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Debating the ground rules for a Spanish debate
Sunday, June 24, 2007

By ROGER HERNANDEZ

When Univision initially invited candidates earlier this month to the first-ever presidential debate en espa?? linguo-political fires flared all over.

The Tom Tancredo campaign was eager as ever to work the we-are-being-overrun-by-Hispanics angle. A spokesman issued a statement proudly proclaiming, "I can say with 100 percent certainty that we will not be attending."

On the opposite side were Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd, eager to jump all over the chance to show off their fluent Spanish. The New Mexico governor is a native speaker, and the Connecticut senator learned while serving in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic.

Other candidates are still figuring out whether the Univision debate (anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas ask questions in Spanish, with simultaneous translations of candidates' answers) presents an opportunity or a threat.

Representatives for John McCain, John Edwards and Mitt Romney said that their campaigns have not decided whether to participate. Romney spokesman Alex Burgos added that the idea of reaching Hispanic voters in Spanish is something his guy "is already familiar with." The Rudy Giuliani and Barack Obama campaigns did not respond before deadline for this column, but people at Univision told me neither campaign has made a final decision.

Hillary is saying No, and giving an oddly punctilious rationale. "What we have said is that the (Democratic National Committee) has six sanctioned debates from July to December, and that during that window we were just going to participate in the six sanctioned debates," spokesman Mo Elleithee told me. Univision is still working to change her mind.

Last week, Univision issued a clarification. The network notified candidates that under the format, nobody except the anchors will be able to speak in Spanish and thereby pre-empt the translator -- all candidates will be required to speak in English. Richardson and Dodd cooled off their initial linguistic enthusiasm and are now threatening not to participate.

"The senator feels it is a service to the Univision audience, a majority of whom speaks Spanish, to communicate to them in their first language," said Christy Setzer, a spokeswoman for Chris Dodd. Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley said to me: "No final decision yet, but it is likely the governor won't attend unless candidates are allowed to answer in Spanish if they choose."

Maria Elena -- who is also my columnist colleague at King Features Syndicate -- defends Univision's decision to require English even from candidates fluent in Spanish.

"I interviewed (Richardson, in Spanish) the day he announced his interest in running, but this is a debate of all the candidates," she told me. She said her network has "plenty of other shows" where candidates can speak in Spanish, and that for this debate "it is important for us to be fair and balanced and give each candidate the same opportunity."

That a race for president of the United States is almost certainly going to feature a debate in Spanish -- even if some of the major candidates don't show up -- is a sign of the growing political power of Hispanics. "I have covered the last five presidential elections, and the Hispanic vote in each election increases more and more," Maria Elena said.

She is right. I've covered presidential campaigns going back to the Reagan victory in 1980, first as a television producer then as a columnist, starting with the Clinton victory in 1992, and have seen the number of Hispanic voters grow from 2.6 million in 1980 to 7.6 million in 2004. As more potential voters become citizens, Spanish-language presidential debates are likely to become a regular feature of American political life.

That is good -- immigrants who do not know English well enough to follow a political debate can become better informed in preparation for when they become eligible to vote. But there is a problem. As things stand now, Univision's simultaneous translation to Spanish will make it difficult to hear the English-language responses from candidates.

That is not good.

Americans who do not know Spanish must not be shut out. But there is an easy fix: If Univision provides English-language captions, neither Spanish speakers nor English speakers need miss out what the next president of the United States has to say.

A little humor for the day!

OLD VERSION*:

 The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.   The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.   The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.  

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!    

*MODERN VERSION:*     The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.   The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.   Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.   CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.   How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?   Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green."   Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.   Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.   Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.   Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.   The ant loses the case.   The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.  

MORAL OF THE STORY:  Be careful how you vote!

Hola Señor Giuliani, Bienvenidos a Miami

As I walk into La Carreta, Latin music is playing loudly in the crowded room, the chatter of Spanish fills the hot, stuffy air. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is in town this early summer afternoon, paying his respects to the loyally Republican Cuban community that has thrived in the city of Hialeah just northwest of Miami, but it is also the precise scene to which Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo was referring when he said matter-of-factly “you just pick it up and take it and move it someplace. You would never know you’re in the United States of America. You would certainly say you’re in a Third World country.”

