I have a problem this afternoon and I am in a quandary. I find myself agreeing with the President. Many of you feel that if the president said a piece of paper before him was white, I would say it is black. Many of you feel that I would disagree with anything the President said, just to be disagreeable. That is not true. I disagree with almost everything the President says because he is usually wrong. Today is an exception.
President Bush said today that immigrants need to speak in English. I heartily agree. I’m tired of sitting on the phone trying to navigate through an automated receptionist only to be told, “Press one for English. Press two for Spanish.” And then the voice goes on to say something in Espanol that I do not understand. At that point I begin to think:
“Is she making fun of me? Is she saying, ‘For those who don’t speak Spanish, you can kiss my large behind?’”
I just wish people would talk in English, so you could understand them.
I remember seeing a story on the news last night about Dan El-Padilla, a classics student and a recent graduate of Princeton University. He just happens to be an illegal alien. He seems to be an extremely articulate young man, and according to his professors, he is a genius, or close to it. He was even the class salutatorian. Where I fault the young man, however, is that he gave the salutatorian address in Latin. Who the hell delivers a speech in Latin, that no one can understand? Okay, most of you would have understood him, but despite my occasional use of Latin, even I don’t speak it. It would take some sort of deus ex machina for me ever to learn to speak it fluently.
Like the President, it is our belief if you are going to live here, you need to speak English, rather than ramble on in some tongue where you could be disrespecting us, and most of us would never know. Most certainly not the President.
At least that’s how we look at it in Jimbo’s world.
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