Oh look, Obama changed his mind... on Spanish

Via Babalu:
First Obama said immigrants should learn English:

Transcript:

"We'll have to finally bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadoes. It is time we did that. Now, let's acknowledge, yes, they broke the law. They should have to pay a fine, they should have to learn English, they should go to the back of the line, they should not get citizenship ahead of those who have been waiting patiently, but we also have to put them on a pathway to citizenship."

Then he changed his mind:

Transcript:

You know, I don't understand when people are going around worrying about, "We need to have English - only." They want to pass a law, "We want English-only."

Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English -- they'll learn English -- you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about, how can your child become bilingual? We should have every child speaking more than one language.

You know, it's embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe, and all we can say [is], "Merci beaucoup." Right?

Via Memeorandum, American Voters Reject Obama's call for Bilingualism:

A national telephone survey conducted last month by Rasmussen Reports found that U.S. voters overwhelmingly disagree with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. (see video)

Eighty-three percent (83%) place a higher priority on encouraging immigrants to speak English as their primary language. Just 13% take the opposite view and say it is more important for Americans to learn other languages.

In his comments, Obama emphasized the economic benefits of learning a second language: "If you have a foreign language, that is a powerful tool to get a job." Data suggests that most voters see the issue in a broader context.

A separate survey found that one factor fueling the anger over immigration is the belief that most government officials encourage immigrants to retain the culture of their home country. This helps explain why voters who are angry about immigration are primarily angry at the government, not immigrants. Among those angry about immigration, 59% believe most government officials encourage immigrants to retain their home country culture.

Last fall, a Rasmussen Reports survey found that 77% of Americans believed that employers should be allowed to require employees to speak English while on the job. With the Supreme Court recently upholding tougher standards for voter identification at the polls, 65% of voters now believe election ballots should only be printed in English. Thirty-two percent (32%) say they should be printed in both English and Spanish.

The importance of assimilation into the culture is highlighted in another recent survey: 54% of voters say it is more important to encourage all immigrants to embrace American culture than it is to reduce the number of immigrants. Just 36% take the opposite view and say reducing immigration is a higher priority. That survey, as with many others, also found a strong preference for ballots and other government documents to be printed in English only.

Even when bilingualism is not assimilation, the fact is that you can not assimilate into a culture without a good working knowledge of its language. All immigrants should learn English, and to learn English, you have to be taught.

In a lighter vein, A different look at the race

Prior post: Bilingualism and Obama.



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Bilingualism and Obama

Obama was saying,

You know, I don't understand when people are going around worrying about, "We need to have English - only." They want to pass a law, "We want English-only."

Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English -- they'll learn English -- you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about, how can your child become bilingual? We should have every child speaking more than one language.

You know, it's embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe, and all we can say [is], "Merci beaucoup." Right?

You know, no, I'm serious about this. We should understand that our young people, if you have a foreign language, that is a powerful tool to get ajob. You are so much more employable. You can be part of international business. So we should be emphasizing foreign languages in our schools from an early age, because children will actually learn a foreign language easier when they're 5, or 6, or 7 than when they're 46, like me.

Obama does pronounce Spanish very clearly when he does his political ads. He also does it for a political purpose. His thought that Americans should make their children bilingual in Spanish panders to "Hispanics" who are not interested in assimilating, but makes no sense vis-a-vis the argument that doing so would keep Americans from embarrassment when traveling in Europe: only a small number of Europeans speak Castillian (including, increasingly, non-Castillians born and raised in Spain). May I remind Obama that what we call Spanish in the USA is Castillian in Spain?

Andrew Leonard thinks that

There's nothing particularly exceptional about Obama's position, unless you are an English-only partisan cowering in fear of your cultural identity being swamped by funny-looking people from strange lands. Or one of the similarly insecure patriots who believe any criticism of the U.S. is a sign of "blame-America-first" treachery. And I suppose the whole comment about "going to Europe" opens Obama up to more charges of elitism, and disconnection from the lives of those who, right now, can't afford to even think about going to Europe.

Leonard clearly ignored people like myself, who are fully bilingual in Spanish, and who also can read French and a little Portuguese. Some of us are "Hispanic" (which, as I've said before is a term I use for expediency), many of us are not. I have met thousands of Americans born and raised in the USA who are multilingual.

People like myself are not "cowering in fear of your cultural identity being swamped by funny-looking people from strange lands." For starters, even when we come from "strange lands", we are not "funny-looking people". Indeed, people like me are fully integrated Americans and look like everyone else, i.e., unfunny.

What we fear is not that our "cultural identity" may or may not be "swamped", because we are secure in our cultural identity; What we worry about is that new immigrants (documented or not) who hadn't had a quality education in their countries of origin would deny themselves the opportunities our great country offers by not wanting to learn English and limit themselves to regions of the country where only their native tongue is spoken. The best paid professions in the world rely on English as their common language. India has become a dynamic economy because English-speaking jobs get outsourced to India. People how aren't willing to learn English (and I mean standard, proper, grammatically correct English) are sentencing themselves to a lifetime of poorly-paid jobs and missed opportunities.

Additionally, every country with an official second language is permanently divided. While the teaching of foreign languages (in plural - considering China's ascendancy in the global scene, Mandarin comes in handy) should be compulsory in every school in our country, English is and should remain America's language. All the original documents that created this nation should be read in the original English to be fully understood.

Which brings me to Victor Davis Hanson: his experience mirrors mine when it comes to multi-lingual America,

I was watching Obama complain that we don't speak European languages while Europeans speak English fluently. Fair enough—though the vast size of the US, the presence of two oceans on our borders, the ubiquity of Spanish here, the knowledge of other languages by millions of Americans, both explain a lot, and belie the notion that we are all English-only speakers, while the multitude of nations in close proximity has historically made Europeans by necessity multi-lingual.

