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Dobleve Takes a Bold Stand

President Bush yesterday said “The Star-Spangled Banner” should be sung in English, not Spanish, and condemned plans by some immigrant groups to stage a work protest on Monday to sway the debate over the nation’s immigration laws. With passions running high over the release of “Nuestro Himno,” a Spanish-language version of the national anthem, Bush […]

President Bush yesterday said “The Star-Spangled Banner” should be sung in English, not Spanish, and condemned plans by some immigrant groups to stage a work protest on Monday to sway the debate over the nation’s immigration laws.

With passions running high over the release of “Nuestro Himno,” a Spanish-language version of the national anthem, Bush told reporters that people who want to be citizens of the United States should learn English and “ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English.” ~The Washington Post

I don’t know–what would Tony Snow say about that? Sounds a bit like “fearful fringe nativism” to me. I mean, who are we Americans to say what the language of our nation should be or what language immigrants should learn to speak? We only live here.

Dobleve cannot have it both ways. He can sell the country down the river with his immigration scheme, or he can insist that there are certain sine qua non obligations for everyone who wants to become an American citizen. Among those would have to be respect for the laws of this country. That, along with learning English, has to be a vital part of any real assimilation. If Nuestro Himno might help shake his faith in the open borders lobby, so much the better. But until he makes a commitment to American sovereignty and identity a bit more compelling than this he will have no credibility on immigration with tens of millions of his own supporters. Which is to say, he will never have that credibility.

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