O Say, Can You See...

If you're outraged by the idea of people singing the Star Spangled Banner in something other than English (a bit awkward having to make a nationalistic argument regarding language when your language is named for a different nation, but you have to work with what you've got), like, say, the new Spanish language version of the national anthem, I've got some bad news-- you're going to have to spend a lot of time being outraged. As Steve points out over at No More Mister Nice Blog, translating the anthem into another language is a widely accepted American practice-- except, to judge by news reports, when Latinos do it. German, French, Polish, even Tagalog, not a peep of protest, but reach for the Spanish/English dictionary and the howling starts on talk radio and cable news channels. Of course all the outraged types doing the howling in the media claim that race has nothing to do with this, it's the principle of the matter-- the Star Spangled Banner should only be sung in English. If you are one of those types, best of luck to you-- protesting all those non-Spanish translations is going to be a lot of work. Your anti-German language protests at Oktoberfest alone will be grueling. But it'll be worth it, right? Because it's all about the principle, and has nothing to do with race.

Me, I'll be in the beer tent, trying not to look surprised when the picket lines don't appear.