From WSB-TV:
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich equated bilingual education Saturday with "the language of living in a ghetto" and mocked requirements that ballots be printed in multiple languages.
Gingrich made the comments in a speech to the National Federation of Republican Women.
"The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. ... We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto," Gingrich said to cheers from the crowd.
"Citizenship requires passing a test on American history in English. If that's true, then we do not have to create ballots in any language except English," he said.
Peter Zamora, co-chair of the Washington-based Hispanic Education Coalition, which supports bilingual education, called the comments hateful and said research has shown "that bilingual education is the best method of teaching English to non-English speakers."
.....Bilingual programs teach students reading, arithmetic and other basic skills in their native language so they do not fall behind while mastering English. Since 1975, the Voting Rights Act has required ballots and other election assistance in languages other than English in jurisdictions where at least 5 percent of voting-age citizens are not proficient in English and literacy rates are below the national average.
Gingrich is an idiot. Does he think he can just insult people? Besides, he probably hasn't visited a public school with bilingual education. Gingrich wants an "English immersion" program? That sounds interesting, but not even remotely doable. Teachers are still waiting for Bush's No Child Left Behind Act to get funded. Newt gave he speech in front of a very safe audience----- elderly Republican women. I'd like to see him give that speech in the middle of a large American city.
---> Did you see that picture of McCain and other Republicans in Iraq? They were trying to demonstrate how safe it was in Baghdad. McCain appeared at a news conference in the heavily fortified Green Zone wearing a plaid shirt. Why do Republicans wear plaid shirts when they are trying to be like regular folks? Anyway, McCain said the truth is not getting out about the successes in Iraq. Do you know why the "truth" is not getting out? There are no successes in Iraq!
As we approach the election, the Republicans will continue to try to excite their base with the use of their buzz words: English-only, family values, protect the flag, 9/11, support the troops, etc., etc. However, Americans have realized that these and other words used by the GOP are empty words. If they really supported the troops, Republican lawmakers would bring the troops home and vote for military health care. How can candidates who have been married multiple times (Gingrich-3, McCain-2, Giuliani-3, Fred Thompson -2) talk about family values when they never valued their own family?
See Sunday's Doonsebury cartoon to see what cutting off funding for the war means.