Hanson, a university professor, adds the educational angle:

But that said, Obama's previous idealization of minority-theme charter schools and the need for more "oppression studies" are precisely the sorts of therapeutic curricula that ensure Americans are not getting classical instruction in languages and literatures. We still await his visit to an inner-city school where he might lecture the student body and faculty that more Latin, French, math, and Shakespeare would do more to make students competitive in an increasingly tough, global job market than thousands of hours of oppression studies and victimization classes.

Obama is wrong in believing that "Immigrants will learn English" on their own well enough to meet the challenges of any well-paid profession. Immigrants need to learn the structure, grammar, syntax and pronunciation of proper English. I know this from my own personal experience. Additionally, when it comes to the instruction of foreign languages in schools, the more classroom hours you dedicate to "self-esteem" oriented or victimization studies, the fewer hours you'll have for rigorous academic curricula of any kind, foreign languages included.

And that's not the way to favorably impress the Europeans, or anyone. TigerHawk has more on that.



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The abridged Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

I just got back in town after spending a delightful week in Florida with family and friends, hence, the abridged Carnival.

If you would like your posts included in next week's Carnival, please email me: faustaw2 "at" gmail "dot" com.

ARGENTINA
¿Arde Argentina?

BOLIVIA
Bolivia's Annual "Punch Your Neighbor In the Face" Festival


BRAZIL
Lula Abandons Radical Past, Ushering in Brazil Growth

Brazilian Secret 93 Million Don't Want to Talk About Is Racism

Biofuels in Brazil: Lean, green and not mean

CHILE
Presidente del Senado pide fin a los juicios a militares

COLOMBIA
McCain's visit to Colombia

CUBA
Anyone for cocktails? Outsiders bet that bigger changes are on their way

Babalu celebrates its 5 yr anniversary

ECUADOR
Presidente Correa cuestiona carta de Human Rights Fundation

Human Rights Foundation responds to President Correa's accusations and declares Guadalupe Llori a political prisoner of Ecuador's governmentHuman Rights Foundation responds to President Correa's accusations and declares Guadalupe Llori a political prisoner of Ecuador's government

MEXICO
Outrage: Our "friends" in Mexico release suspect in Border Patrol officer’s murder

NICARAGUA
Why Iran is building a $200 million dam in Nicaragua

Nicaragua: The Inherent Dangers of Being a Militant Mecca

Nicas take to the streets to protest Ortega and the Pacto

PERU
Spy chief defends Peru's Fujimori

VENEZUELA
Oil fuels war!

Chavez losing political support

Venezuelan military officers complain against Chavez

Immigration
Phoenix man killed at home by three Mexican militiamen in military gear, or maybe not

School Puts Mexican-Americans on the Road to Success

Special thanks to Eneas, Larwyn, Maggie, Maria, and Siggy



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The assimilation factor

Via RCP, The Assimilation Factor

Public concern about the impact of new immigration on America has reached a pitch not seen since the early 20th century. Americans have experienced an immigration surge unprecedented in their lifetimes. This is an unsurprising coincidence in light of the fact that our immigrant population of 37 million is, in absolute numbers, greater than it has been at any time in our history. It’s nearly as large a percentage, 12.5%, of the population as it was at its historic peak at 14.5% in 1890. Today, there are more immigrants from Mexico than there were foreign-born residents from all countries in 1970.
...
But the most striking finding is much less positive. The current overall assimilation level for all immigrant groups combined, measured on a scale of zero to 100, is, at 28, lower now than it was during the great immigration wave of the early 20th century, when it never went below 32. What's more, the immigrant group that is by far the largest is also the least assimilated. On the zero-to-100 scale, Mexicans — 11 million emigrated to America between 1980 and 2006 — score only 13.

Although Mexican assimilation does occur, it's extremely slow. Mexicans who arrived in 1995 started out with Index scores around five - and increased only to around 10 by 2005. In other words, our largest immigrant group arrived with little education and even less knowledge of English, and they have stayed that way for an extended period.

By contrast, Vietnamese started at similar low levels and in 10 years rose to an Index level of more than 40. Notable, too, is that Generation 1.5 - Mexicans who came to this country as children aged five or younger - are also remaining distinct, and in some worrisome ways: they are less likely than other immigrant groups to become citizens, and more likely to be in prison or be a teen mother.

This is sad but not surprising: one can easily expect a large group of young people who are alienated from both their country of origin and from the society in which they now belong to end up in such circumstances:

A hundred years ago, there was a pro-assimilation movement led by the nation’s cultural elite. Across the country, more than 400 settlement houses - from New York's Henry Street to Chicago's Hull House - were established. Their mission, taken up by the privileged of that era, included Americanization of newcomers. Indeed, the Pledge of Allegiance, first published in 1892, was written as a primer of America's values just when immigration was hitting its peak.

Today, the pledge is regarded as chauvinistic, particularly by those who should be leading the assimilation effort. We can't bemoan low levels of immigrant assimilation if 21st century America's most fortunate lack the cultural self-confidence to promote it.

As I have said before, acculturation is not simply being bilingual. There has to be a complete immersion in American language, history - and most important - values.

Unless those three factors come together, integration won't take place.

And the immigration problem is an integration problem.



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Immigrants chase the Brazilian Dream

The BBC Brazilian edition reports (link in Portuguese) Number of immigrants in search of the ' Brazilian dream ' grows: An increasing number of immigrants are arriving in Brazil in search of opportunity. Foreigners are arriving as individual investors, employees of multinational corporations, or illegally, encouraged by the growth and stability of the Brazilian economy.

