If I Can't Understand What They're Saying, They Must Be Plotting the Overthrow of the United States

The issue of immigration has heated up recently, and there have been any number of amazingly stupid things said. David Schultheis, Republican representative to the state legislature from Colorado Springs, is the source of yet another.

Rep. Schultheis has proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would make English the official language, banning the use of other languages in just about any public document or location. One of the remarkable features of this proposed amendment would be the banning of public libraries from buying any books or other materials in any language other than English (other than textbooks).

Let's think about that for a moment and see where it takes us. First, my friend who studies Spanish and other languages and sometimes works as an interpreter can't check out a novel written in Spanish. He can't check out a book on tape or movie in Spanish to brush up on his skills.

I suppose any DVD that has a Spanish language alternate soundtrack would be out. A field guide that gives Latin names of animals? Any book with footnotes that uses the phrase ibid, or I guess any Latin phrase. How about any book that has pages with Roman numeral page numbers?

What else. I suppose that Rep Schultheis, no doubt a devout Presbyterian(check out his website), would not be able to borrow a copy of the Bible in the original Greek. Not a problem, this just means he doesn't have to deal with the discrepancies between what the original authors might have meant and what his current translation might read.

I suppose this is all for the best. After all, that book I'm reading in Spanish just might include the instructions to build a dirty bomb, and nobody would know!