot afford such soft language and warmed wisdom tonight, when he is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress about health care. This could be, quite likely, the single-most important address of his administration thus far.

A benefit of the extended debate on health care so far has been exhaustion of every talking point, scenario, rhetorical device and analogy. All the spin has been spun. Now it is time for the president to assert his ultimate authority, and say what he will support in reform legislation.

editorialboard@sunjournal.com