So I'm looking at this list of "official" languages...

[TreasonousBastard]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_official_languages

and it's interesting.

I knew China had at least three major versions of Chinese and India had loads of languages (22 "official" ones it seems), and about Belgium, Spain, Switzerland... Canada, naturally, and no, they have not really been torn apart by rabid Quebecois.

But New Mexico has Spanish as an "official" language, as does, of course, Puerto Rico. And Hawaii has Hawaiian and Louisiana French. All are "co-official" with English.

And some states have no "official" language at all.

Seems like there's a states rights argument about this somewhere. And, it seems that having a pile of languages in one country hasn't really caused that many problems most other places around the world.

So, it seems to me that Will Rogers' old suggestion that we horsewhip some sense into their damn heads in Congress has yet a bit of merit.

Our fearless representatives hard at work once again-- official language my aching red ass.

[man4allcats]

1. I would agree with Will except for one thing...

Such an approach might work only if one could correctly assume that Congress has as much sense as a horse.

[documaker]

2. My official language comes from my mother.

When someone tells me it's a bastard language they're trash-talking my mother.

[pnwmom]

6. Welcome, documaker!

[pnwmom]

3. Doesn't it seem ironic that Mexico's sole official language is

Spanish (as it is in Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Quatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Uraguay and Venezuala)

and yet when Senator Inouye, D-Hawaii, speaks in support of English as an official language in the U.S. he is denounced as a racist?

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Racism is just extreme rhetoric...

in this silly fight, although there are undoubtedly some racists involved.

More to the point is how the good Senator from Hawaii will explain that Hawaiian would no longer be spoken or written in Hawaii.

Aren't there a lot of Japanese in Hawaii, too?

[pnwmom]

10. He's not actually supporting this particular bill, and I don't

know whether it would affect the individual states that have passed their own language laws. But Inouye and many other Democratic Senators supported Sen. Hayakawa's Official English bill when he first proposed it in the 80's and no one claimed they were racist.

It's a complicated issue and I don't know where I stand on it, really. I live in a part of the country where there are a huge number of different languages spoken at home, but many of the ESL children are white. So it doesn't seem like an issue of race to me.

[pnwmom]

4. And to take India for one example, having a "pile of

languages" can be one giant pain in the neck.

[EFerrari]

5. All the territories we took from Mexico by force have Spanish

as a co-equal official language, not only New Mexico.

/O->I

[TreasonousBastard]

8. Utah and Colorado, too? Might be something in the...

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo requiring it.

But, since when have we honored Guadalupe-Hidalgo?

[EFerrari]

12. Yes, GH does and you're right, we don't. But, that's the law. n/t

[treestar]

7. We don't need an official anything

One wonders if this is some sort of prep to the idea of official religions. Other countries have them.

[JVS]

11. Vive le Quebec libre!