The depreciation of the Argentinian currency, Spain's tougher immigration laws, and Brazil's new agreements with Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay is attracting South American immigrants.

The US is the leading country requesting investment visas, with Great Britain and the Philippines in second and third places. Investment from the Phillipines is mostly in oil. Italy, France, Germany, India, Japan, China and Canada round up the top ten.

The BBC reports that Brazil has an estimated 600,000 illegal aliens, 75,000 of which are Bolivians.

As you can see from the report, people will opt for economic opportunity whenever they can. As the Bolivian government clamps down on economic investment, the people go where they can prosper.

UPDATE
Meanwhile, in Europe, Is the Polish diaspora returning home?, via Siggy



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Illegal immigrants may get tax rebates

Yet another instance of governmental stupidity reacting to a "crisis" (in this instance, the economy)

Lou Dobbs alert: Illegal immigrants may get rebates

In their bipartisan zeal to quickly cut a deal on an economic stimulus bill, GOP lawmakers overlooked something that will certainly inflame the conservative base _ illegal immigrants could receive a tax rebate check from the government.

The text of the House passed bill contains language making "non resident aliens" _ illegal immigrants _ ineligible for the tax rebates. But every year, hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants use individual taxpayer identification numbers, known as ITINs, to file income tax returns with the IRS. These ID numbers are used instead of Social Security numbers.

And now for the punch line:

According to a Senate GOP aide, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) will try to offer a "fix" to the bill in the Finance Committee markup of the legislation today. Republican aides are also worried that under certain definitions in the House bill, a resident alien who spent at least 183 days drawing income in the United States but was deported - and still filed a tax return - could have a rebate check sent to their home country. Ensign will try to prevent this with an amendment to the bill, according to a GOP aide.

It gets worse:

The $146 billion stimulus package intended to jolt the economy by giving taxpayers rebates up to $1,200 includes cash returns for illegal immigrants who pay taxes.

Under the plan passed by the House, illegal immigrants who qualify as "resident aliens" and earned a minimum of $3,000 would be eligible for rebates of between $300-$600, FOX News has learned.

Where to start?

First of all, tax rebates means we are all overtaxed.
2. No amount of tax rebate is going to stimulate the economy IF there is no cut in government spending.

But that aside,
What the hey is the GOP thinking, to go along with this kind of garbage anyway?

Why should workers (citizens working here and overseas, legal residents, and documented foreign workers) who are complying with the law subsidize those who are not?

UPDATE
25 Republicans opposed the package. Here's Rep. John Campbell

Rep. Campbell will be on Lou Dobbs tonight.



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Thank you, Tom Tancredo

Why I won't do Spanish debate

I declined the invitation to participate in the Spanish-language Republican presidential debate on Sunday because I do not want to endorse the further Balkanization of American political life.

And here's a question,

Is it not a little bit insulting to our new citizens who were born in Cuba or Mexico or Peru to suggest that political debates need to be translated into Spanish for them to understand what is going on?

Yes. It is.

Integration is the crucial issue regarding immigration, and language is instrumental towards integration.

I applaud Congressman Tancredo.


Technorati: Tom Tancredo
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English-Only Showdown, and the route to failure

John Fund writes about the English-Only Showdown
Does Nancy Pelosi really object to a common language in the workplace?

The U.S. used to welcome immigrants while at the same time encouraging assimilation. Since 1906, for example, new citizens have had to show "the ability to read, write and speak ordinary English." A century later, this preference for assimilation is still overwhelmingly popular. A new Rasmussen poll finds that 87% of voters think it "very important" that people speak English in the U.S., with four out of five Hispanics agreeing. And 77% support the right of employers to have English-only policies, while only 14% are opposed.

But hardball politics practiced by ethnic grievance lobbies is driving assimilation into the dustbin of history. The House Hispanic Caucus withheld its votes from a key bill granting relief on the Alternative Minimum Tax until Ms. Pelosi promised to kill the Salvation Army relief amendment.

As you all well know, I am a staunch advocate of assimilation. I am truly happy to hear that many others are, too:

"We are now celebrating diversity at the expense of unity. One way to create that unity is to value, not devalue, our common language, English."

That's what pro-assimilation forces are moving to do. TV Azteca, Mexico's second-largest network, is launching a 60-hour series of English classes on all its U.S. affiliates. It recognizes that teaching English empowers Latinos. "If you live in this country, you have to speak as everybody else," Jose Martin Samano, Azteca's U.S. anchor, told Fox News. "Immigrants here in the U.S. can make up to 50% or 60% more if they speak both English and Spanish. This is something we have to do for our own people."

Azteca isn't alone. Next month, a new group called Our Pledge will be launched. Counting Jeb Bush and former Clinton Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros among its board members, the organization believes absorbing immigrants is "the Sputnik challenge of our era." It will put forward two mutual pledges. It will ask immigrants to learn English, become self-sufficient and pledge allegiance to the U.S. It will ask Americans to provide immigrants help navigating the American system, the chance to eventually become a citizen and an atmosphere of respect.

This is a big challenge, but Our Pledge points out that the U.S. did it before with the Americanization movement of a century ago. It was government led, but the key players were businesses like the Ford Motor Company and nonprofits such as the YMCA, plus an array of churches and neighborhood groups.

The alternative to Americanization is polarization. Already a tenth of the population speaks English poorly or not at all. Almost a quarter of all K-12 students nationwide are children of immigrants living between two worlds. It's time for people of good will to reject both the nativist and anti-assimilation extremists and act. If the federal government spends billions on the Voice of America for overseas audiences and on National Public Radio for upscale U.S. listeners, why not fund a "Radio New America" whose primary focus is to teach English and U.S. customs to new arrivals?

