Redstate

is it this one?
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4.62, 0.51

n/t

That was the speech he gave, but it does not include the Q&A after the speech where he made the "learn Spanish" comment.

Robert L. Mayo
Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.
- Goethe

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4.62, 0.51

Obama wants you to learn english!
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4.62, 0.51

Clicking on the link, YouTube (quite rudely) says "The URL contained a malformed video ID."
Robert L. Mayo
Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.
- Goethe

"obama speak spanish"
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4.62, 0.51

I am NOT wasting 21 minutes of MY time listening to him talk

The Minority Report

You can skip to the end to see the Q&A, but it was edited out of that copy
Robert L. Mayo
Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.
- Goethe

by the savior himself. It only takes 21 minutes of hearing him talk to save your soul for eternity, surely that cannot be a waste of time! Come on? Though I am not sure exactly what type of saving is to occur...I just know you are saved all the same!
MelZ

He has kind of a point, but he comes off as *fake shock* elitist. But as Obama says, "Get over it".

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Robert L. Mayo
Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.
- Goethe

I think the "don't worry about they learning English" and the "you should be concerned about your kids not being bi-lingual" are okay statements, but when he says "you should make sure your kid learns Spanish" he sounds like an elitist.

I'd say write this off as a misspeak, as we have more solid things to hit him on.

I just don't think many people will care if they hear the full clip and I disagree with taking things out of context to make a point.

*Many people [that don't already see Obama as a shmuck]. However, I did add the YouTube vid to StumbleUpon. :D

But I guess I agree. If this is an "out-of-context" thing, we should probably step lightly.

--
We would also like to know your advice for somebody like my daughter, who's going to graduate in two years, advice that you would give a young person.

SEC. RUMSFELD: Advice for a young person. Study history.

want the invasion. Remember amnesty debate?

Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
www.theminorityreportblog.com
"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." - The Chief Justice

I can picture him how at Brandeburg Gate stepping up to the mic and saying..............................

Merci beaucoup

Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business … frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise.Ronald Reagan

Si, si puede!

If I could master the English language, then maybe I could move on to another one. Ours is tough enough.

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is discussed here. Moe found that one.

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For those that just want the info without clicking:

After a little Googling I found that Obama told The Hill that in addition to Indonesian, he speaks "a little Spanish."

I can speak a little Spanish too, "dos cervesa por favor" and can ask where the bathroom is, though I can't type it. Plus I know some curse words.... I didn't know there was an Indonesian language though.

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Just sayin.

"If they were merely incompetent, then at least SOME of their actions would have been to the benefit of the country."

chiefly consisted of stoically submitting to five years of torture.

Can you provide us some links to where McCain says anything along the lines of 'the problem isn't immigrants not learning English, its your kids not learning Spanish'?

And no, his previous support for "comprehensive immigration reform" does not equal the above statement.

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It's not previous it's current...see his speech to LULAC yesterday. Read the reports on his closed door pander session to LaRAZA a couple weeks ago!

How does..."OK...I'll buid the God D*** fence sound?

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.--Ronald Wilson Reagan

I must commend you, that was a nice attempt at a dodge. But you COMPLETELY ignored the first half of my post. Still waiting for your link(s).

Well, regarding people who speak spanish, he did say this in 1998.

“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.”

That was his response to teaching spanish in schools so that kids who know english will also know spanish.

Of course, there is also this:

McCain stood in the middle of the GOP cloakroom and yelled at several of his Senate colleagues because they deigned to have a vote — to have a vote — on Inhofe’s “English As the National Language” amendment to the 2006 immigration bill. He accused conservatives of being “divisive” and “insulting” Latinos for suggesting that immigrants ought to learn this language. He was nasty and unhinged. About 10 staffers witnessed this. He delighted in telling the conservative senators there that they were destroying the party with these efforts. This is what Santorum is talking about. He had antipathy for social and cultural conservatives’ efforts.

He seems much more resistant to people learing English than he is to people learning Spanish.

No, I don't see any quote from McCain saying "We should learn Spanish instead of forcing them to learn English"

I do see him saying something along the lines of "We should all learn Spanish" and "How DARE you require them to learn English?!"

I'm sure there is a difference there somewhere.

In your haste to condemn Obama for the stupidity that he puts forth, don't be so quite to whitewash McCain's record.

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Dependence is Slavery.

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"so quick"

not "so quite"

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Dependence is Slavery.

