If left to their own devices, Republicans often steer any debate to the fringe, where the party's true philosophies lie. Take immigration, for example, where House-led hard-liners like Tom Tancredo offer solutions that do little to mask their
nationalist xenophobia.
Attempt to marginalize a group of people long enough, however, and you get what you've been seeing across the nation in recent months. The inevitable blowback from the Latino community has incluced marches, protests and coordinated walk-outs. Perhaps the most novel, and most controversial, protest was the unveiling of a Spanish version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" titled "Nuestro Himno", or "Our Song".
Responding quickly to "Nuestro Himno", President Bush told reporters he felt the anthem should be performed in English. Further, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander introduced a resolution calling for the anthem and other patriotic compositions to be performed in English. While thousands of miles from a pressing matter, their push also ignores something important:
The facts."I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English," Bush
said Friday, "and I think 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." Funny how this president has a way of always evading the truth. As author Kevin Phillips
noted in his book "American Dynasty", Bush appeared more multiculturally friendly at election rallies. "When visiting cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, or Philadelphia, in pivotal states," Phillips wrote, "he would drop in at Hispanic festivals and parties, sometimes joining in singing 'The Star-Spangled Banner' in Spanish, sometimes partying with a 'Viva Bush' mariachi band flown in from Texas."
Uh oh.Even more brazen in his run from the truth is Alexander. "I worry, Mr. President, that translating our national anthem will actually have the effect of dividing us," he
said on the Senate floor. "It adds to the celebration of multiculturalism in our society, which has eroded our understanding of our common American culture." Before we go on, allow me to pause for a moment to marvel at Alexander's idiocy. "Common American culture"? Whose? His?
Anyway.Alexander added, "We wouldn't recite the Pledge in French, or German, or Russian, or Hindi, or even Chinese ... and we shouldn't sing the national anthem in Spanish, or any other foreign language."
Au contraire. Despite saying about the anthem that "never before has it been rendered in another language," Alexander, in addition to being a star-spangled moron, is flat-out wrong. As Think Progress
reported, the U.S. Bureau of Education commissioned a Spanish-language version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" in 1919. Further, the State Department's
Web site presently features not one, but
four versions of the anthem in Spanish.
Dios mio!That the Republicans are up-in-arms over something as trivial as a translation of the national anthem is indicative of their upcoming election strategy. Unable to answer for their absolute inability to govern - whether it be the
war,
Hurricane Katrina,
corruption,
gas prices - Republicans must pander to their extremist base to stay in office. As elections approach, you can count on persecution if you're gay, a woman, a minority or if you support concepts like "science" and "separation of church and state". This fall, if you're a Latino lesbian seeking an abortion, you may just want to stay indoors.
Look, Republicans should be excited about "Nuestro Himno".
Beside themselves. They should be thankful someone still wants to take pride in America, considering all that Republicans have done in her name since Bush took office. After Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, white phosphorus, secret prisons, outsourced torture and warrantless wiretapping alone, that
anyone still wants to take pride in this country is amazing to the point of disbelief. Yet the right pitches a fit when someone wants to translate the anthem into another language? Hell, Republicans ought to be passing out lyric sheets.
In Klingon.But, as you know, they're not. No, Republicans are doing what Republicans do:
Overreacting to an overinflated, overhyped threat. Instead of confronting a complex issue with rational thought, Republicans are again
panicking, lashing out at a threat to their hegemony. Whether republicans like it or not, the face of America in the 21st Century won't be a white one. So, fearful of losing their dominance, Republicans are demonizing people for showing the very spirit that made this once-great country what it was.
In other words, Republicans are doing what they do best.
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