Posted on 05/25/2006 9:26:48 AM PDT by blitzgig
Of course not." That was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's answer Sunday on ABC's "This Week" when asked whether he would favor prohibiting bilingual ballots.
"Of course not"? Did he mean, "This is not something about which decent people differ"?
To understand why millions of conservatives do not trust Washington to think clearly or act reasonably about immigration, consider bilingual ballots. These conservatives, already worried that both the rule of law and national identity are becoming attenuated because of illegal immigration, now have another worry: The federal government's chief law enforcement official may need a refresher course on federal law pertaining to legal immigrants.
In 1906, the year before a rabbi in a Passover sermon coined the phrase "melting pot" during torrential immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe, Congress passed, and President Theodore Roosevelt signed, legislation requiring people seeking to become naturalized citizens to demonstrate oral English fluency. In 1950 the requirement was strengthened to require people to "demonstrate an understanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write, and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language."
Hence, if someone needs a ballot written in a language other than English, that need proves the person obtained citizenship only because the law was not enforced when he or she sought citizenship. So one reason for ending ballots in languages other than English is that continuing them makes a mockery of the rule of law, including even the prospective McCain-Kennedy law that pro-immigration groups favor.
It contains requirements that those aspiring to citizenship demonstrate "a knowledge of the English language" or "English fluency" in order "to promote the patriotic integration of prospective citizens into the American way of life" and into "American common values and traditions." How can legislators support language such as that and ballots in multiple languages?
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Do I support Gonzales?
Of course not.
If Republicans came out tomorrow for a multilingual America, the libs would be screaming "Ah, you're trying to keep immigrants down by shutting them out of the primary language in the nation!!!!"
Countries which have little to unify they people--be it language, religion, ethnicity--will splinter into closed-off enclaves and fall apart.
Ah, NOW I see why the libs are against English-only...
"Of course not." That was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's answer Sunday on ABC's "This Week" when asked whether he would favor prohibiting bilingual ballots."Of course not"? Did he mean, "This is not something about which decent people differ"?
EXCEPT that ballot inititatives are worded particularly to mean certain things or to get voters to vote a certain way.
There are times where a NO vote means "yes, you want 'this'".
Different language ballots means different "ballot language". We aren't voting on the same things. Let's see some congress critter write a bill in some language other than English.
However Spanish is the language of.... er, nevermind.
Language can be a powerful force for division within a society - maybe as powerful as religion. The US government should conduct it's business in English, and every immigrant should be required to demonstrate proficiency in English.
Language can be a powerful force for division within a society - maybe as powerful as religion. The US government should conduct it's business in English, and every immigrant should be required to demonstrate proficiency in English.
Agreed.
True opportunity, as participating members of our society, belongs to the English speakers. We do immigrants no favors by allowing them to remain on the fringes of society.
Libs and corporations have a vested interest in keeping immigrants from learning English - they require a perpetual underclass.
Absolutely correct, as witnessed in the implacable insurgency in Iraq. Making English the official language of America makes sense from every standpoint of unity and strength, while a bilingual culture makes sense only from a divisive standpoint. The government is hopelessly stuck in a mentality of pandering to every whim of the 'minorities'. Only when the majority voice of America is heard in a loud, clear and unified voice will things begin to change.
Bad law is bad law.
Whether it was passed by Congress, or some lesser body.
Bilingual ballots should not be necessary. Part of the process of becoming a citizen (the only people who have legal right to vote in Federal elections) is to show some proficiency in reading, speaking and understanding English.
Si
Al's a Mexican first, American second.
He's only the second when it advances the first.
The libs are trying to create a divided nation because they look forward to the day when it all falls apart, and they can sweep in with a new socialist state that finally proves that communism works if it is just done right. Under the current constitution, it is just too hard to impose socialism, even with activist judges.
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