The surest way to achieve success in our country, the most successful society in the history of mankind, is through integration.

Nancy Pelosi and her cohorts are doing their outmost to ensure the failure not only of immigrants, but of our country.


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Bilingual Discord in LA

Discord roils L.A. Unified parent panel
Acrimony with racial overtones has plagued the advisory council. The key issue: whether meetings in Spanish should be allowed.

For months, parents on a Los Angeles Unified School District advisory council have disagreed over whether their meetings should be conducted in Spanish or English. Such arguments became so abusive that district officials canceled meetings for two months and brought in dispute-resolution specialists and mental-health counselors.
...
They offer advice on -- and oversight of -- the expenditure of $385 million on federally funded programs for students from poor families.

What is wrong with this picture?

First of all, the public meetings of an organization bankrolled at taxpayers' expense, are being held in the United States. While the USA has no official language, the language of goverment, the language in which all the laws are written and all the documents on which our nation was founded, is English.

As the article states, the Council is managing federal funds. While there are a lot of people in the USA and undoubtedly many people in the LA School District who speak Spanish, we live in an English-speaking country.

The Los Angeles Unified School District evidently has a large number of Spanish-speaking immigrants:

Some meetings consist entirely of Spanish-speakers in a district where more than 266,000 students (and probably many more parents) are English-learners out of a student population of about 694,000.

First of all, they are English-learners; in practical terms, every immigrant family I have come across has the situation where the children have learned English even if the parents do not. And, second, even with their large numbers, they are still a minority. I expect that there are areas in Los Angeles and other cities in California where Vietnamese, or Mandarin, or Russian, is the prevailing language. California is a state of immigrants.

But the real issue is not immigration; the real issue is integration.

By demanding that the meetings be held in Spanish, a large number of attendees have demonstrated that they have no intention of integrating into mainstream America.

According to the article,

The goings-on raise another round of questions about parent participation in the nation's second-largest school system, which has been repeatedly criticized by auditors for inconsistent and ineffective parent involvement and outreach. Critics say the district rarely seeks true parental input and instead uses parents to rubber-stamp budgets and programs. District officials insist they are determined to change this perception and are making progress.

The English-speaking parents who are involved have every reason to expect that the meetings be held in English. It behooves the Spanish-speaking parents to learn the language. That is the best way they can participate in the political process.

I know so from experience.

As I have asserted time and time again, acculturation is not simply being bilingual; however, by denying themselves the opportunity to learn English, the Spanish-speaking parents are denying themselves all the opportunities this country has to offer them.

In the long term, they are also denying their children those opportunities.

Earlier this year I posted about the deleterious effect that bilingual education has on children's learning. Take a look at the world's best-paid professions; look at how India's becoming an economic powerhouse because its people speak fluent English.

The LA Times article says that a woman

considers it racist when parents are told that, in America, they have to speak English.

This is hardly surprising; after all, the best-known Hispanic activist group, La Raza, features race in its name. Additionally, pulling a race card has been used repeatedly by those who would rather not be inconvenienced into learning a language, and there's also an industry of victimhood willing to support them.

As Tony Blankley has said when talking about bilingual ed,

It is hateful of ideological "civil rights" activists to try to intimidate any politician who would dare to liberate kids from the linguistic ghetto that serves the political power of these "civil rights" activists. Once these kids have mastered English and fully entered American life, they will no longer be vote fodder for the "civil rights" activists' political ambitions.

The special interest ethnic activists prefer to have a new generation of clients, rather than a new generation of fully integrated American citizens. And what they fear is an honest and open debate on the bilingual teaching method.

Allow me to point out, again, that "Hispanic" is not a race. In the two-dozen Spanish-speaking countries in the world you can find people of every race and ethnic background.

As we watch the problems Europe has with millions of immigrants who the Europeans never integrated into their societies, it is time we insist on every immigrant's duty to learn the language and the customs of our country.

Racism has nothing to do with that. It's all about becoming Americans, and to become an American you still can remain being yourself.


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Today's Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Last week's top story:
Not as strident as all the Venezuelan news, but very important, Four killed in Bolivia clashes over new constitution

A Bolivian protester died early on Monday after being injured in clashes with police over the weekend, local officials said, raising the death toll to four from violent confrontations over a new draft constitution.

Jose Luis Cardozo "died in the early hours on Monday," said Fidel Herrera, the head of the municipal council of Sucre, and one of the protest leaders.

Cardozo suffered serious injuries on Saturday as thousands of demonstrators demanded their southeastern city of Sucre be named the capital of Bolivia and protested pro-government delegates approving a new constitution.

The protests took a violent turn on Saturday evening when another demonstrator, a 29-year-old lawyer, died of a gunshot wound. Police later used tear gas to quell the protests.

Two other people, a police officer and a third protester, were also killed in the street violence and dozens were injured.

The Bolivarian Revolution's not quite going as planned in Bolivia.

Bolivian protesters free prisoners

SUCRE, Bolivia (Reuters) - Demonstrators opposed to efforts by Bolivian President Evo Morales to overhaul the constitution on Sunday torched police stations and stormed a jail, freeing 100 inmates, while on the streets protesters clashed with police and one officer was killed.

The protests in the southern city of Sucre came hours after pro-government allies in a constitutional assembly approved a preliminary draft late on Saturday of the new constitution, a key Morales political project.

Morales, a leftist and Bolivia's first Indian president, says the new constitution will give the country's indigenous majority more political power.

