Tue
May 2 2006
01:33 am
By: Brian A.

And he and our other leaders in Congress are there to protect it:

That’s why we should always sing it ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] in our common language, English. And that’s why today I am introducing a resolution that affirms that statements of national unity, especially the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem, ought to be recited or sung in English.

“We wouldn’t recite the Pledge in French, or German, or Russian, or Hindi, or even Chinese (which, after Spanish, is the second most spoken foreign language in the United States). And we shouldn’t sing the national anthem in Spanish, or any other foreign language.

“So, in this land of immigrants, let’s all sing it together, as one American nation, in our common language: English."

Priorities, people--that's why we trust these guys with power.

But why stop with a wimpy congressional resolution?  Isn't there election on the horizon?  Methinks a proposed constitutional amendment is in order.

UPDATE:  Think Progress notes that the U.S. Bureau of Education commissioned a Spanish version of the song in 1919.  Perhaps Lamar should be fighting instead for tougher history standards in Tennessee schools.

Brian A.'s picture

Ouch

Bush gets busted, too 

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

Andy Axel's picture

Un chiste para ¡Lamar!

¿Como se llama una persona que habla dos lenguas?

"Bilingüe."

¿Como se llama una persona que habla tres lenguas?

"Trilingüe."

¿Como se llama una persona que habla solamente una lengua?

Norteamericano.

____________________________

Wasabi peas are people! They're people!

R. Neal's picture

Good one, Andy. (I admit

Good one, Andy. (I admit having to transgoogleate it. I got kicked out of Spanish class.)

Brian, I think someone needs to submit a resolution requiring Lamar! to stand on the Capitol steps every morning at 7 AM for a month and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and then go back inside and write "liberty and justice for all" 1000 times on the blackboard.

Brian A.'s picture

KnoxViews Resolution

I submit a proposal that all KnoxViews Comments must be submitted in English, so I don't have to Google.  (Alas, I didn't get kicked out of Spanish class, yet I still can't read it).

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

Andy Axel's picture

It's an oldie

It's a fairly common joke in Europe, I'm told. Anyway, translated...

What do you call someone who speaks two languages?

"Bilingual."

What do you call someone who speaks three languages?

"Trilingual."

What do you call someone who speaks only one language?

American.

(Told to me by a Finnish business associate. I responded with this one: "How can you tell a Finnish extrovert from a Finnish introvert?" "The Finnish extrovert looks at YOUR shoes when you're talking to him.")

____________________________

Wasabi peas are people! They're people!

Andy Axel's picture

Ooooh, also from Think

Ooooh, also from Think Progress:

(link...)

Bush sat in rapt attention at his 2001 inaugural while Jon Secada sang that Spanish version to him.

Ay, yi, yi, yi.

____________________________

Wasabi peas are people! They're people!

mary's picture

no habla Espanol

It is sad that so many US citizens only speak one language, and that the second language of so many from other countries is English. I won't have any problem with the Star Spangled Banner being sung in Spainish, except that the new version is rewriten, and La Raza has a lot to do with that. The USA is made up of Immigrants from countries around the world. Spechein sie Deutsch? Au Revoir? Skoal? Jalan Jalan? Shalom? Why is it that it's demanded we all learn Spainish? Eh?

R. Neal's picture

Why is it that it's demanded

Why is it that it's demanded we all learn Spainish? Eh?

Who is demanding that? I think it's the other way around. But the whole thing is sort of silly. Speaking English is already a requirement for citizenship, no matter where you are from.

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