Pat Buchanan: "Americans are awakening to the character of these people"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

On the May 1 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country, MSNBC political analyst and former Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan said that a Spanish-language version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" is "a provocation and an insult" and that immigrants are "not welcome to come here and insult the symbols of our country, and that's what these outsiders have done." Buchanan then said that the Spanish recording is "a good thing in this sense: The American people are awakening to the character of these people." He added: "The good thing about this insult is that I think a lot of Americans are going to tell their senators and congressmen: 'You had better not capitulate to these people demanding amnesty and demanding the right to control our border when a whole bunch of them are here illegally.' "

From the May 1 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country:

BUCHANAN: Well, it's a provocation and an insult, and you know, as the great grandson of Francis Scott Key said, I mean, for a foreigner to come into this country and then insult and alter our national anthem is simply despicable.

SCARBOROUGH: But isn't America the melting pot?

BUCHANAN: Yeah, America's the melting pot, Joe, but we have our own -- we have our own symbols of nationhood. People are welcome to come here and become Americans. They're not welcome to come here and insult the symbols of our country, and that's what these outsiders have done. But it's a good thing in this sense: The American people are awakening to the character of these people.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200605030007

[rpannier]

1. He's a great grandson of Francis Scott Key???

I'll bet the late F.S. Key would be just thrilled if he were alive today.

[Erika]

2. The character of these people?

That's what they said about the Irish and so many other groups.

The Hispanics I know are hard working and family oriented people. I wish Buchanan and the rest of the racist Republicans would all go and enlist in service for Iraq and Afghanistan.

I normally can tolerate Buchanan but not when he comes out showing so much idiocy and intolerance.

[pacalo]

6. Before I opened the thread, I thought it was going to be about Bushco.

What an idiot.

[LittleClarkie]

3. I wonder if he objected to the one the government commissioned in 1919

Isolationist xenophobe.

[GRLMGC]

5. He so is

I'd bet you'll find supporters here. I remember one year when he was running for something; he had a radio ad in which there was mariachi music playing in the background and people speaking Spanish. Then a voiceover came on and said "do you want to take back your country?". Seriously, he's a racist and there's no denying it.

[MADem]

4. The first Buchanans over this way were likely in veritable slavery

as indentured servants to the Mayflower Brahmins. No Irish Need Apply, fellah...it wasn't so long ago.

Who's he kidding??

This is completely unsurprising, though, he has always been an horrific isolationist. This is a guy who thought Hitler had some good ideas....

[driver8]

7. I thought he was talking about the "character" of the Bush administration.

[Sinti]

8. I don't understand the insult in translating and singing it in Spanish

Am I missing something?

[Mythsaje]

9. The "character" of these people?

What, family-oriented, Catholic, hard-working folks?

Crap like this doesn't help anything. The issue isn't what kind of people they are--they're people like everyone else.

edited because I forgot a question mark.

[Ryujin]

11. You answered your own question.

They are family-oriented, hardworking folks. Exactly the sort of people that hypocrites like Buchanan and the rest of them loathe.

[Mythsaje]

14. And yet claim to be...

Figures.

[Ryujin]

10. Please excuse me if I'm being dense...

...but I honestly can't understand why there is such a commotion about the Anthem being sung in Spanish (or any other language for that matter). Isn't the important thing about any statement of fealty (whether spoken or sung) the sentiment it expresses? If someone says 'I love you', I don't care if they say it in English, Flemish or semaphore. I know what they're saying. Actually, if they say it in the language of their birth, doesn't it imply that it is somewhat more heartfelt and personal? I remember when a dear friend translated my distinctly Anglo name into Cantonese. She managed to create a name that sounded passibly similar to my name to my ears, yet also expressed something about me in Chinese. It was a lovely act of friendship, and I was very far from insulted that someone had taken the trouble to turn a few bare syllables into a miniture poem.

I find it painfully ironic that it is the right wing, usually self-importantly Christian types (like the esteemed Mr. Buchanan) that are most vociferous on this issue. Yet wasn't it the very translation of the Bible into 'vulgar' tongues that enabled the rapid dissemination of the Gospels that has led to such rapid growth in the Christian church? If the Bible wasn't translated into local languages, its message would be remote, abstract, and of interest only to a few priests and academics.

By the way, if we're going to be such sticklers about the sanctity of National Anthems, I think we owe a long overdue apology to Great Britain. For too long, we've sung a ditty called 'My Country 'Tis of Thee' when the tune is a direct lift of 'God Save the Queen,' the British national anthem. Since Britain is one of our closest allies, I think it's time we gave the song back.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. HeyPat you DO know the US State Department

commisioned it in Spanish in 1919.... so exactly what kind of people were manning the State Department then?

I mean, enquiring minds want to know

[Spinzonner]

13. Ok, cancel all St Patrick's Day celebrations

[Mythsaje]

15. Hey, Friday's Cinco de Mayo...

Maybe we could convince the beer-swilling rednecks to "boycott" that celebration.

Yeah, that'll happen.

[saltpoint]

16. The voters who literally stood in long lines in the rain to vote for Bush

after knowing he and his Cabinet presided over Abu Ghraib are the people whose characters should be examined.

Buchanan remains a hatemonger. More verbally nimble than most Republicans, but not more ethically grounded.

Shame on him.