Political Compass
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"I do see him saying something along the lines of "We should all learn Spanish" "

I read that more like "We do not have to abandon Spanish to learn English."

"and "How DARE you require them to learn English?!" "

Hmm, an anonymously sourced hit piece during the presidential primary season... Pardon me if I am a bit skeptical about this one.

Uh... anonymous? No, your issue is that you thought you had ace pegged. But, it turns out, he was right and you were wrong.

The first link is by a guy who has written a few books on fighting illegal immigration. He has a few dubious connections in his past to groups that may be racist, so I don't really like to refer to him often. The article was written in 2000. February of 2000. I think that is a touch early for it to be a 2008 hit piece on McCain.

However, since it is no secret that McCain supports americans learning spanish as a bilingual education plan, I think your issue is with the second quote in which he ranted about a section in an immigration bill requiring English as the official language.

The second link is to a reprint of a blogpiece from The Corner at national review. If you want to distrust The Corner because it disagrees with your opinion, that's fine I guess.... but it is a bit silly. It is also no secret that McCain opposed English as the official language, and has for a long time.

I mean, if you want to call the National Review an anonymous source so that you can ignore what it has reported... I guess you're free to do that.

What else are you willing to ignore so as to not have to reexamine your perceptions of Senator McCain?

That you don't want to hear it has nothing to do with me, nor ace.

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"I think that is a touch early for it to be a 2008 hit piece on McCain."

I didn't call the first part of your post a '2008 hit piece on McCain.' Notice how I divided your quotes and my responses. The first response was to the first quote, and the second response was to the second quote.

"I mean, if you want to call the National Review an anonymous source so that you can ignore what it has reported... I guess you're free to do that."

From the linked story:

"A Senate source whom I trust..."

So, what is the name of his source? Is it anywhere in the blog post? No?

This is a second-hand account using an anonymous source. Could this story be true? Sure, but this is hardly definitive proof.

I did not at any time call the National Review an anonymous source. I am skeptical about this story because IMO it is basically uncorroborated second-hand innuendo. AFAIK, this episode wasn't recorded like Obama's idiocy.

P.S. Statements along the lines of "Ramesh is a good guy, he would NEVER lie about something like this" do not constitute evidence.

Very true, it was not printed on the front page of the New York Times.

However, we do know that Senator McCain has had a long standing opposition to English being the Primary Language.

He has often talked about it.

Do you deny that while he pushes for the American People to learn Spanish, he does not push for immigrants to learn English?

I do believe that was the original charge issued by ace, which you demanded he prove.

Now that I have, you try to cast doubt on the sources rather than deal with the issue.

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[quote]Do you deny that while he pushes for the American People to learn Spanish, he does not push for immigrants to learn English?[/quote]

From the quote that you initially provided, it's clear that he expected them to learn English (if you disagree, what other language he could possibly be referring to when he mentions 'their future language'. Is that Spanish again?)

I'm guessing you say he does not push for immigrants to learn English based on his opposition to the 'English as the official language' bill.

AFAIK, Sen McCain has not authored or voted for a bill that mandates that the American people must learn Spanish, so I can deny that he pushes for the American People to learn Spanish, right?

But he has with his constant support of bilingual education in Arizona, where children learn english AND spanish in schools.

So he does support our children learning spanish, but fights against any requirements for people to learn english.

You're really just wrong on this, and if you want to keep digging yourself in a hole... I don't mind handing you bigger shovels.

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Dependence is Slavery.

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It quoted Rick Santorum...I wouldn't call that an "anonymously sourced hit piece during the presidential primary season.

For someone who seems so cock sure of themselves you should think before you start typing!

Not that I'm not guilty of the same! :>)

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.--Ronald Wilson Reagan

No, that blog did NOT quote Rick Santorum.

And yet you still don't deal with it.

It is no secret that John McCain supports bilingual education, teaching our kids Spanish as well as English, but resists making English the primary language of this country, which would require that those who do not speak english would have to learn it.

Regardless of anything else, who said what when or how. You still have to deal with that.

and you don't.

You just sit back and try and discredit the National Review.

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"You just sit back and try and discredit the National Review."

That's nonsense. I merely expressed my doubts about this particular blog entry (and outlined reasons for my doubts as well).

I also pointed out where some members were misrepresenting this blog entry (among others, the alleged incident was treated as a verified event, it was claimed that this was not an anonymous source, and the quote was erroneously attributed to Sen Santorum.)

