Advice from Mount Rushmore

Let us say to the immigrant not that we hope he will learn English, but that he has got to learn it. Let the immigrant who does not learn it go back. He has got to consider the interest of the United States or he should not stay here. He must be made to see that his opportunities in this country depend upon his knowing English and observing American standards. The employer cannot be permitted to regard him only as an industrial asset.

We must in every way possible encourage the immigrant to rise, help him up, give him a chance to help himself. If we try to carry him he may well prove not well worth carrying. We must in turn insist upon his showing the same standard of fealty to this country and to join with us in raising the level of our common American citizenship. If I could I would have the kind of restriction which would not allow any immigrant to come here unless I was content that his grandchildren would be fellow-citizens of my grandchildren.

- Theodore Roosevelt, 1916

Those words from former President Roosevelt might sound shocking in today's politically correct world, but they are just as true now as they were then. Why do people want immigrants to become part of a permanent underclass? If you are against encouraging them to learn English, that's exactly what you are supporting. Michael pointed this out so well in his wonderful Lewiston Tribune column last week. If an immigrant learns English, then they may rise to a corporate boardroom. If they don't, they are doomed to be "industrial assets" or making beds at Motel 6. America has always been the land of opportunity. But the key to that opportunity is learning English.

Gary Kawamura, while admirably not engaging in ad hominem attacks on the CRs, misses the point completely in his column in today's Daily Evergreen :

The problem with the act is that it supports a narrow, insular view of the United States. Making all government publications and business conducted solely in English would certainly not encourage international or even multicultural exchange and involvement. It’s time to realize the United States is part of the international community. Look at some of the most pressing issues in recent news: the conflicts in Iraq and the Middle East, issues of economy, or trade and immigration in Latin America. If we wish to be active members in the international community, we must learn to communicate with other countries.

The English Unity Act places an emphasis on the use of English, and so discourages the learning and use of other languages. What our country needs is just the opposite: to encourage and emphasize learning other languages so we can live successfully in the international community.

A key point to understand is that The English Unity Act “affects” only government. In their pamphlet, the CRs are quick to explain that the act “will not limit the languages spoken in private businesses, religious services, private conversations, etc.” This would have us believe that the use of only English, in government, would have no effect on the rest of the population. If English is the only language spoken within our government, then it will certainly affect the rest of the population’s view about using languages other than English.

The use and learning of languages other than English is important, not only in establishing the United States as a member of the international community, but also in keeping with the goals and ideals of America of freedom, democracy and independence.

The English Unity Act lacks the foresight and independent thinking that the United States, as a country, should uphold.

The English Language Unity Act has absolutely NOTHING to do with "establishing the United States as a member of the international community." Just the opposite. It helps establish international immigrants as members of the U.S. community. How does encouraging the teaching of foreign languages to native English speakers improve the plight of illegal immigrants? During the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a "Grand Tour" (an extended tour of European countries) was typically part of the education of every young British gentleman. That tradition lives on in today's intellectual elite and Kawamura's editorial smacks of this gentrified attitude. But immigrants are more interested in simply moving themselves and their families out of poverty than the opportunity to "study abroad" and achieving "a real understanding of the world as a place beyond the United States."

Here's what Rep. Steve King, who introduced the English Language Unity Act, has to say in a press release:

There are over 6,000 languages spoken throughout the world, and in the United States there are at least 28 different dominant languages -- those spoken by at least 100,000 people. The English Language Unity Act helps immigrants by encouraging them to learn English to fully integrate into American society.

“English is the language of opportunity in America,” said King. “Learning English opens doors to better jobs and opportunities, which America was built upon. The only way to fully learn about American culture, and what makes America truly unique, is through our common bond of the English language.”

Almost 12 million Americans are linguistically isolated, according to the U.S. Census. In addition, immigrants who are not proficient in English earn an average of 17% less than English- proficient immigrants with similar backgrounds, experience and education. The gap grows wider with the opportunities English-proficient immigrants realize while moving up the economic ladder.