Nearly all of the opening remarks and introductions were made in Spanish only.  Rebecca Sosa, Miami-Dade City Commissioner spoke in Spanish first to the audience. After finishing her speech en Español, just to remind the few English-speaking people in the room (mostly reporters) just where they are, she says to her audience, in English, “I was elected to speak to you in Spanish.” I grimaced, cocked my head to one side…looked at her askance…and all I could think is. That’s just wrong!

At this point, I’m wondering if Rudy even speaks Spanish, because more than half this crowd of 250 or so isn’t going to understand a word he says except when he says “Castro.”

Rudy, recognizing this midway through his speech, said that his wife was learning Spanish and would be around in the future to help translate.

After Giuliani spoke, I approached a few women to gather their first impressions of ‘America’s Mayor’. Not surprisingly, two of the three women I asked, shook their heads, saying…uh..no uh speaka ingles.

And yet, just moments before, they were on their feet, cheering wildly, holding up RUDY placards as he wrapped up his speech.

Despite their ebullient response to the Mayor’s English-only speech, I think it goes without saying, all future appearances by Giuliani (and every other presidential candidate, for that matter) in Miami will require a translator on stage if they want their message effectively communicated.

The one of the three with whom I could effectively communicate was a woman in her late 60’s who spoke in Spanglish. (Hablo un poquito español)

She had lived in New York City for 20 years, through the 1980’s, but her son, a retired New York police officer, still lives in the City. She wants me to know that her son always tells her how New York has been a whole different city since she left and Giuliani became mayor. Out of nowhere, she spouts out “I’m so happy.” I ask her why. She points to the podium, where Rudy Giuliani was standing just a few minutes ago, and with such conviction, says….”This is the man.”

On many occasions, Giuliani has stressed the importance of learning to read, write and speak in English in America. It demonstrates a disturbing degree of resignation, to have to bite your tongue in the heart of the problem, where it would take cojones muy grandes to echo Arnold, and tell a predominantly Cuban, Spanish-speaking audience en Español, that by conversing all the time in Spanish, reading El Nuevo Herald and watching Univision and Telemundo, they’re doing themselves no favor, that it will only hold them back from getting ahead in America. But, you know what? That would be a lie. They do just fine in Miami, and requiring Cuban-Americans to learn English is, sad to say, an unnecessary imposition. Cubans get a pass because they are self-reliant, they are political refugees, and they are here legally, but, by failing or refusing to assimilate into American society — if we’re keeping it real — by showing no interest in breaking the language barrier in their adopted country, they remain part of the problem our politicians are loath to confront.

Sure, Giuliani was being truthful when he said that the story of the Cuban people in Miami, the achievements and accomplishments of Cuban-Americans who fled communism to the Land of Opportunity is one of the great, best examples of what America is all about. But because they are just that, “Cuban-Americans” who have no practical need to ever learn the foreign language of English, and are not considered just Americans like you and I, and 300 million other citizens of the US, is one of the best illustrations of what this country should aspire to never be about.

Saw this on FOX last night, a letter to Bill O'Reilly asked, "If fences don't work, why do we still have them around prisons?"   I thought it made a lot of sense...

Sen. John Kerry Intervenes on Behalf of Missing Soldier's Illegal Immigrant Wife

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

by Greg Simmons

WASHINGTON —  Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has asked the Department of Homeland Security not to deport the wife of an Army specialist who is missing in Iraq while the search continues for him, his office said Wednesday.

Army Spec. Alex Jimenez has been missing since May 12, when his unit was ambushed by insurgents. His wife, Yaderlin, entered the country illegally in 2001, according to Kerry's office, and the two married in 2004. Procedures to deport Yaderlin Jimenez have begun, although an immigration judge has halted the proceedings while the search for her husband continues. The two live in Lawrence, Mass.

"Under no condition should our country ever deport the spouse of a soldier who is currently serving in uniform abroad," Kerry said, in a statement provided to FOXNews.com.

In the letter to Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff, Kerry wrote: "I do not believe that Yaderlin should have her stress and grief compounded by additional worries about her own immigration status. I request that no further action be taken (in) Yaderlin's case while her husband is missing in action. As Yaderlin waits to hear what has happened to her husband I ask that she be allowed to stay in our country."

 

"I believe this is a very real test of our government's compassion for a military family which has already made enormous sacrifices for the United States," the letter continued.

Vincent Morris, a spokesman for Kerry, said the senator is also looking into whether this is a more widespread problem in the Army.

