Speaking the language of the donkey.

Learning foreign languages is a good thing, the two leading candidates for the Democratic Party's nomination have said! Neither of them speaks any language other than English. I wish they did or would at least try. Learning to speak the language of the donkey in indeed a difficult undertaking. The Democrat party is far more diverse that the Republicans ever thought about being. Cities like New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles have citizens from all over the world. Imagine this, when the white man came to America the Native American population here spoke over 270 different languages. People have come to America from every country in the world. I know of members in my own family that em migrated to America speaking some other language other than English, and I have had a member of my family fight in every war that America has ever fought. These include two world wars. I take pride in knowing that a Democrat was president of the US when both of those World Wars were fought. I personally don't believe that a Republican could have won those wars, without taking twice as long and costing twice as much. America learned in our most recent conflict with Iraq that our military forces had a shortage of speakers of Arabic. In my next 3 children's books I have made an effort to refocus public education's interest in our English speaking children learning a second language and our non-English speaking children learning to speak English as a second language. It is the language of the donkey.

America has a new largest minority it is no longer the African American population of our country that makes up the larges minority group. It is important to remember that many of the black people that came from Africa as slaves spoke one of more than the 500 languages of Africa. The Democratic Party was there for black people and helped them secure all of their civil rights that they enjoy today and made it possible for them to participate in the democratic process. Today, the language of the donkey is clearly Spanish. Whether the new immigrants come from Spain, South America or Mexico or perhaps Cuba they are joined together and bound by a common language. We are doing our nation and our fellow Americans no favor by avoiding the issue. Should America have an official language? Should English be made mandatory? Should efforts be made to educate English speaking only public officials in Spanish? Who is going to pay for this? These are issues that are already coming to the forefront and need to be given some serious consideration.

As might be expected in a debate aimed partly at Spanish-speaking voters, Senator & Former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama were asked about bilingualism in the United States. I too wanted to hear answers to these questions. Although the two avoided the issue of the extent to which Spanish (or any other non-English language) should have legal recognition, they agreed that English is and should be a unifying language but that it is commendable to learn another language. I have to tell you Republicans have been more supportive of this with regard to my questions, with the exception of Tom Tancredo, who is an idiot in my opinion! Republicans have opinions and freely express them. Senator Bob Dole endorsed my book in Russian and English. Former Congressman Bob Schaffer endorsed my book in Spanish and Chinese, which Democrats have, avoided this like the plague. Except those politicians from days gone by or those from the state of Idaho, few really want to talk about this issue. It is an issue I will continue to press. During the Texas debate we did hear from the Democrats.Hillary Clinton's comments: I think it's important for as many Americans as possible to do what I have never been able to do, and that is learn another language and try to be bilingual because that connects us to the rest of the world. ... I represent New York. We have 170 languages in New York City alone. I do not think that we should be, in any way, discriminating against people who do not speak English, who use facilities like hospitals or have to go to court to enforce their rights. But I do think that English does remain an important part of the American experience. So I encourage people to become bilingual. But I also want to see English remain the common, unifying language of our country.

So long a she doesn't have to do anything why stir up trouble?
And Barack Obama's: Well, I think it is important that everyone learns English and that we have that process of binding ourselves together as a country. I think that's very important. I also think that every student should be learning a second language. ... I want to make sure that children who are coming out of Spanish-speaking households had the opportunity to learn and are not falling behind. If bilingual education helps them do that, I want to give them the opportunity. But I also want to make sure that English-speaking children are getting foreign languages because this world is becoming more interdependent and part of the process of America's continued leadership in the world is going to be our capacity to communicate across boundaries, across borders, and that's something frankly where we've fallen behind. He said he would in fact support providing more money to go to teaching second languages in public education.

1. Learning English is a good thing. 2. Learning a second language IS in the best interest of our children! Helping children learn whatever they need to learn is good and avoid creating new problems for them even better. Helping English speaking children learn a second language and encouraging that is a great idea and I appreciate that very much. To recognize that NOT being able to communicate with others around the world is GREAT, and right on the mark in my humble opinion. Helping to fund to get at the problem is even better still....again Obama scores!!!
This issue didn't come up at Republican debates during the past year except in the context of immigration reform. The Republican nominee, John McCain has historically objected to efforts at restricting uses of languages other than English. But at a debate held in New Hampshire last year, he didn't object to the concept of "official English." He was the only candidate who qualified his position, though, pointing out with apparent approval that Navajos in his own state frequently hold official meetings in their own language. I like the fact that he is paying attention to languages especially Native American languages. Any effort to make English the "official" language or encouraging English only is stupid and hateful!

I would like to close with this thought: Spaniards brought the donkey or burro to North America probably first to Mexico. The hearty and stubborn little guy then made his way across the border into the United States of America. Clearly the language of the donkey in 2008 is Spanish. If you don't believe me ask Barack Obama how it felt to lose both California and Texas. To some extent my friends we are going to have to address this issue. In my humble opinion the best and most sane thing to do is to recognize our party's mascot for what he IS! At the 2008 convention I would like to see the delegates vote on making him the official mascot of the democratic party and in doing so pledge their support to resolve once and for all the issue of language as they attempt to reform our immigration policies. I like the ideas of Senator Barack Obama on this issue. I listened with care to what he had to say on the issue in the Texas debate. It is my hope that if nothing else you will consider this issue and imagine that you are in an Arabic speaking country or Chinese speaking country or Russian speaking country and that everything you say in English falls upon uncomprehending ears. All the signs you attempt to read are unintelligible to you. You can't even find the men's or women's room. Feel the stress, feel the pressure and resolve to take the bull by the horns or perhaps more clearly said the donkey by the ears.

Richard A Payne