“I couldn’t have gotten this far in school and my work experience if I didn’t get the English immersion to the extent that I did,” said Gloria Fung, an immigrant from Hong Kong, who while attending George Mason University, is studying for pharmaceutical school. “I know my opportunities and experiences will be very different than my parents, who haven’t fully learned English.”

Predictably, our local left-wingers are against the bill and are attempting to marginalize the CRs as "racists," "fascists," "homophobes(?)," and "extremists," even though a June 2006 Rasmussen poll reported that a whopping 85% of Americans support English as the national language. Only 11% disagree. That my friends, is bipartisan support. But the liberal elitist minority know they can only rule by creating paranoia, dissension, discontent, and manipulating minority groups. By voting for national unity, the leftists would be voting themselves out of power.

Argumentum ad Nazium

From Fallacy Files:

In almost every heated debate, one side or the other—often both—plays the "Hitler card", that is, criticizes their opponent's position by associating it in some way with Adolf Hitler or the Nazis in general. No one wants to be associated with Nazism because it has been so thoroughly discredited in both theory and practise, and Hitler of course was its most famous exponent. So, linking an idea with Hitler or Nazism has become a common form of argument ascribing guilt by association...

Playing the Hitler Card demonizes opponents in debate by associating them with evil, and almost always derails the discussion. People naturally resent being associated with Nazism, and are usually angered. In this way, playing the Hitler Card can be an effective distraction in a debate, causing the opponent to lose track of the argument. However, when people become convinced by guilt by association arguments that their political opponents are not just mistaken, but are as evil as Nazis, reasoned debate can give way to violence. So, playing the Hitler Card is more than just a dirty trick in debate, it is often "fighting words".

Argumentum ad Nazium is used frequently by our unimaginative and intellectually lazy Palouse liberals.

Rememeber John Streamas' rant in the Daily Evergreen last fall about the College Republicans?

It [the border fence] is a violently racist symbol, no different from Nazis carrying a swastika through a Jewish neighborhood

In today's Evergreen, they are at it again:

Recent demonstration was in poor taste

Editor:

I was a little disturbed by the story about the College Republicans demonstration for English as the sole national language. Not the idea that English as the national language might be a terrible idea, but the ideology of the appeal being made. English as America’s official language is a valid debate to have, but to couch the argument in nationalist and patriotic trappings as well as jargon is sadly un-American and un-patriotic. Is there any great difference in the ideology or appeal of “One Nation, One Flag, One Language!” and “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!”? They call themselves conservatives, yet what are they trying to conserve? Some fictional stereotype of what an American is? I don’t say this to be insulting, but by definition, how is this not a fascist ideology?

Ron Hughes, alumni, 1994

There was another vague Nazi analogy in another letter by Lucas Burke:

Americans would do well to remember that stirring up nationalist ideas has only resulted in massive conflict throughout recent centuries. The archaic nationalistic tendencies of the 19th and 20th centuries, those ideologies that forced the world to suffer two horrific world wars and the Cold War, cannot continue into the 21st century if we truly wish to live in a peaceful, prosperous and democratic world.

Such arguments only demonstrate the intellectual bankruptcy of our local collectivists.

Sean... The Montage Is Coming

Be on the look out for a Sean montage coming to a YouTube near you.

One Language, One Flag, One Nation! Camera Shy?

Clearly, some people are camera shy.

UPDATE FROM WSUCOLLEGEREPUBLICAN

The $40 bike returns!!!






UPDATE FROM TOM:





Is this guy Alex McDonald with his famous $40 bike? Alex McDonald is on the right in the picture. If you search for him on the WSU web site, he's clearly not media shy, especially when it comes to writing letters to the editor bashing Wal-Mart and calling the Pullman police racists.

Anti-English Barking Moonbats Take Flight

Why would anyone wish to create a linguistic apartheid?

