The Explanation
Jeff Taylor puts on his irony hat and figures out why it's okay for Jon Secada to sing the national anthem in Spanish at George W. Bush's inauguration but also not okay to sing the national anthem in Spanish: "Secada is Cuban. Cubans can sing the anthem in Spanish if they want, just like they can wash up in Florida and be welcomed by the State Department, rather than rounded up by immigration. Mexicans, on the hand, cannot."
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I'd think that it's more up their alley to point out that the President never said that he was opposed to singing the national anthem in Spanish. What he said is "I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English", not that it only ought to be sung in English or that it should never be sung in any other language. Why would anyone think that he said anything else? Frighteningly, this line of thought has already appeared at Left2Right.
But no one needs to come up with excuses for why Bush said what he did after participating in festivals and parties where the national anthem was sung in Spanish. They can instead focus their attention on a much more important issue: that Secada sang America the Beautiful in Spanish at Bush's inauguration, not the national anthem. Of course the liberal media has reported otherwise? Who should be fired for making up these stories?
May 3, 2006 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jeff Taylor puts on his irony hat...
You must be using the Alanis Morrissette definition of "irony."
May 3, 2006 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Uhm, not to take a position or anything, but while I was in the Federal joint, I met a number of Cubans from the Mariela boat lift who are STILL in Federal prison (as of ten years ago, anyway) for longer than ten years.
Every year Immigration comes and interviews them - and then decides to keep them incarcerated for another year.
Some of these guys are stone nutcases and criminals, no doubt about it.
But I suspect quite a few just want to get out and go back to their relatives in Miami or wherever.
So saying that Cubans "can wash up in Florida and be welcomed by the State Department, rather than rounded up by immigration" isn't necessarily entirely correct, I suspect.
On the other hand, if you're an ANTI-Cuban TERRORIST, oh, hell, yeah, you can stay here forever in luxury and we will protect you from being extradited to other South American countries where you're criminally charged with killing civilians in airplane terrorism or whatever...
Any terrorist on OUR side is a GOOD terrorist!
Just ask the M.E.K. in northern Iraq.
May 3, 2006 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink