The Duke
By Capt. Fogg"There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.”
-- John Wayne
The picture of John Wayne dressed as a cowboy stands, thanks to Photoshop, in front of a huge flag, proudly asking us why in the hell we have to "press '1' for English."
A week does not go by and often not a day when I don't get some smirking e-mail about the efforts of the business community to make it easier for native Spanish-speaking people to buy things or get information about things or put money in the bank. Pressing '2' to continue in Spanish seems to have had more of an effect on America's sense of security than anything since Pearl Harbor, and people who profess passionate love of flags, John Wayne, and the Republic for which they stand often fail to see this sleazy campaign as the direct attack on freedom of speech that it is.
“Women have the right to work wherever they want, as long as they have the dinner ready when you get home.”
"My favorite e-mail ever," says the person who sent it to me, and he concludes with "Enough said". I don't think enough can be said. I have never been a fan of Marion Morrison, although I have enjoyed a couple of his movies. His support for the Vietnam War and his attacks on the doubters of its necessity, his McCarthyism and his belief in white supremacy left me with a lasting distaste for his stupid kind of patriotism and bigotry. It may be ironic, however, that the anti-Mexican rabble-rousers chose him as the boy for their poster.
Wayne was married three times: to Josephene Saenz, Esperanza Baur, and Pilar Palette. They were all Spanish-speaking women. As he was dying, Wayne requested that his headstone bear an epitaph in Spanish: Feo, Fuerte y Formal. No English translation was offered.
“Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid.”
I have to disagree. It's hardest for those who have to deal with the stupid.
(Cross-posted at Human Voices.)
posted by Capt. Fogg at
11:15 AM
3 Comments:
I'm torn on the whole 'press 1 for english' issue.
Here is my beef. When you apply for citizenship in the US, you have to speak and understand English. In order to take the oath as an American citizen, you do it in English. English the language of majority in the US.... so what is wrong with asking those who wish to immigrate to the states to speak and write English... not spanish, not french, not korean, not hebrew, not arabic...
So is it really that wrong to want people who want to immigrate here to speak english?
I mean I should be able to walk into a McDonalds in Cleveland and them understand me because I speak english, right?
But that is becoming harder and harder to have happen in the US.
By
Anonymous, at 11:28 AM
Good post, Capt. Perhaps Marion's popularity with today's "conservatives" comes from the fact that he played a brave war hero in films while studiously avoiding serving in actual combat during WWII or Korea, unlike, say Ted Williams. He's actually a perfect representative of what most of today's right stands for.
On a tangent--if I remember correctly, Williams spent five seasons in his prime in the military--three in WWII and two in Korea, where, again if I remember correctly, his plane was shot down (he was a fighter pilot, because of his keen eyesight). Had he played those five seasons, I'm sure he would have hit .400 at least one more time. In any case, he would have added at least a couple of points to his career .344 batting average, 7th all-time as it is. A conservative estimate would be 20 home runs a season, which would have brought his career total to 621. Imagine career totals of .350 and over 600 home runs.
By
., at 3:02 PM
We have a lot of Hollywood war heroes, who like Stallone, avoided or ran away from service, but pander to warmongers. Wayne was a McCarthyite and bigot on top of it all - but he knew Spanish.
Fistanadalus,
How can you require someone to use English when purchasing a hamburger or asking for a loan or buying a car or reading a newspaper? Would you forbid the use of Braille, or sign language? If I sell groceries, am I supposed to refuse to serve someone who can't remember the English word for egg roll?
My family has been here over 150 years and I think I speak English as well as the next guy, but I still like to speak German now and then. It's my right and is guaranteed by the Constitution
We have always had exactly the same situation we have right now, where businesses try to make people for whom English is a second language feel more comfortable doing business. We have always had foreign language newspapers.
All that is different now is that we like Mexicans less than we like Germans and Italians and Poles and even Jews all of whom have had their neighborhoods and newspapers and stores and restaurants who cater to them whether or not they know some or a great deal of English. We also, as Americans, are uniquely ignorant of foreign languages and consequently are afraid of those who speak them. This is a sickness, not patriotism.
My Swiss relatives speak 6 languages and that country bends over backwards to cater to whoever wants to visit or do business. That country has held together over 700 years now. They think we're a bunch of backward, superstitious, Xenophobic savages and I have a hard time refuting it.
The bottom line is that we either have freedom of speech or we do not and to forbid a citizen or tourist to speak anything but English would be about the most egregious infringement on that guaranteed freedom yet.
I have no problem ordering dinner in German or Chinese and I sometimes try in Spanish. Why is this a crime any more than communicating in Morse code which I also can do? As soon as someone passes a law forbidding me to do that, we will have lost any right to call this a free country and I'm out of here.
By
Capt. Fogg, at 6:00 PM
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