Posted on 08/15/2005 3:49:49 AM PDT by RWR8189
THE LONDON terrorist attacks on July 7 and July 21 changed British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He had long been reluctant to make the fight against Islamo-fascist terror a domestic issue. Last week he outlined security measures to deal with radical clerics who incite violence.
Many of Blair's proposals would be unconstitutional under U.S. law. For example, the British could deport a person for "fostering hatred, advocating violence to further a person's beliefs or justifying or validating such violence"; "condoning or glorying terrorism" would be illegal under proposed anti-terrorism legislation; and organizations suspected of fomenting hatred would be controlled.
Of particular interest is a measure that reads in part: "It is now necessary, in order to acquire British citizenship, that people attend a citizenship ceremony [and] swear allegiance to the country." That's not much different from U.S. law. But Blair wants to impose an additional requirement: To become a British citizen, one must "have a rudimentary grasp of the English language."
This requirement would violate Section 203 of the U.S. Voting Rights Act, which requires that bilingual election materials and assistance be made available when a foreign language reaches critical mass in the general population. For example, California recall ballots in Los Angeles County were printed in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and Tagalog. The intent of Section 203 is laudable: A member of a "language minority group" should face no obstacles in exercising the franchise. But its effects are pernicious.
U.S. law, in effect, tells new citizens that they can be fully engaged in U.S. democracy without understanding the language of its election campaigns. It further suggests that secondhand knowledge of politics, through translation or others' interpretations, is an adequate substitute for the ability to hear and read about the candidates and the issues.
Naturalized citizens must demonstrate
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I agree with Tony Blair. If you can't read or write English, you should not be given the PRIVILEGE of citizenship until you learn! This bending over backwards in the name of "multi-culturalism" has gone too far.
What idiot wrote this law...and by what mechanism exactly could this occur? Oh I forgot...osmosis!
OK< then it's time to repeal Section 203 of the Voting Rights act.
Hello GOP Congress...are you there?
driber licen....?
no hablo engle...
LOL, good one!
Tony Blair ought to visit El Cenizo, Texas, a little nothing town near Laredo. Back in 1999:
The city council passed an ordinance requiring that city business be conducted in Spanish so all city residents can understand their own government. They also instructed city employees, all six of them, not to cooperate with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in searching for, or apprehending deportable people. They did not order that city business not be conducted in English with English speakers; they did not order that students be taught in Spanish-only in public or private schools. They did not order that Spanish be the only language spoken in the city.
[. . .]
They don't like Anglos telling them what to do and they don't like the INS.
As far as I can tell, city business is still being done in Spanish. I suppose there are no elementary or middle or high schools in that part of our great State of Tejas.
That was the day I decided in favor of adopting English as our national language.
could deport a person for "fostering hatred, advocating violence to further a person's beliefs or justifying or validating such violence"; "condoning or glorying terrorism"
- This is all good and safe now, but defining what terrorism is is up to the ruling party and it may not take much for a ruling party to eye its opposition and label it as terrorism. For the U.S. it would only take another Madaline Albright (shudder)to attack the conservatives
Hello GOP Congress...are you there?
Press 1 for English
Go to a Woodman's grocery store (east or west side Madison) on a Fri afternoon...
Hang around the vegetable section and listen to the beautiful rainbow cacophony of languages spoken..
It will drive you right out of your gourd (or melon)
imo
Its even odd that the article had to explain that requiring English comprehension 'is not bigotry'. Its no more bigoted than requiring that if you bring your electronic appliances to the US, that they run on 115VAC at 60HZ or that your TV comply with the NTSC standard.
Perhaps the learning of english can be one of those things that the sponsors of people with permanent resident visas can pledge to help the visa holder with...
But Blair wants to impose an additional requirement: To become a British citizen, one must "have a rudimentary grasp of the English language."
Excellent move. Long overdue. Should be a requirement in the U.S.
I think they are only responding these days if you ask them in Spanish.
Except Americans don't speak English, they know nothing of Lorries, lifts, car parks, nappies, etc, etc..
Oh, I don't know about that. There are a few of us who have ventured out and operate smoothly using all those terms. It's kinda cute.
Did you ever walk on the pavement to the Stationers to buy a rubber?
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