Lamar Alexander is an idiot

Today, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee introduced legislation that would require that the National Anthem be sung in English only. This piece of tripe is, of course, a response to the new Spanish-language version of "The Star-Spangled Banner." In introducing the measure, Alexander said::

I worry, Mr. President, that translating our national anthem will actually have the effect of dividing us. It adds to the celebration of multiculturalism in our society which has eroded our understanding of our common American culture.

Well, who would have guessed it? Another conservative blaming multiculturalism for the decline of American civilization. Here's a news flash for Alexander and all those who rode in with him: The understanding of our American culture has been eroded not because some people sing the anthem in a non-English language, not because many schools have gay-straight alliances, and not because we have Kwaanza celebrations. It has been eroded because corporations have taken over our elections, our news media, and our government. It has been eroded because we have a government that trashes the Constitution on which our country is based. It has been eroded because a culture of hate has overtaken a culture of citizenship.

My mother was an immigrant from Great Britain (the original Enemy, in case people have forgotten). Either my great-grandfather or my great-great-grandfather (I no longer recall) was from Austria. I have Cherokee blood on my father's side. You wouldn't know it to look at me or to have looked at him, but it was quite clear when you looked at my paternal grandmother. There is actually some native American in me, and I bet there isn't any in Lamar Alexander, so does that make me more "American" than he is? I like to think that, since I respect the Constitution, I am more American than he is, if you use the original definition of America, and not the repressed, hate-filled, militaristic, corporate-run product it is now.