BCT Editorial – 5/10/06

This page was last updated on May 10, 2006.

Why the fuss?; Editorial; Beaver County Times; May 10, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“It turns out that a Spanish version of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ is a case of been there, done that.

“The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the ‘government already gave its blessing when the U.S. Bureau of Education prepared a Spanish version of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ in 1919. And that translation has been available on the Library of Congress’ Web site for the last two years.’

“The library also ‘has vintage translations in Polish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Armenian, among others.’ You can also find Samoan and Yiddish versions on the Web.”

[RWC] Here’s a note to the editorial author and his editor. “Version” and “translation” are not synonyms. While I’m not big on performing translations of the national anthem, at least the government only performed translations. The editorial conveniently omits the fact that the latest “Spanish version of the national anthem” is actually a rewrite, not a translation.

“It makes one wonder what all the fuss is about, other than the nativist/populist jihad against immigrants.”

[RWC] I occasionally ask if Times editorial authors actually read and understand what they write. This editorial provides another opportunity. Just eight days ago, the Times published an editorial entitled “Sour note” decrying “a Spanish version of the national anthem.” What happened between then and now?

Finally, I know of no “nativist/populist jihad against immigrants.” Many (most?) of us oppose illegal aliens resulting from a lack of border security, but that has nothing to do with legal immigrants. Conflating legal immigrants with illegal aliens is a common tactic of the open borders crowd.