And you're still not able to admit that you are wrong about McCain and the language issue.

Here's a bigger shovel.

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"And you're still not able to admit that you are wrong about McCain and the language issue."

There's not much else to say in this little sub-thread, as you don't seem to be in this with an open mind.

It's interesting to see you basically raise the white flag in terms of defending that National Review innuendo (constantly repeating 'Nyah nyah you're wrong about McCain or outright ignoring the issues I have with the piece isn't cutting it).

You seem to believe that McCain makes children learn Spanish in school. As far as I can tell, that is false. I've skimmed through the Arizona Administrative Code and the only language requirement for High School graduation is ENGLISH (please correct me if I am wrong regarding this!). I'm strongly against any K thru 12 parallel Spanish/Chinese/whatever only classrooms but Arizona specifically has an English requirement in their code. Now, if the state of Arizona is ignoring this and rubberstamping kids with no English skills through the system, that is a disgrace, but that is not on Sen. McCain's shoulders.

Uh, this started by you demanding evidence that McCain supported us learning spanish, but opposed making immigrants learn english. If anyone is being closed-minded... it is you.

I have given that evidence and rather than deal with it, you attack the sources. You avoided the actual argument and still do.

You're still dodging the issue. You STILL are digging yet a bigger hole for yourself.

Here's a bigger shovel.

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Dependence is Slavery.

Political Compass
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This is my last reply to this sub-thread, as we are basically talking past each other at this point.

Let's scroll up and see what I initially asked for:
"Can you provide us some links to where McCain says anything along the lines of 'the problem isn't immigrants not learning English, its your kids not learning Spanish'?"

Your response? Two sources: One from 1998 and an alleged event that took place in 2006. The alleged 2006 event consists solely of an anonymous tipster claiming this happened... and that's it. I know for a fact that if the NYTimes, DKos, or HuffPost printed those exact same words, RS would shred that story to pieces, but apparently I am supposed to uncritically believe every single word because it came from NRO (because they were strictly non-partisan during the primary season and/or couldn't possibly be manipulated into posting a hit piece... riiight...)

Feel free to claim victory or talk about shovels.

Well, if this is really your last statement here, then let me congratulate you on not actually ever dealing with the context of the argument, but just trying to trash any sources that don't agree with you, while wholly ignoring anything that might have actually been said or done.

Here is a bigger shovel.

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You set up a straw man by demanding that I back up something I never said...McCain opposes making English the official language of the United States. That's the nub of Obama's comments and that's why I said the Republican Party won't make an issue out of this because I believe McCain agrees with his sentiment.

I commented elsewhere in this post that everyone is ignoring the straw man that Obama set up when he said that those who support making English the official language of this country supported "English Only"...I can't think of an instance where McCain has used that arguement but it's been made by people who are supporting his obsessive campaign to legalize millions of illegal immigrants

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.--Ronald Wilson Reagan

Lance, this is a misrepresentation that would do a Democrat proud.

"It is no secret that John McCain supports bilingual education, teaching our kids Spanish as well as English, but resists making English the primary language of this country, which would require that those who do not speak english would have to learn it."

I don't know McCain's position NOW on bilingual education, or even if he knows what it is, but Arizona no longer uses what used to be called bilingual education. Classes are taught in English. Even when it was in place, bilingual education was used to teach non-English speakers many subjects, not to teach Spanish to English-speakers.

English is already the "primary" language of the country, so he could hardly resist that. He has NOT backed any Official English bills, however. Again, I'm not sure he has paid enough attention to them to understand their details. Not a positive for him in my book, but quite a different issue than your assertion. But Official English would NOT require anybody to learn English, anyway. It would simply protect those people who ONLY speak English from discrimination, and it would require almost all official Government documents to be printed in English, preventing any requirement that they be printed in other languages unless appropriate for their purpose.

Pluto, the Ninth Planet - Forever!

Nothing that I wrote above should be taken to mean that I agree with McCain on anything he has to say about illegal immigration, or foreign language politics for that matter.

For some reason, he's stuck on-----the wrong side of those issues. And I'm not convinced his statements on the "G-d fence" even indicate a "grudgingly acquiescent flip-flop." It may be more of the"cynical pandering" kind, at least the best that McCain can muster.

He's just still better than Barack would be.

Pluto, the Ninth Planet - Forever!