Very few issues expose the perversity of this country’s cultural left wing more vividly than the debate over English as the official language of the land. The surest way to evoke their hyperventilating, name-calling and threats is to advocate English as the official language.
It worked again last week when Washington State University’s College Republicans stood on the mall and advocated a law that would make English fluency a prerequisite for citizenship. Sure enough, the barking moonbats rose to the chum, accusing the Republicans of all the usual clichés that they keep in their unimaginative intellectual quiver.
It is frankly indefensible that anyone would wish to condemn a fellow human being to poverty by linguistically isolating him from the economic mainstream. Alarm bells were sounded earlier this week when it was reported that 36% of Washington, D.C. adults were functionally illiterate. Functional illiteracy is characterized by an inability to fill out a job application or understand a bus schedule – sort of like Paris Hilton.
A long time has passed since Washington D.C. was a hotbed of letters. But recently the problem has dramatically worsened. Most of the sudden surge in illiteracy is attributed, not to the new Congressional majority, but to the high percentage of non-English speaking immigrants who make up a large percentage of the residents. The district’s coffers reportedly lost $106 million dollars in taxes last year because so many jobs were left unfilled due to a shortage of qualified job applicants.
That loss only counts reduced city government income, which would represent only a fraction of the money that businesses lost. Certainly the revenues lost to businesses that cannot grow because there are not enough English speakers to fill their payrolls must hurt and would be expected to ripple all throughout the economy.
And then there is all the welfare and other support that must be provided to those who cannot support themselves because they cannot participate in the economy. The losses suffered to Washington D.C. certainly must be several times that $106 million dollar value.
The last thing that this country needs is a permanent underclass. Part of this country’s vibrancy is contributed by the vertical social mobility that our economy should encourage. Everybody should be able to dream of a better life. Nearly all of America’s millionaires are first generation. And yet the ideology that credits itself as the reservoir of compassion advocates policies that encourage the perpetuation of a permanent underclass.
Anyone who doubts that language skills dictate your future should take a trip to Chicago sometime. The city’s downtown hotels are staffed largely by immigrants. And what one will notice quickly is that the immigrants who speak English hold the management positions. The maids and other low paying positions are held by those with only poor English skills. And in Chicago, there is not a single language of the underclass. While Spanish speakers make up a large proportion of the underclass, there are a number of immigrants from eastern European countries whose poor English skills limit their opportunities. The underclass is identifiable not by the language it does speak, but by the language it doesn’t speak. The management class is distinguished by the language that it does speak. Skin color does not predict success with nearly the same reliability.
It’s a curious irony that when one ventures near the Mexican border town of Los Algodones, a large percentage of the signage on the California side of the border is in Spanish. And many of the people you’ll meet speak only Spanish. But cross the border and the signage is in English and every business in Los Algodones is staffed by people quite fluent in English. And the Mexican side of the border certainly appears more prosperous than the US side.
I have nothing against Spanish or any other language. I have invested a great deal of money and effort improving my Spanish language skills. But I would not trade my fluency in English for any other language.
Not long ago, there was a debate over bilingual education. Bilingual education supposedly permitted non-English speaking schoolchildren to learn math and science in their native language. It was abolished and the result was that the target clientele learned English and math better.
And you can bet that the English will spare them from a career of making beds at Motel 6.

WSUCollegeRepublican.... Teasing?

Lol.... A look at things to come.

Belling the Cat

Thanks to CRs for belling the cat

I would like to extend my thanks to the College Republicans for effectively belling the cat of politically correct left wing activism at WSU. Keep up the good work. Use the loonie left's own tactics against them and make sure a public record of their reactions is made available each and every time. They will eventually have to accept your right to express your views without interference or drown in their own hypocrisy.

One Nation, One Flag, One Language Demonstration Tomorrow

The WSU College Republicans will be holding a demonstration tomorrow from approximately 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Glenn Terrell Friendship Mall on the WSU campus. The subject of the demonstration will be "One Nation, One Flag, One Language."

This sounds like it's guaranteed to bring out the barking moonbats in force. My advice to the CRs is to make sure to bring plenty of spare batteries and tapes for the video camera. And members of the CES Depatment, remember the new WSU Student Code specifically allows filming on the mall.