Friday, June 23, 2006
Speaking of "demagoguery"
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson has weighed in on the evils of opposing bilingual ballots:
[T]here probably would have been no problem if other members of the caucus hadn't raised a separate issue: the act's requirement that bilingual ballots be made available in localities where significant numbers of voters speak a language other than English.
Hmmm. Let me take a wild guess: Any chance the issue might be voters who speak, say, Spanish? Any chance this is just a warm-up for the rabid demagoguery we're going to hear from Republicans on the immigration issue this fall?
Bilingual ballots do not upset people because they hate immigrants. Immigrants are not supposed to be voting until they become American citizens. What upsets people is that America's polling places now resemble outposts of the United Nations.
Election Day is a civic event that should affirm America's national unity. Instead, we now suffer debates about the size of Chinese-language signs at our polling places.
Honestly, Mr. Robinson, can someone who is unable to distinguish the English word Bush from Gore actually cast an informed ballot -- or will his ballot be cast Chicago-style: "vote for him -- good Democrat."
There is demagoguery at work on the Voting Rights issue -- but the anti-bilingual ballot side is not a practitioner.
|posted by Jim on 10:27 AM|
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Wednesday, June 21, 2006
The factually-challenged Maxine Waters on the Voting Rights Act
Via CNS News:
A delay on the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, which expires at the end of 2007, is "inexcusable," according to U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee. ...
"The notion that a handful of Republicans from Southern states can rally enough support to hijack reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act is a slap in the face to the civil rights pioneers after which this legislation is named - Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King," said Waters in a statement.
Actually, 56 Congressmen were on record four months ago as utterly opposed to the bilingual ballot provisions of the Voting Rights Act, including "Southerners" like Ray LaHood of Illinois, Jim Ryun of Kansas and the letter's co-organizer, Peter King of New York.
Waters actually demanded that H.R. 9 be passed without amendments "[o]ut of respect for Ms. Hamer, Ms. Parks, and Ms. King and the sacrifices made by these venerable women."
Don't bother to read this legislation. Just pass it. It is perfect. Uh-huh.
The Senate's Democratic Leader, Harry Reid said the same thing with regard to the Senate amnesty/guestworker immigration bill in March. That "perfect" bill now contains amendments drafted by Senate Democrats Feinstein and Bingaman.
California State Senator H.L. "Bill" Richardson wrote a book entitled What Makes You Think We Read the Bills? Feinstein proved his point during the floor debate on the Senate immigration bill with shaking voice and trembling hands after she learned of the astounding number of immigrants the Senate legislation she voted for in Committee would actually admit to the United States. Via the May 16th Congressional Record:
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I would like to speak as a member of the Judiciary Committee. I think one of the things we really need to understand about this bill is that it is a very large bill. It is 640 pages long. It contains a multitude of programs. And it--through the visa programs, the nonimmigrant visas--brings in large numbers of people. I think when we were in Judiciary we did not realize the extent to which large numbers of people are brought in on some of these visas. We were working to a march. We had to get the bill done. [emphasis added].
Dear Maxine, remember: haste makes waste.
|posted by Jim on 7:50 PM|
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More on today's big bilingual ballot win
Via the Washington Post:
The shift came after a private House GOP caucus meeting earlier Wednesday in which several Republicans also balked at extending provisions in the law that require ballots to be printed in more than one language in neighborhoods where there are large numbers of immigrants, said several participants.
"The speaker's had a standing rule that nothing would be voted on unless there's a majority of the majority," said Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., who led the objections. "It was pretty clear at the meeting that the majority of the majority wasn't there."
|posted by Jim on 7:21 PM|
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Unexpected victory in Congress on bilingual ballots today
House Republicans refused to allow H.R. 9 to be considered today. (H.R. 9 requires bililingual ballots for an additional 25 years.)
The reason? The procedure (rule) for consideration of H.R.9 would have precluded any amendments dealing with bilingual ballots, including an excellent amendment by Congressman Steve King (R-IA) to completely eliminate bilingual ballots.
When the House Rules Committee decided to block all bilingual ballot-related amendments last night, House Republicans told their leaders to withdraw H.R. 9 from consideration today.
Quoting from Congressional Quarterly:
"After intense protest from rank-and-file House Republicans at a closed-door conference meeting, GOP leaders decided to pull legislation planned for a vote Wednesday that would extend some provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act" including bilingual voting requirements.
Since English is a requirement for citizenship and only U.S. citizens are supposed to be voting, why the government requires you and me to pay for bilingual voting materials and translators remains a mystery.
House Democrats were howling this afternoon that this fine "compromise" bill had been delayed. They are demanding a vote before the July 4th recess. We will see.
|posted by Jim on 4:37 PM|
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Friday, June 16, 2006
World Cup Language Watch
Via Slate:
According to a new rule, all of the referees selected for this year's tournament had to pass a test of written and spoken English. That ensures that all five officials at a given match can communicate with each other.
|posted by Jim on 6:12 PM|
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Monday, June 05, 2006
"You Don't Need Papers for Voting"
Democratic Congressional candidate Francine Busby tells a Hispanic audience in California's 50th Congressional District.
And remember to ask for a bilingual ballot.
|posted by Jim on 12:57 PM|
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