But the vote was boycotted by the rightist opposition, which has heavily criticized the assembly.

On the streets of Sucre, protesters stood face to face with police officers, setting fires to tires as tear-gas rained down on them.

They also set fire to Sucre's San Roque prison, starting a prison riot that saw at least 100 inmates escape, local media said.

In other Bolivian news, Bolivia's Gas Nationalization: Opportunity and Challenges

Spanish-language website of the week:
RELIAL Red Liberal de America Latina

Don’t miss HACER's roster of Latin American blogs and the Wall Street Journal in Spanish.

SOUTH AMERICA:
Crisis in the Americas

Terrorist In The Neighborhood

As fears mount, experts debate terrorist inroads in Latin America (registration required)

Don't like your constitution? Then rewrite it
In Latin America, revisions can renew a nation's pride - or exploit its people

CHILE
I want my two dollars

COLOMBIA
Media Myths About Free Trade Cause Many To Forget Benefits

Notes from a Reader in South America, Ambassador Gherbasi

Betancourt's husband asks Chavez to keep mediating

Uribe and Chavez trade insults as Venezuela freezes ties

Uribe: Chavez wants a Marxist FARC government in Colombia

Further adventures in Bolivarian diplomacy

CUBA
Is there a doctor in the Gulag?

Around the Block for Some Cafe ... (roundup)

Jeff Jacoby: Writing the truth about Cuba

ECUADOR:
I Marched with the Terrorists: Chevron-Texaco sued again in the Amazon

Ecuador's Correa wins control of constituent assembly, official results show

Unofficial Vote Count Confirms Correa Victory

VENEZUELAN-ECUADOREAN-IRANIAN AXIS ON THE MOVE

IMMIGRATION
Estados Unidos, Admision Gratis

MEXICO
U.S. Anti-Drug Plan Would Recast Legal System in Mexico

From Mexico but posting on the Brooklyn madrassa, War of Ideas on the Homefront

PANAMA
Panama November Rains Leave Jamaica Mission Team Stranded

PERU
Victims of Ica Held a Peaceful Strike During Friday's Riot

Violently Treated Women in Peru March for Their Rights

You tax money at work: UN declares 2008 as 'International Year of the Potato' (IYP)

PUERTO RICO
Pageant officials investigate who put pepper spray on Miss Puerto Rico Universe's gowns

VENEZUELA
The referendum on the extensive rewrite of the Constitution is scheduled for December 2.

Who are the students of the Venezuelan opposition?

This Ain't Hell has a roundup of referendum articles and posts.

Read the item-by-item analysis of the constitutional reforms at the Venezuela's Constitutional Reform website.

To vote or not to Vote? Venezuela at the crossroad or all the doors will open Chavez's reform

Venezuela's path to self-destruction
Voters are on the verge of handing President Hugo Chavez the power to turn their country into a dictatorship

Vi a Maria A comeback for communism

Do Wealthy Liberal Democracies Fail?

Chavez Loses Lead; Declares Opponents Traitors

Only The Sith Deal In Absolutes

Center for Security Policy's articles on Venezuela via CVF
(In Spanish)
Countdown to Tyranny I
Countdown to Tyranny II
Countdown to Tyranny III
Countdown to Tyranny IV

Article 98: Patents and the decline of innovation in Venezuela

Other Venezuela-related posts:
Yes, we have no milk in Venezuela

"Do you want me to pee on you?"

Chavez budgets $250 million for 'alternative' groups
Venezuela's proposed budget includes more than $250 million for 'anti-imperialist' groups in the United States and Latin America.

Colombians fire Hugo

Video: Unhinged in Venezuela
Breakdown

Excusing Chavez and Defending The Indefensible
Voting in Tyranny
Loving Chavez
Excusing Chavez

Chavez under fire

James Petras, Gunslinger

Clown Conference, Tehran, November 19, 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ VS. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Stalin Vs. Chavez

"I hope so, too."

Hugo and 'Jad, talking currency
--------------------------------------------------------------
Special thanks to Maggie, Eneas Biglione, Larwyn, and Maria.

Linking to the Carnival:
A Colombo-americana's perspective
Pajamas Media



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Channeling, books, shoes, and Carnival

Channeling:
GM Roper channels Elizabeth Barret Browning.

Siggy channels A Post Modern Christmas.

No Pasaran channels a VW van.

An illegal alien wants to cross the channel...again.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of immigration, lose weight before you move to New Zealand (h/t Mark Steyn/The Corner)
---------------------------------------------------------------
This week's WSJ's Five Best, on "extraordinary journeys of discovery", chosen by Dava Sobel:


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This week's shoes:

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CARNIVAL OF THE INSANITIES - Happy Thanksgiving!

Pandering report: "Democrats Reach Out to Hispanic Voters"

I watched the Univision debate last evening. It was a rather baffling spectacle. For starters, it wasn't a debate; it was a round-robin press conference where the candidates addressed the two moderators, Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, and not each other.

Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson took part in the program. Biden couldn't make it.

Richardson and Dodd weren't allowed to reply in Spanish because it would give them an unfair advantage over Hillary the other candidates. Richardson was twice stopped by Ramos when Richardson tried to reply in Spanish. At one point Richardson protested,

"In other words, Univision is promoting English-only in this debate."

Even when I find this bilingual pandering absurd, I actually would have preferred to hear Richardson and Dodd reply in Spanish since the speakers weren't muted and you heard a garbled mess of low-volume English and higher-volume Spanish. There was also a fair amount of overlapping between the answers, the translations, and the next questions. It wasn't so much a tower of Babel as it was a Tower of Garbled.

