Obama and Spanish: "What conservatives hear"
Obama on immigration
Obama and Spanish: "What conservatives hear"
“You know, I don’t understand when people are going around worrying about, ‘We need to have English- only.’ They want to pass a law, ‘We want English-only.’ Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English — they’ll learn English — you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about, how can your child become bilingual? We should have every child speaking more than one language.
“You know, it’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe, and all we can say [is], ‘Merci beaucoup.’ Right? (Laughter) You know, no, I’m serious about this. We should understand that our young people, if you have a foreign language, that is a powerful tool to get a job. You are so much more employable. You can be part of international business. So we should be emphasizing foreign languages in our schools from an early age, because children will actually learn a foreign language easier when they’re 5, or 6, or 7 than when they’re 46, like me.”
Blah blah blah blah blah blah YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD CAN SPEAK SPANISH blah blah blah blah blah.
By the way, did you know that Obama can speak Indonesian. He probably uses it to discuss strategy with his terrorist overlords after he gives them the secret fist-jab symbol.
Speaking of baseball, J-Roll hit a triple last night, and the Phillies finally won. Coincidence? I think not.
Open thread, people. It's all out there.
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Gibba Mang: More name calling. Good to see. When does the new era of new politics start, again?— bon- Comment removed.
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- Read Obama's quote again. It's a fine example of deflecting the question. He spins it in to an education issue. Is it imperative that US schools the official US language which is English by the way? Sure offer foreign language ELECTIVES as early as possible but insist on English as the language in education. I entered this country at 6 years old and attended a Philadelphia public school within a week. All I could say was "thank you". It was rough but my family knew that when they got on the plane. We're going to America...they speak English there.— Naoquero
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TPS- What does it mean when Obama says "But....." after the magic quote with which you are enamored?— Mr. Smith- Bon can't post anything that he can't cut and paste from any wingnut blog. It is clear that he can't defend or explain "his" positions on these matters. Typical of the wingnut trolls. Just proves Will point to a T. Conservatives hear something completely different. It's a mental disorder. Like the recession, apparently.— Multi-Grain
"conservatives want the federal government to have less of a role in saying what is taught in schools. It is Liberals who insist on strict federal guidelines. You have it totally backwards." . . . . . . Bon, let me clue you in. Public education itself is a purely liberal concept, regardless of which branch of government is actually providing it. In fact, a strong federal government was originally a "conservative" concept, because without the regulation of interstate commerce and a national monetary system, the private business sector in the US would be seriously handicapped by artificial barriers between the states. Jefferson, the most liberal thinker of his time, happened to be an ardent anti-Federalist. It's only when the institution of slavery was threatened that States' Rights became the mantra of conservatives, later to be revisited during the Civil Rights era when segregation was threatened. In any event, don't assume that liberal vs. conservative ideologies can be reduced to the tension built into our federalist system between state and federal powers. Like health care, the debate is really about whether education is to be freely available to everyone or only the elite few who can afford it.- Another swing and miss for Will. Nice try to cover for another Obama mistake though...— chrissmith
- "Another swing and miss for Will. Nice try to cover for another Obama mistake though..." Maybe, maye not. No one is talking about Jesse Jackson's "faux pas" (though it was probably staged), now are they?— legatus
- English may be the international language, but go to most Spanish speaking countries (even Spain) and most people(regardless of socially standing or income) don't speak english at all. I don't have the facts to back this up, but I'm sure it's the second most used language in the world.— rockwell
- Earth to Obama...Earth to Will...we have one of the worst public education systems in the world. It's propped up by the Democratic Party and the mediocrity of teachers unions. Our kids are barely learning English. I think we need to focus on the real basics: math, English, history before we even think of teaching Spanish.— chrissmith
- Why is he embarrassed by the country? When I go to Europe I am just visiting so I do not have to learn their language. Immigrants want to live hear so they need to learn English in order to be successful. Multi-grain you're a dope and a Marxist. Sorry bro that is not a bad word but if you favor his plans to redistribute wealth that is what you are. It's OK you just live in the wrong country. I hear real estate in China and the Soviet Union is cheap. Or, move to Cuba it's much closer and, I hear, they have the best health system in the world. It would be funny if there were not so many stupid people like yourself. Probably sitting home on a Govt' handout. Loser.— KarlMarx
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