VDARE - Señor McCain

Señor McCain

With Senator John McCain (R-AZ)         in the midst of a media fawning frenzy, it's         time to remember that there may be physical         courage – but there's also moral         courage.  VDARE's Arizona candidate for         the latter: Bob Park, now a director of English Language Advocates.          Park was founder of the group of grass-roots         patriots who got an Official English initiative         on the Arizona ballot in 1988, won against the         opposition of the entire state establishment,         defended it against the inevitable court         challenge when Arizona's professional         politicians declined to do so and fought all the         way through until 1998, when the State Supreme         Court finally nullified Arizona voters'         democratic decision on the obviously absurd         grounds that running the government in English         would violate Hispanic employees' freedom of         speech.  Throughout, John McCain was         emphatically on the wrong side.

In fact, McCain's pattern of         pandering to Hispanic lobby on language is a         real vulnerability in his campaign for the         Presidency.  He has consistently supported         "bilingual education" and in a February 24         1998 speech to something called the "Hispanic         Heritage Leadership Breakfast" actually         explicitly endorsed its (usually unspoken)         agenda:

"Spanish was spoken in Arizona         when it was carved from the wilderness, and I am         proud that it is spoken there today.          People should not have to abandon the language         of their birth to learn the language of their         future. They should use and treasure both."         [italics added].

Stripped of the glop and         translated into American: the purpose of "bilingual         education" is language maintenance – the use         of government power to impede the normal         processes of assimilation in order to create         permanent foreign-language enclaves in the U.S.

Foreign-language enclaves will         be great for rent-seeking ethnic political         entrepreneurs.  And for Anglo politicians         looking for a quick and convenient way to bribe         a bunch of voters – at least until the         enclaves grow big enough to impose their own         leaders (but hey, McCain's 63 already).

In the long run, however,         foreign language enclaves will impose real costs         on the majority language community.           For example, they will require the government         increasingly to operate in the foreign language         as well as English.  As the history of         Canada shows, this institutional bilingualism         has powerful public-choice consequences.          It causes a systematic redistribution of power         and perquisites toward the minority language         group, which as a practical matter is the only         one that learns to speak both languages.

McCain is already furthering         this process. In 1998, he successfully attached         a provision to the Education Savings and School         Excellence Act that mandated a "study" of         groups in the U.S. that spoke English but also         one or more other languages.  McCain's         explanation: "Based on this study, we would be         able to promote the importance of foreign         language skills, while providing a basis for         expanding our nation's linguistic abilities."

VDARE'S guess: promoting         foreign language skills is going to mean         preferential hiring for Hispanics.

McCain's pandering on the         language issue is a real vulnerability…but one         that George Bush can't exploit.  He has         said nothing while the government of El         Cenizo, a town in Texas populated by Mexican         immigrants, has been declared officially         Spanish-only.