Our Anthem

As probably one of the most talked about events for Friday, April 28, 2006, I would like to add Xpinionated’s two cents concerning a spanish version of the Star Spangled Banner, the U.S. National Anthem.

First and foremost, I want to say that I immediately had a mental backlash when I saw the poll on cnn. I assumed that this was being done by a hispanic person living in the U.S. However, from the article I read on ajc.com, the song was actually produced by this British dude….to honor America’s immigrants. Since when do foreign folks rewrite domestic songs? Does that even make sense?

Secondly, this fiasco has forced to me to publicly (as public as a little read blog can be anyway) admit to agreeing with George Bush. He said something that many Americans feel and is somewhat hard to argue against. He said he’s against our national anthem being sung in Spanish. He feels that anyone living here should sing the song in English. Furthermore, he feels anyone living here should learn English. I agree. I’m not saying immigrants need to abandon their culture or language. I’m simply saying that trying to form your own country within a country is . . .well . . it’s rude!

Lastly, how often does an illegal immigrant sing the national anthem? Often enough for them to have a spanish version? Hell, Americans don’t even sing all that often outside of sporting events. And even then half of the time it’s mumbled along with the famous person singing it over the PA. This whole thing almost irks me more than the make illegals legal thing.

Speaking of that, my stand on the illegals thing is that I’m pretty sure I support some kind of immigration reform that allows for immigrants to obtain entry into this country at a quicker pace. The time it takes to get into the U.S. is often an excuse I hear for why so many choose to enter illegally. I’m also in support of providing tax money footed services to TAXPAYERS. If you’re not paying taxes because technically, you’re not even supposed to be in the country, then no services for you. I understand that some of our tax money will go to help people that aren’t paying taxes, but as long as they are U.S. citizens, I can handle that. I’m not in support of some big wall. That’s just kinda stupid. This ain’t China….As far as the economic boycott planned for Monday, I just want to understand. You’re going to skip work to emphasize how hard working you are?

I personally have decided to not celebrate Cinco De Mayo. Don’t get me wrong, I’m probably gonna get a bit toasty. But it will toasty powered by good ol’ budweiser, or red stripe, or Stella Artois, or Long Island Ice Tea, or Rum and coke, or Paul Masson Brandy, or Killians Irish Red, or. . . . . but definitely not by Margarita, Tequila, Corona, Don Pablo. .. . . And definitely no Nachos, or quesadillas