Recently a Spanish speaking singer recorded a version of the United States national anthem in Spanish. This created a bit of an uproar as President Bush stated that he believes “people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English.” What the hell is George Bush talking about? Have you heard his speeches? He barely speaks English! Then Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., introduced a resolution affirming that the song, pledge allegiance to the flag and other “statements of national unity” should be done in English. These right-wing Republican nut jobs are killing me. It just astounds me that there are so many crazy people elected to office. I’m as patriotic as the next guy, but wasn’t our country built by allowing immigrants from other nations here. The only people that aren’t descended from immigrants in the United States are the Native Americans, and they didn’t complain that we didn’t sing our national anthem in their language. Que carajo esta pasando?
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Phil, I can see your point of view, but I think it might be a bit clouded.Come live in Texas for awhile and then revisit your feeling on immagration. I have no problem with immagrants, but only if they are legal. If this country is so wonderful, and they want to come live in it, then why would they not want to speak English? I have several friends from Vietnam and they have all come here legally…not one of them has ever complained about learning English. They embrace our language and our culture. I live in an area where hispanics, quite possibly, are a majority. The fact is, not all, but several of them feel it is our duty to learn their language in order to communicate with them. I say that is a load of crap. This isn’t about race or ethnicity, it is about common sense. If you choose to live in America, learn to speak English. (Wiping brow and slowly stepping down from soap box now.)p.s. This comment is not intended to offend anyone. It is solely my opinion, which I am entitled to as an American citizen.
Well, Bush DOES call Vladimir Putin ‘Pootie-Poot’, so what Dubya has to say doesn’t much surprise me.
At least they don’t send these people to boarding schools to be americanized and punish them for speaking their own language. But I think the U.S. is made up of many diverse cultures. When I was going to school they always did our pledge of allegiance in both English and Navajo. We also had to learn the national anthem in both languages too. I have this video of him when somebody asked him about his policy on Native American sovereignty. He had no idea what to say or probably didn’t even know what it was. I remember when his election was going on, people were driving around with bumper stickers that read, “Viva Bush.” I think that’s ironic now that I think back to it.
I think we should all make an effort to be able to communicate with each other; we with the Spanish speakers and the Spanish speakers with us. It doesn’t hurt to learn another language. If anything it is an asset and a way to embrace our differences. So all Spanish speakers out there, learn English. As for the rest of us, let’s learn some Spanish, if not to communicate with the Spanish speaking community, then at least to show the world we can and are willing to learn how to speak another language. Let’s admit it, despite our melting pot of cultures, we are not exactly well-known for being multilingual here.
I spent $X0,000 in college to learn French. <>Yes, seriously, that’s whats I majored in.<> Doesn’t that entitle me to expect people to speak <>my<> [adopted]language? [/sarcasm]
Many minorities refuse to speak another language out of fear, a third world mentality cultivated by repression, and ignorance passed on from generation to generation. That’s different than your American blue collar worker or even family on welfare. It often means non-existance in that country. Yes, I suppose everyone should speak English here, but you have to dig a little deeper first to find out the whys. Shouldn’t it be mandatory to learn Native American languages being that technically we’re all “immigrants”? 🙂 Sincerely,An S.American immigrant and US citizenp.s. Cool idea, Cinthia.
Kim, I suggest you re-read my post. Nowhere did I express any opinions about immigration or whether people who immigrate to this country should learn to speak English. I merely pointed out that I felt it was stupid to insist that no one ever speak or sing our national anthem in anything other than English.
Phil, based on your post, I stand by my response. It seemed like a proper forum to air my opinion. Especially since I recently had this same dicussion with a friend of mine. Maybe I did not misunderstand you. It is quite possible that I was just reading between the lines. If I upset you, I sincerely apologize. You are more than welcome to delete my post if you like.
Maybe someone should point out to Bush that English is not even an official language in the US! He is such an idiot. What were you people thinking – to elect him TWICE. Please tell me he promised tax breaks or something.When 10.7% of the population speak Spanish, singing the Anthem in that language should be celebrated, not discouraged.(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_United_States_of_America#Language)
I’m with you on this one Phil. If that happened here, we’d have the same reaction by some small minded minority maroons.
Kim, I again stand by my post. Nowhere did I express views about immigration and I didn’t write between the lines. Delete your post? Why? If I were to sensor how people expressed themselves I’d be no better than the Republicans. If you must know, my opinion on immigration is the same as yours. Everyone is welcome here as long as they do it legally.
ROTFL @ “Que carajo esta pasando?” I really wasn’t expecting that. That is exactly how someone in Argentina would say it and that just really took me by surprise and made me laugh. Thanks for the early morning chuckle, Derr-Man 🙂-N
Natalia- Thanks, I’ve been waiting for someone to get that. I may not know a lot of Spanish, but what I do know is very useful wouldn’t you say?
Tai- As you may be able to tell, I’m not a big fan of Dubya.Will- Thank you for getting the point of the post. The president is a dope.Cinthia- I love your answer. Perfect.Say Rah!- You can sing our national anthem in French if you want. Just don’t let the President hear you.Blue- I agree with you too.dzeni- Thank you. You are wise beyond your years.Michelle- I hate small monded maroons. Or any small minded color for that matter.
It was perfect, Phil, just perfect *grin*-N
Hmmmmm. Mr. Controvercy eh’?I hate to rain on your parade and while I respect your thoughts and opinions…I (painfully as it may be) have to agree with George W. on this one.It bugged the holy hell out of me.
I love Cinthia’s response. She’s so on point with this one. I’ll refrain from tying that to immigration laws.As you pointed out, the only people who are not TRULY immigrants are those that descend from American Indians. Though it is theorized that even American Indians immigrated here from Asia at some point before the Bering Straigt disintegrated into water. But that is beside the point.When our ancestors, our founding fathers moved here, they forced the American Indians to conform to their way of life, their standard of living, their language, their culture, their religion…. Was it fair then? Is it fair now? Is the argument pointless because things have changed from way back then to now? Has anything changed at all?
I’m with you, Phil. What the heck was that all about anyway? Bush went all NUKE-YOU-LER about it. Republicans just LOVE to go into your house and make you conform to some standard. “Live and let live” probably sounds to Republicans like “Eat sh** and Die.”(hee hee the word verification is bepipi. They said bepipi, hee hee.)
Lauren- I agree with everything you said, or didn’t say.Geewits- Exactly. George Bush is a dope and I can say that because I have a blog and this is America where I can express myself any way that I want, even if it’s in Spanish.
Phil says:“In real life the girl would have to make sure she didn’t speak to the deer in Spanish because it’s against the law in the United States.”Just so that there is not another misunderstanding, I want to be very clear about the fact that I have no issues whatsoever about people speaking Spanish or any other language in America. However, I do firmly believe that they should be required to learn and speak English in order to communicate here. Nuff said :o)