Barack Obama writes to Sasha's second-grade teacher

FROM THE DESK OF
Senator Barack Obama
SAVIOR

Dear Mrs. R---,

I understand from Michelle that you called to report that Sasha refused to clean up the Play-Doh after she used it Friday morning. Michelle says that Sasha gave you some backtalk about "white entitlement" and the "US of KKK A educational system." On behalf of Michelle and myself, we're sorry if you took offense at Sasha's language.

I'm shocked that Sasha could say that, but I stress that it should in no way be imputed to me or my presidential campaign. This is not the girl I've known since she was born seven years ago. As I've traveled this country, I've been impressed not by what divides us, but by all that unites us. That is why I am deeply disappointed in Sasha's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, and by her failure to respect the environment by allowing the Play-Doh to leech potentially hazardous substances into the table tops where children may also be eating. If we think we can blithely mistreat our environment like this, we will never escape our dependency on foreign oil (and look where that got us in Iraq!). We can't just throw our Play-Doh around and expect other countries to say OK. That's not going to happen.

I think it would be helpful for you to know, as well, that John McCain's daughter absolutely terrorized her second-grade class some years back, although I agree that one man's "terrorism" is another's amusing distraction. In adult life, however, we have to avoid the distractions that prevent us from addressing the real needs of the American people and our children.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama