tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040983721224063387.post3409234550230553331..comments2023-07-16T08:11:16.699-06:00Comments on ROBERTO ANTONIO: NEWT GINGRICH AND LATINOS SPEAKING SPANISHBOB EDERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04589667737878822653noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040983721224063387.post-43358962017579768402007-04-01T18:53:00.000-06:002007-04-01T18:53:00.000-06:00Roberto:The insufferably pompous former Speaker of...Roberto:<BR/><BR/>The insufferably pompous former Speaker of the House has always had a proclivity for bigoted provincialism. This latest drivel, I'm afraid, is yet another disturbing manifestation of his insular attitude toward foreign cultures. <BR/><BR/>What's troubling is that this sort of thinking is gaining traction with an increasing number of equally parochial Americans who march to the ballot box to endorse hegemonic laws. Remember the spate of potentially unconstitutional English-only initiatives? <BR/><BR/>Left unchecked, I fear, we will cultivate a generation of citizens ill-equipped to function in a progressively diverse and cosmopolitan society. Communication will deteriorate rapidly into a riotous confusion of voices clamoring for attention. Not a comforting thought – especially in a country as intimately entwined with the emerging Global Village as the United States. <BR/><BR/>We're already paying a price.<BR/><BR/>Consider the <A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54294-2004Jun19.html" REL="nofollow">blundering of Paul Bremer's Coalition Provisional Authority</A> in post-Saddam Iraq. One of its main deficiencies: only a handful of the 3,000 staffers employed there spoke Arabic; small wonder, then, that the CPA became a veritable icon of American failure in the Middle East.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps Mr. Gingrich ought to ponder that dismal anecdote – as soon as he crawls out from underneath his rock.Cryptic Musehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06176648599126289953noreply@blogger.com