The debate was focused exclusively on saying what the Democrats think the audience wanted to hear:

• Open borders; Obama, Clinton and Dodd were asked why wouldn't they want a barrier on the Canadian border because after all, "none of the September 11 terrorists came in through Mexico."

Give it time, Jorge, give it time. Continuing,

• Reuniting families (Hillary); the courage of those "doing the jobs Americans don't want to do" (Edwards)
• Spanish as the official second language of the US (Kucinich)
• And government intervention in everything from education to mortgages to healthcare

Kucinich wants to abolish NAFTA; Edwards will raise your taxes to pay for medical insurance; Hillary wants more and more government regulation and intervention in the banking system because "40% of Hispanic homeowners have second mortgages."

No surprises there.

Much to their credit, neither Richardson nor Dodd would support Spanish as a second official language.

Gravel wants an "open-arms policy with Latin America" and would embrace Hugo Chavez; he also made a huge gaffe by saying he wants to recognize the Castro regime, asking, "What's the big deal?'' to a South Florida audience. Oooh boy.

NY Times: Democrats Reach Out to Hispanic Voters

Mr. Obama, who is seeking strong support from both black and Hispanic voters, recalled a telegram the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sent to Cesar Chavez when the two men were each involved in protest strikes. The telegram read, "Our separate struggles are one."

Did Dr. King send the telegram in Spanish?

Washington Post: In a First, a Candidate Forum in Translation
Democratic Event on Latino Issues Is Exceptional More for Format

Several questions focused on immigration, and the seven participants exhibited little difference on the issue, with all supporting changes that would allow illegal immigrants now in the country to stay and eventually receive U.S. citizenship, and all criticizing anti-immigrant sentiments. Nearly all the candidates committed to overhauling immigration laws in their first year in office, days after Republican candidates accused each other in a debate of supporting "amnesty."

But it is amnesty, and the American public doesn't want it.

Miami Herald: Democrats try to speak to Hispanics
In a debate at the University of Miami broadcast by Spanish-language television giant Univisión, Democratic presidential candidates hoped to speak voters' language.

No major gaffes occurred, but the on-air translation of the candidates' answers into Spanish was spotty at times.

"It detracted tremendously from the quality of the debate," said Eduardo Gamarra, director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean studies at Florida International University. Gamarra, who led a focus group of 19 young Hispanic Democrats who watched the debate, also criticized the candidates for giving vague responses.

The Herald noticed that the Democrats are throwing Florida off the primary train:

But the new law bumping up the primary to Jan. 29 -- upending the calendars set by the national parties -- has come at a price. The Republican National Committee plans to take away half of Florida's delegates to the 2008 convention, while the Democratic National Committee won't count the state at all at its convention.

Nearly all the Democrats have pledged to skip states that break party rules, throwing the Florida campaign into disarray.

El Herald has anAP video of the debate that actually allows you to listen to the ungarbled replies in English.

Did all this pandering pay off? Apparently not:

And some in the mostly college-age crowd, whether Hispanic or not, said they walked away disappointed that the questions in the debate centered too much on immigration and Latin America and not enough on issues they said would help them narrow down their choice of candidate.

Ziva at Babalu asks,

Did Senator Dodd say anything about freeing Dr. Biscet and Cuba's political prisoners, or about the lack of Human Rights on the island? Chris Dodd's Cuba policy does not require any concessions from the regime.

The Washington Post article I linked to above states,

Latinos make up the nation's largest minority group, about 14 percent of Americans, but they represent only about 9 percent of the electorate because of lower citizenship and participation rates. Still, their votes are coveted, in part because Latinos are regarded as a group still up for grabs between Democrats and Republicans, and because their numbers are particularly strong in several states Democrats regard as must-wins, such as Florida, California and New York.

The Democrats are assuming that there is such a thing as a Latino block of voters that will be swayed by this sort of gimmick. They are wrong. The Mexican voters in California are not the Cuban voters in Miami and neither are the Puerto Rican and Caribbean voters in New York.

Also at Babalu, Henry points out,

At the end of the day, in South Florida, there are almost as many independents as there are Democrats and the Democrats have "achieved" an increase of 2 basis points in the last 16 years (well within the margin of error of the poll).

You see while Cuban-American voters don't generally do demonstrations, we do elections.

And that's what matters.

Update:
As it turns out, us bloggers at home were better off than the credentialed journalists in the Media Room.

Update 2:
Univision's so-called debate

Cross-posted at Heading Right



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Culture, or civilization? Sarko, and today's items

Culture, or civilization?
How to Distinguish Your Friends From the Barbarians (h/t Larwyn)

I attempt to draw a distinction between "culture" and "civilization," the former being local and contingent, the latter nonlocal and universal. A culture can be good or evil, depending upon how civilized it is.

"Civilization" is an archetype that, by its very nature, can never be fully attained on earth. It is the perfection and the totality to which this or that culture -- to the extent that it is healthy -- orients itself. In a sense, you might say that it is analogous to Augustine's distinction between the "City of Man" and "City of God." Evolution and progress can only occur in light of the "movement" toward civilization, which is why "progressives" are so curiously named, since their ideology specifically eliminates the possibility of objective progress toward this nonlocal telos.

One of my many objections to leftism is that it eliminates the idea of civilization and replaces it with culture. Multiculturalism explicitly maintains that various cultures are uniquely beautiful and valuable, and that there are no objective standards -- i.e., civilization -- by which we may judge them. Thus, because of this metaphysical pathology at the heart of leftism, it is not possible for them to notice, for example, that Israel is civilized and that it is surrounded by savages. To any civilized person, this observation is a banality of the first rank, but one of the most pernicious effects of leftist political correctness is that it outlaws civilization, generally equating it with "racism" or some other form of oppression.

