Yes, extortion: Political correctness takes its toll, again

Before we get into the real discussion, let's get this straight one more time -- 99 percent of all Americans welcome anyone from another country who wants to come here to become an American citizen, as long as he or she does so legally.

What is about to come next has nothing to do with prejudice, arrogance or any of the other qualities assigned to anyone who dares speak against provisions being made for those who are not from around here.

The idea that the federal government would require documents to be translated into Spanish is perhaps one of the most ridiculous concoctions yet from the spend-happy bureaucrats in Washington.

Instead of wasting what can only be imagined as millions and millions of dollars on translating official documents to a dialect that is not the legal language of this country, let's make more classes available -- and require them -- for those who come to this country and cannot speak or read its language.

Spanish is not an official language of the United States -- and it should not be, no matter how many votes it might get a certain political party if it were.

Welcome all the new citizens you want to this country and encourage them to assimilate into our culture, while keeping their own, personal traditions. Emphasize to them that we welcome their differences, but if they are going to live here, they are going to need to know how to speak English. And then, make it necessary for them to learn English to get along in this country.

There is this odd idea among politicos in Washington that Americans are OK with becoming bilingual -- that providing Spanish translation is the right thing to do.

Not so.

If you want to emphasize to new or potential citizens that they are part of a new nation, a new way of life, you need to do more than simply expect them to take a citizenship test. You need to require them to be able to function in their new homeland.

No one is asking those of Latin American descent to forget about the traditions that are part of their heritage -- after all, we do not ask that of Irish, Italians or any of the hundreds of other people who can trace their ancestry somewhere else.

We are asking those who choose to come to this country to understand that they are in a new place with new requirements -- and for them to make the effort to assimilate.

We will waste millions on this project before it is complete -- and we will have accomplished nothing.

County leaders are right to speak out on the foolishness of this directive.

And we, as taxpayers, have a right to demand that our leaders at the federal level do something about it.

Published in Editorials on November 17, 2010 10:51 AM