A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately available for comment.

But it remains to be seen if Kerry's efforts will be enough to prevent the deportation of Yaderlin Jimenez, whose maiden name is Hiraldo.

Jimenez family attorney Matthew Kolken, reached briefly at his Buffalo, N.Y., office, said the letter won't change his client's legal status, but "that letter is very good in that they (authorities) have it in their power to make a motion in her case" to reopen the proceedings.

Another immigration attorney said only an act of Congress would ensure the wife's legal status in the United States.

"Unless Congress passes a private bill on her behalf, she is subject to deportation," said Charles Kuck, an immigration lawyer and president-elect of the Washington, D.C.-based American Immigration Lawyers Association. The group has more than 10,000 members.

Morris said Kerry's office is "taking it one step at a time," and could consider other options including a private bill, although this letter seemed to be the fastest method available.

"The senator wanted to put up a bright red flag and say, 'hold on,' " Morris said.

Kuck, speaking with FOXNews.com from his Atlanta office, said he suspects this is a widespread problem among military families. He said he believes that throughout the country, there are between 1 million and 3 million families where one spouse is not a legal resident.

"I get a call like this at least two to three times today: 'What can I do to help my spouse, but he came in illegally?' " Kuck said.

Boston television station WBZ-TV reported that Alex Jimenez, 25, had requested through U.S. immigration services a hardship waiver to gain legal status for his wife.

"I can't imagine a bigger injustice than that, to be deporting someone's wife who is fighting and possibly dying for our country," Kolken told the station.

Kuck said that immigration laws right now pose a Catch-22 for families like the Jimenezes. The process that they likely went through requires the spouse who needs the waiver to first leave the country, and then go to the U.S. consulate in his or her home country. In this case, the Dominican Republic.

The waivers are rare. Kuck said only a few thousand a year are issued, and they favor Mexicans because of the volume of applications. But because Yaderlin Jimenez had been in the country illegally for longer than one year, she would be forced to stay away from the United States for 10 years once she left the United States, Kuck said.

Kuck said he does not fault Immigration and Customs Services for enforcing the law, but this particular problem penalizes the legal U.S. citizen spouses of the illegal residents. He said the law should be changed so the waiver hearings can be held inside the United States.

"When you're deporting the spouses of U.S. soldiers, I think the law's harsh enough," Kuck said. "Essentially we're punishing U.S. Citizens. That's why it's so essential to have comprehensive immigration reform."

Alex Jimenez and Pvt. Brian Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich., remain missing more than a month after the attack on their 10th Mountain Division unit. Their identification cards were found in an Al Qaeda safe house near Baghdad this weekend. A video posted earlier this month by a group affiliated with the terrorist group claimed the men had been killed, but did not provide specific proof of the claim.

The body of one soldier who was captured with Jimenez and Fouty has been found, and four other U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed in the attack.

 

U.S. Border Control

House passes Tancredo amendment establishing penal...

Posted: 19 Jun 2007 07:50 PM CDT

House passes Tancredo amendment establishing penalty for sanctuary cities

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to withhold federal emergency services funding from canctuary cities that protect illegal immigrants. Congressman (and Presidential Candidate) Tom Tancredo of Colorado was sponsor of the amendment to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill. He was elated by its passage.

Tancredo said the vote showed "the people of the country have spoken. It's a really good indicator of just how much closer to the people the House is than the Senate is." The House passed the amendment, 234 to 189, with 50 Democrats voting in favor. Tancredo introduced similar amendments at least seven other times since 2004, but each has failed, often by wide margins. The FY 2008 appropriations bill, with the amendment, now goes before the Senate. It would have to be signed by the president to become law.

The Colorado representative said the success of his amendment is an indicator that the House would crush the immigration reform plan if it passes in the Senate. "If I were (Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi, I'd be asking if she could pass a vote on amnesty on the House side," Tancredo said. "If she lost 50 Democrats on this one, and she says she needs 70 Republicans to pass the immigration plan, this is an interesting indicator of things coming down the pike, and that the times, they are a-changing."

I think a more appropriate song would've been Cliff Richard's Devil Woman...What do you guys think?  Am I being too harsh?

WASHINGTON —  Hillary Clinton has chosen her campaign song, and it's an homage to two Sopranos — Tony and Celine.