He's just still better than Barack would be.

Yes, and that hasn't been the question raised by any.

However, when determining a good Republican, I don't use a radical Democrat as the standard of judgement.

For McCain, we have had to in order to justify voting for him.

That, more than anything else, scares me.

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oops. forgot a tag

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Dependence is Slavery.

Political Compass
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Heh. Nice.

English is already the "primary" language of the country, so he could hardly resist that. He has NOT backed any Official English bills, however. Again, I'm not sure he has paid enough attention to them to understand their details. Not a positive for him in my book, but quite a different issue than your assertion.

Oh, he understands and pays attention to him. It isn't that he's not backed them... he's opposed them! If he was silent on it, one could MAYBE claim that he just didn't understand them.

But he opposes them. So much so that La Raza awarded him for it.

Don't try and whitewash this issue. He opposes English as the Official Language.

But Official English would NOT require anybody to learn English, anyway. It would simply protect those people who ONLY speak English from discrimination, and it would require almost all official Government documents to be printed in English, preventing any requirement that they be printed in other languages unless appropriate for their purpose.

Well, then there'd be no reason to oppose such a measure, would there?

Rather than condemn me and what I have had to say, ask why Senator McCain did oppose such a thing.

Ask why he supported teaching our kids spanish, but opposed making English our official language.

Ask why he regularly made statements against English as the Official Language that were regurgitations of the left wing talking points (He made statements saying that he appreciates and loves the spanish (or indian in some speeches) language that has its roots in Arizona and fully supports their ability to continue to speak that language.... as if having to learn English were going to take that away.)

This is just an issue where McCain is wrong. Rather than press McCain on it, people who bring up the issue are the object of scorn.

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Political Compass
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Pluto, the Ninth Planet - Forever!

included Santorum

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.--Ronald Wilson Reagan

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.--Ronald Wilson Reagan

Thanks Boss.

Of course, they didn't believe the information, or dealt with it at all, just attacked the source.

But, it isn't mine to convince, just provide.

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I've been busy fixing my home office network and haven't had time to source what I said and I was popping off when I said it...thanks for covering it..

I may look up other quotes or not to add support for yours but I think you covered it quite nicely!

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.--Ronald Wilson Reagan

How does..."OK...I'll buid the God D*** fence sound?

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.--Ronald Wilson Reagan

“.....women and minorities hardest hit”

h/t to Ayn Rand...

Support libertarian Republicans here and here.
www.rlc.org
www.fairtax.org

...But Americans should "learn foreign languages as a way to succeed in this global economy"....how does that fence feel all jammed up in your butt crack?

"Land of the Free and Home of da Whopper" Peter Griffin...Family Guy

conform and celebrate diversity....or else!!!

Steel-Belted Radial Right Winger

English is the global economy lingua franca but if you can speak a second or third language, you will have an advantage over those that can speak only one.

How about if we focus on getting everyone here in the United States to speak English well, THEN focus on getting people to learn other languages?

Seems silly to have kids speak 2 or 3 languages when they haven't got a handle on English yet.

yes yes, use the standard "But you learn english better if you learn other languages at the same time!" SuperFact, but it is silly to spend government money on teaching foreign languages when we're not even doing a great job of teaching English.

We can't even get English to become our primary language. For some reason, it is declared racist to suggest that people learn english.

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Our schools aren't doing a good job of teaching English to our kids and our society isn't doing a good job of fostering proper English either. I am constantly surprised by how poorly kids speak and write English. Even recent college graduates I work with are horrible writers.

However, kids all over the world are able to learn their native tongue plus English and occassionally a third or fourth language. Those kids are not inherently smarter than our kids. The problem is with expectations. Our kids are barely expected to learn English. Add on the parochial attitudes of many Americans who insist that English is the only language worth speaking and you have a nation of people who can only speak one language and poorly at that.

...but rather the FACT that the public education system has to teach to the lowest common denominator which inherently drags down all of the students to the level of the dumbest kid in class....but yeah your probably right it's those xenophobes who believe in LANGUAGE BORDERS & CULTURE that are to blame...come on shoofly that was a veiled attack on American culture if I have ever seen one.

"Land of the Free and Home of da Whopper" Peter Griffin...Family Guy

conform and celebrate diversity....or else!!!

Steel-Belted Radial Right Winger

If I meant xenophopia, I would have written that. We Americans are parochial about many things. We tend to believe, rightly in many cases, that our way is the best way. So, most Americans believe that there is no need to learn any other language besides English.

