Thread: Why must I press ‘one’ for English?

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Published: July 05, 2006 12:30 pm

Why must I press ‘one’ for English?

Larry M. Jones
Now Hear This!

I recently received an “e-mail forward” from an old Navy buddy who is a retired airline captain with far too much time on his hands. The e-mail was a beautiful color photo of the American flag proudly waving with the words printed across it, “Why do I have to press one for English?”

It instantly created the intended effect on me. It made me angry. As I pondered the concept, I was reminded of the old joke about a pilot preparing to take off from an air base in Germany during the 1950s. The pilot called the tower and requested clearance for takeoff — in German. The air traffic controller came back and told him to speak in English, the international language of aviation. The pilot came back and said, “I am a German, in a German airplane, in Germany and I am flying to a destination in Germany. Why do I have to speak English?” The controller replied back in a distinctly British accent, “Because you lost the bloody war.”

Are we losing, or have we lost, a bloody war here in America? If not an entire war, we seem to have suffered defeat in a few major campaigns, and this is no joking matter.

Despite the fact that our “native English” has endured for centuries, we now seem willing to compromise it away. There seems to be two major factors fueling a dual language initiative, and they are essentially identical to the illegal immigration dilemma — corporate greed and political pandering for the minority vote. Where will it all end? Will we start printing our phone books in Spanish? Wait — there’s already about 10 pages in the front of the Weatherford phone book that are in Spanish.

I recently saw questions posed with regard to being multi-lingual. What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bilingual. Three languages? Trilingual. One language? American.

In the United States we have always insisted that everyone learn and adopt English as the sole language of government and commerce. This requirement by our forefathers has allowed America to maintain this unifying facet to our unique nation. Over the centuries this has been a prerequisite to becoming a naturalized citizen, and millions of immigrants have complied.

Today, it seems the path to citizenship is to overwhelm the nation’s infrastructure so as to require amnesty be granted to millions of illegal residents each decade or so. Signs in government buildings, particular those around social services departments, are now being posted in both Spanish and English. Hospital emergency rooms, the primary care physicians for illegal immigrants, must also have bilingual signage. Ballots are being printed in Spanish, and demands are being made for driver’s license exams to be administered in Spanish. Why do we allow our nation to be overrun by this overflow from corrupt nations to the south?

A “touchy feely” attitude has become very prevalent in America. A huge segment of our populace today seems very unconcerned about protecting the concepts that have enabled our greatness. I fear this stems from never having had to work for, nor make personal sacrifice for, the overall good of our nation. The sacrifices made by those of earlier generations seem to have become increasingly insignificant to those who have only known relative affluence and pursuit of personal goals. If you didn’t have to work for your money, would you be as frugal?

What scares me about this casual disregard of the American way of life is the inability to stop this trip down the primrose path to ruin. As a relatively informed and active participant in the political process, I feel my government no longer speaks for and guards the core values of mainstream Americans like myself. Statesmanship and personal accountability, like the English language, are becoming relics of a bygone era.

We are rapidly pursuing a language policy almost as stupid and divisive as that of our Canadian neighbors to the north. Before long every document we have will look like assembly instructions for an “American Flyer” bicycle made in China. It takes longer to find the English section than it takes to assemble it.

Larry M. Jones is a retired Navy Commander and aviator who raises cattle and hay in the Brock/Lazy Bend part of Parker County. Comments may be directed to larrj2@airmail.net. Columns submitted to The Weatherford Democrat by guest writers reflect the opinions of the writer and in no way reflect the beliefs or opinions of The Weatherford Democrat.

Brian,

In the United States we have always insisted that everyone learn and adopt English as the sole language of government and commerce. This requirement by our forefathers has allowed America to maintain this unifying facet to our unique nation. Over the centuries this has been a prerequisite to becoming a naturalized citizen, and millions of immigrants have

I have always agreed with this. I reiterate: no one put Lithuanian on forms for my Great-grandfather and his family.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articl ... leID=10796

Bilingualism = A Divided America

This is an article by Daneen Peterson Ph.D. which directly addresses this subject.