In a video spoof of the famous last scene from the final "Sopranos" episode, Hillary and Bill Clinton sit down at a table in a diner and thumb through the jukebox selections before choosing the song. And the winner is — Bada-Bing! — Celine Dion's "You and I."

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15D3ElV1Jzw

School: Hugging, Hand Holding Banned

Parents Want Rule Reconsidered

 

POSTED: 8:17 am MDT June 19, 2007 VIENNA, Va -- Hugging is now a punishable offense at one Fairfax County, Va., school.

 

Kids at Kilmer Middle School in suburban Washington, D.C., are under a zero-tolerance touching policy. They're banned from poking, prodding, hugging -- even high-fiving.

 

Seventh-grader Hal Beaulieu, 13, almost ended up with detention when he put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. He was let off with a warning. But the telling-off was enough to prompt the teen and his parents to write a letter asking the county school board to review the rule.

 

School officials said that at the overcrowded school, pokes can lead to fights and handshakes can be gang-related.

 

Kilmer Principal Deborah Hernandez said the no-touching rule is meant to ensure that all students are comfortable and crowded hallways and lunchrooms stay safe. She said school officials are allowed to use their judgment in enforcing the rule. Typically, only repeat offenders are reprimanded.

 

Hal and his parents want the school board to have the school reconsider the policy. They say there's a wide margin between a hug and touching that is inappropriate.

EXCELLENT article!  Please read!

 

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/06/c
ivilization.html

Take the quick quiz and find out!

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

 

Received in EMAIL...

Like a lot of folks in this state I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I  am required to pass a random urine test, with which I have  no problem.

 

 

 

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them??

 

 

 

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do on the other hand have a problem with helping someone sitting on their ass. Could you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?????

 

Gingrich blasts 'arrogant' policies

He warns higher taxes could cost jobs

By AMY HETZNER
ahetzner@journalsentinel.com Posted: June 15, 2007

Waukesha - Once one of the biggest powerbrokers in U.S. Capitol, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called government out of touch with the American public Friday and criticized a pending immigration bill in Congress and possible tax increases in Wisconsin.

"I really think we're in a core struggle over the future of the country," Gingrich said in a speech to nearly 300 people at the Country Springs Hotel. "Over here is an arrogant, out-of-touch, interest-group elite in Madison and Washington that don't get it, and over here is about 80 or 90 percent of the American people."

Gingrich also spoke Friday at a $250-per-couple lunch at the University Club in Milwaukee.

In his Waukesha speech, sponsored by the pro-business Wisconsin Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity, Gingrich said Wisconsin could follow the path of the economically stressed Michigan in losing jobs if it raises taxes further.

"I hope all of you will contact your state representatives and your state senators and indicate they should only vote for a budget that has no tax increase," he urged.

The Wisconsin Legislature is currently in the middle of a budget debate in which Assembly Republicans have threatened to not approve a budget favored by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle because of proposed tax increases.

Doyle spokesman Matt Canter criticized legislators' plans to hold up a budget they didn't like.

"The governor does not understand how any legislator or Newt Gingrich could stand up and protect the interests of big oil companies advocating for delaying a budget when they know such a delay means cutting support for our schools," he said, referring to Doyle's proposed tax on oil company profits. Canter also said other aspects of the governor's budget would provide tax relief for middle-class families.

In his nearly hour-long session, Gingrich also took issue with the immigration bill pending in Congress, which attempts to strengthen border security while also helping millions of illegal immigrants achieve citizenship.

Gingrich called the bill both "dishonest" and unenforceable. He did so, however, without naming President Bush, a proponent of the legislation.

Schwarzenegger: Turn Off Spanish TV

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Latino immigrants who want to learn English more quickly should avoid Spanish-language media.

"You’ve got to turn off the Spanish television set,” Schwarzenegger said at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in San Jose on Wednesday.

"It’s that simple. You’ve got to learn English. I know this sounds odd and this is the politically incorrect thing to say and I’m going to get myself in trouble. But I know that when I came to this country, I very rarely spoke German to anyone.”

Asked how to improve the academic performance of Latinos, the Austrian native said immigrants should avoid Spanish-language books, TV programs and newspapers in order to learn English, the Sacramento Bee reported.

He also said that immigrants from some European countries have an easier time learning English because they don’t have many opportunities to speak their native language in the U.S.