Yes, But Does Anyone Know The Second Verse?

Big brouhaha after some artists recorded the national anthem in Spanish, and many on the Left and Right tried to score political points over what language the anthem should be sung in. It’s a little ridiculous, and I suppose the story was amplified by its proximity to all the stories about immigrant rallies across the nation on May 1st. It does shed a little light on the political pressure that's applied to our leaders, forcing them to comment on every little thing that could potentially become a wedge issue. President Bush was forced to take a position, and the Associated Press recently reported “Bush said Friday the national anthem should be sung in English - not Spanish - in a blunt rejection of a new Spanish-language version.” (4/30/06).

Statement made. Simply put. Done. End of story?

ThinkProgress.org then posted that Jon Secada sang the national anthem at Bush’s 2001 inaugural ceremony in both English and Spanish (reported by Cox News Service) and that Kevin Phillips’ book American Dynasty has a passage in it describing Bush campaigning in 2000, and that on occasion “he would drop in at Hispanic festivals and parties, sometimes joining in singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in Spanish.”

In an unrelated story, one that also involves national anthems, only a week earlier the Associated Press reported that during a White House ceremony attended by President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao, the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China was introduced as “the national anthem of the Republic of China,” which is actually the official title of Taiwan. Easy mistake, but a gigantic oops in the world of diplomacy.

And in a completely unrelated related story, AFP reported today on a Roper Poll establishing that young Americans are essentially geographically illiterate. (5/02/06)

And finally, in yet another completely unrelated story... Nat King Cole recorded his swinging 1964 hit song L.O.V.E in English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Japanese. Just think of the brouhaha if he'd gotten his hands on the national anthem.