Here are the 3 accepted definitions from Meriam Webster

1 : of or relating to a church parish
2 : of or relating to a parish as a unit of local government
3 : confined or restricted as if within the borders of a parish : limited in range or scope (as to a narrow area or region)

Did you mean we are to wrapped up in church?

Did you mean we are too focused on local gov't?

Did you mean we focus to much on what is going on within our borders?

Sorry but I am not a fan of multi-culturalism...from what I have seen in places like Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and All of Europe it doesn't work and it ends up being a net drain on the gov't budget that ends up in higher taxes on the parochial people of any country.

"Land of the Free and Home of da Whopper" Peter Griffin...Family Guy

conform and celebrate diversity....or else!!!

Steel-Belted Radial Right Winger

I am not advocating that we add Spanish or any other language as an "official" language.

parochial, provincial, plebeian, pedestrian, and philistine.

I am proud to have been called, all of the above.

"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle

to some extent. I am from Chicago and you cannot convince me that there is a better place on earth. We have the best pizza, the best hotdogs and the best baseball team not to win a World Series in the last 100 years.

By the way, you listed 4 "P" words above.

"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle

discuss how our kids are not learning math! :-)

But you're willing to accept the incremental steps towards that end? Or are you just a fence sitter on every issue?

"Land of the Free and Home of da Whopper" Peter Griffin...Family Guy

conform and celebrate diversity....or else!!!

Steel-Belted Radial Right Winger

almost anywhere in the World using only English. I speak passable Spanish and understand conversational Mexican Spanish quite well. The only thing you need it for in Mexifornia or Mexico itself is to know when you're being insulted or cussed at. Why bother?

To the other poster's point, few younger Anglos can speak or, especially, write standard English. That's the real problem; we cannot even teach it to native English speakers. The schools have almost totally eliminated any oral presentations or question and answer sessions and discussions ostensibly because they damaged the self-esteem of the less articulate. Consequently, kids come out of high school with no skill whatsoever in speaking in complete sentences in standard English unless they got it from home, church, or some extracurricular activity.

In Vino Veritas

"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle

KIIIILL! KIIIIILL! KIIIIILL!

"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle

We hear it on the radio here in St. Louis every year on Thanksgiving. I'm not really sure how or why that tradition started. I even bought the CD so I could listen to the song more often.

The point isn't whether we should learn another language...of course it would be better if we learn other languages...but you said it yourself with this one phrase:

most Americans believe that there is no need to learn any other language besides English.

If I never leave this country...why would I HAVE to learn any other language...the problem we are facing is that we're being forced to learn Spanish because those coming here refuse to speak thew language of America which is English! If I never leave this country....why am I expected to be able to speak to those coming here in their native tongue...This is my contry...if you come here...speak the language...if I go to Spain, France, Mexico, Japan, China, Russia or anywhere else to live I'll learn their language.

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.--Ronald Wilson Reagan

he prefaced his quote by saying that those who want English recognized as an official language want "English Only"...that's the straw man and everything he said proceeded from that false characterization.

We don't want English only and never have...but we want the primary language that has been spoken in this nation for 230+ years to remain that way.

Bottom line...I shouldn't have to wait for a computer to tell me that if I want to continue in English to please press one....or the alternative listen to a string of words in Spanish ending in Dos

If you're going to come to this country...speak the language...we don't go to Mexico and demand that they all learn English to accommodate us...or we don't go to Paris and demand that everyone there speak to us in English...We get on the computer with our Rosetta Stone and we work on being able to order our latte and we go about enjoying the sites.

One other thing...if any of you doubt that this whole thing is getting out of control...come to San Antonio and try to get a blue collar job if you can't speak Spanish....or try to get hired ot promoted into positions of management without being able to speak it!

Good luck if you try it!

Ohh...and stock up on groceries and fill your savings account before you try!

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.--Ronald Wilson Reagan

I don't know if things have changed or not but when i went to HS I had to choose a second language as an elective. I grew up in AZ so I chose Spanish....but that doesn't even matter...just because we make kids learn a language doesn't mean they will retain those language skills beyond HS. Our culture does not require us to speak a second language on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis, with that being the case most people who have learned a second language will not retain it because it isn't used. I also used to be able to speak Russian, Serbo-Croat and German....but I got out of the military and haven't had to