Go read the rest.
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The Brits are Voting with their feet,

Britain is facing a mass exodus of people looking to escape the crime and grime of modern living. The country’s biggest foreign visa consultancy firm has revealed that applications have soared in the last seven months by 80 per cent to almost 4,000 a week. Ten years ago the figure was just 300 a week.

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France/ Sarkozy so far
The new French president is popular. He is a genuine friend of the United States (and Israel). The real tests are yet to come.:

In foreign matters, he garnered several successes in less than three months. One, his initiative for a new European governance, two years after the popular rejection of the so-called European Constitution both in France and the Netherlands, is genuine and impressive. A second success, the release of five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor held in Libya for eight years, has been fraught with criticism and suspicion. According to some critics, his special envoy to Libya – who happened to be his wife, Cecilia – stole the show from an European Union diplomatic team that had been working about the issue for months. According to other critics, the six State prisoners have been traded for a far-reaching arms and technology contract that will provide dictator Muammar Kadhafi with a new strategic edge in the Mediterreanean.

Ruben Navarrete writes about the question he didn't get to ask

Navarrete writes about The Immigration Question I Didn't Get To Ask (emphasis added)

As for the questions that were asked and the way they were answered by the candidates, the forum seemed to inadvertently reinforce the notion of minorities as victims -- besieged by everything from poverty to outsourcing to higher rates of HIV infection. A lot of the candidates then took the cue and played the role Democrats have carved out for themselves -- savior of the downtrodden and dispossessed.

To be fair, I think that most African-Americans would probably dismiss out of hand this "illegal-immigration-is-the-greatest-threat-since-slavery'' nonsense.

African-American writer Earl Ofari Hutchinson, who is doing a book about the relationship between blacks and Latinos, blasted the remark as an "eye-catching, over-the-top, outrageous bit of hyperbole." Although conceding that high unemployment rates disproportionately harm "young, marginal-skilled and educated black males," Hutchinson noted that illegal immigrants are but the latest targets of those looking for scapegoats - a strategy he called "wrongheaded, misguided and fraught with peril."

So true. So well said. And I suspect so unlike anything you'll hear from any of the Democratic presidential candidates.

Navarrete is too kind. I believe that the Democrat party is completely married to the idea that minorities are victims.

As I pointed out in my PJM article,

low skilled workers now legally employed in the US would be most directly affected by the annual influx of 200,000 temporary workers.

That is, all workers of all races that are now legally employed. Additionally,

The influx of cheap labor would have had a depressing effect on wages across the board, not just on unskilled labor. The costs and barriers entrepreneurs face in sponsoring labor from other countries would not have decreased since the bill would have imposed even more regulations. Many Hispanics entrepreneurs, like myself, were worried that such a large influx of unskilled labor might mean that domestic training in some skilled trades, such as construction, might decrease substantially. It would affect America's competitiveness.

I am sure that the question I submitted was not answered.


technorati: Immigration
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A few reasons why many Hispanics didn't want the immigration bill

Immigration Report: The Hispanic View:
A few reasons why many Hispanics didn't want the immigration bill

My latest article is up at Pajamas Media, along with Rick Moran's Immigration Report: The Gringo View:
The fallout from the immigration fiasco spells trouble for the GOP

I'll be on the road today.

The Republicans who voted for cloture

The list:
Bob Bennett of Utah
Kit Bond of Missouri
Sam Brownback of Kansas
Richard Burr of North Carolina
Norm Coleman of Minnesota
Susan Collins of Maine
Larry Craig of Idaho
Pete Domenici of New Mexico
John Ensign of Nevada
Lindsey Grahamn of South Carolina
Judd Gregg of New Hampshire
Chuck Hagel of Nebraska
Jon Kyl of Arizona
Trent Lott of Mississippi
Richard Lugar of Indiana
Mel Martinez of Florida
John McCain of Arizona
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
Lisa Murkowski from Alaska
Olympia Snowe from Maine
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania
Ted Stevens of Alaska
George Voinovich of Ohio
John Warner of Virginia

If you have donated to the Republican National Committee, you can call 202-863-8743 and ask for a refund.

In the house, Caucus vows fight if immigration pact reaches the House

IMMIGRATION REFORM CAUCUS SUPPORTS RESOLUTION OPPOSING KENNEDY-BUSH AMNESTY BILL

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of the Immigration Reform Caucus (IRC) issued the following statements regarding the adoption of a resolution opposing the Kennedy-Bush amnesty bill by the House Republican Conference:

Chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus Brian Bilbray: “The Kennedy-Bush amnesty bill is doing more to unify the Republicans in the House who believe that we are a country of laws. This resolution sends a clear message that we stand together in united opposition to any bill that rewards illegal behavior with amnesty.”

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL): “This vote is an affirmation of what my constituents and I have been saying for nearly two years now. The Senate amnesty plan is misguided and takes America in the wrong direction. With this vote House Republicans are sending a clear message to our constituents; amnesty will not fly in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rep. Phil Gingrey, M.D. (R-GA): “As the Senate continues debating their misguided immigration bill, House Republicans have made it clear that we will not waiver from our principles of reform. Any legislation we enact must uphold the rule of law, secure our borders and benefit the American people and economy. The Senate bill simply does not pass the test. In 1986, Congress passed a terrible amnesty bill that was hailed as the solution to our illegal immigration problem. It only takes a quick glance around Georgia to realize the ’86 bill was a complete failure. The Senate should heed the lessons of that mistake; sadly, their current bill replicates it instead.”

Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC): “It’s time the Senate stops listening to their own voices and starts listening to the American people. The American people want secure borders and they want our laws enforced. I hear them loud and clear, and that is why I don’t support the Senate immigration/amnesty bill.”

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL 13): “I disagree with the president and my colleagues in the Senate who support this bill. This bill rewards illegal behavior by granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants and is a slap in the face to those who played by the rules and complied with our laws. I stand with my constituents who feel our focus should be on securing the border, enforcing our laws, and creating a tamper-proof id card for non-citizens.”

Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX): “Why on earth would we grant special status to those who knowingly violated our laws? We must secure our borders first and that must be priority number one for illegal immigration reform – not rewarding law-breakers with blanket amnesty.”

Rep. John Boozman (R-AR): “The plan offered by Senate is, ultimately, a reward for illegal behavior. We should not be granting a pass to millions of illegal immigrants, while others go out of their way to be in the United State legally. You can’t solve the problems of illegal immigration by making everyone legal. Leaders from both parties in the House have publicly stated their opposition to at least one major part of this plan, and I am glad to stand with my colleagues in announcing our disapproval of the Senate plan. If it comes to the House in its present form, I will vote against it.”

This afternoon at 4:30PM Eastern: Rob Bluey and Brian Darling of the Heritage Foundation

In today's Blog Talk Radio podcast at 4:30PM Eastern time, I'll be talking to my friend Rob Bluey, Director of the Center for Media and Public Policy, and Brian Darling, Director, U.S. Senate Relations, at The Heritage Foundation.

We will talk about Venezuela, immigration, and the 20th anniversary of Pres. Reagan's speech at the Brandenburg gate.

Rob made his debut on Blogginheads last Friday, when he discussed the immigration bill. He also blogs at Red State


Join us for a most interesting podcast live at 4:30PM today. The call-in number (646) 652-2639.

Don't miss yesterday's podcast with Mamacita of Scheiss Weekly and Siggy. Brian and Rob will be Captain Ed's guests tomorrow.



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No-go on the immigration bill

Immigration Overhaul Bill Stalls in Senate
Bipartisan Compromise Collapses; Reid Says Measure May Return

A tenuous compromise to overhaul the nation's immigration laws collapsed last night when senators from both parties refused to cut off debate and move to a final vote, handing the unlikely alliance of Democratic leaders and President Bush a setback on a major domestic priority.

LEt me go on the record and say, I'm very glad. It was bad law.

And it was going to be expensive: Amnesty Will Cost U.S. Taxpayers at Least $2.6 Trillion

But apparently the bill isn't dead, it's just resting. Let's hope it Rests In Peace.

Update
The Inside Story Of How The Senate Immigration Bill Died



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The sky may not be falling, after all

Victor Davis Hanson:

our rivals are weaker and America is far stronger than many think.

Take oil. With oil prices at nearly $70 a barrel, Vladimir Putin, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez seem invincible as they rally anti-American feeling.

But if we find alternate energy sources, or reduce slightly our oil hunger, we can defang all three rather quickly. None of their countries have a middle class or a culture of entrepreneurship to discover and disseminate new knowledge.

Russia and Europe are shrinking. China is an aging nation of only children. The only thing the hard-working Chinese fear more than their bankrupt communist dictatorship is getting rid of it.

True, the economies of China and India have made amazing progress. But both have rocky rendezvous ahead with all the social and cultural problems that we long ago addressed in the 20th century.

And European elites can't blame their problems - a bullying Russia, Islamic terrorists, unassimilated minorities and high unemployment - all on George Bush's swagger and accent. The recent elections of Angela Merkel in Germany and Nicolas Sarkozy in France suggest that Europe's cheap anti-Americanism may be ending, and that our practices of more open markets, lower taxes and less state control are preferrable to the European status quo.

In truth, a never-stronger America is being tested as never before. The world is watching whether we win or lose in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Middle East is either going to reform or remain an oil-rich tribal mess that endangers the entire world.

Read it all.

And there is no evidence for Global Warming in the Southern Hemisphere. Just ask the South Africans.
-----------------------------------------------------
Mary Katherine has the Great Cinematic Moments of the Comprehensive Immigration Bill
-----------------------------------------------------
John Edwards proves that there is no "War on Terror" (h/t Larwyn).
-----------------------------------------------------
From Janette, Gene Simmons gave an interview

Q: I'm guessing you're not in favor of the Iraq troop withdrawal bills being proposed right now in Congress.

GS: It's not the policies and the bills; it's how we treat our military. It's how we treat our young men or women who go out there, at 18 years old, and risk their lives. There's no fame, they're certainly not getting rich, and a lot of them are dying, simply for something they believe. By the way, it's a volunteer army, all volunteer. The fact that anybody would have a fucking thing to say about that is astonishing. And the VA hospital that Sophie and I went to, it's about an hour and a half down the road from Malibu. These morons can't get up off their asses and out of their $10 million homes, get into their SUVs, and drive down to the VA hospital just to say, "Hey, what you do matters." Doesn't matter what they think of President Bush. It matters that 18-year-olds are getting out there and risking their lives. I didn't see a single person there. That's the most embarrassing thing. I'm furious at Hollywood.

Go read the rest.

More blogging later.

CHANGE IN SCHEDULE: Podcast today at 11:30 tomorrow at 11AM

Upddate: We had phone connection problems so tomorrow April 24 at 11AM we'll have Angela talk about her book, hopefully without broken phone connections.
Please tune in, and thank you for your patience

Please note that Angela's travel schedule was changed by her airline, so our podcast today will be at 11:30AM
We'll be talking about her book, Bamboozled: How Americans are being Exploited by the Lies of the Liberal Agenda


Please join us!