Thursday, April 16, 2009
OFFICIAL ENGLISH
The question of making English the official language for the State of Oklahoma has been around for a long time. This writer recalls sitting in the gallery in the House of Representatives thirty years ago, waiting for the chamber to take up a piece of higher education legislation. During this period, Rep. Jim Dunlap from Bartlesville was defending his bill to make English the official language. He lost, but he brought it up again and again.
I did not fully understand at that time what was wrong with the idea.
This effort has intensified the last few years, especially since republicans have been in control of any part of the legislature. Representative Terrill has been sponsoring all the tough, harsh legislation against immigrants, and he seems to take great delight in the spotlight of controversy he creates.
He appears to thoroughly enjoy appearing in front of the TV cameras, except when he has to defend his failure to pay his taxes – to the point of having a tax lien filed against him in court. But then, again, we are not sure that he doesn’t like that as well. There is an old saying among politicians, “It doesn’t matter what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.”
There is another bill sponsored by Senator Anderson from Enid, a much more reasonable republican senator, and it refers to English as the common language. It makes English the common language for conducting state business. But there are exceptions for instances where state or federal laws require otherwise, thus eliminating one basis for challenging the constitutionality of such legislation.
Further, the Anderson bill is supported by groups affected – Indian tribes and Hispanics, primarily. They see the Terrill bill as unduly harsh and discriminatory, and they believe it to be a hostile attack on non-traditional citizens. They will contest it legally.
It should be easy to discern which of these bills deserves support. Terrill’s bill is extreme, and he knows that. Facing a gubernatorial veto, he now wants to hold up the Anderson bill, pass his bill first as a referendum, and force the issue to a public ballot at a future election.
Terrill appears to be counting on the gullibility of Oklahoma voters for right wing ideas and propaganda. However, his bill is opposed by the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce, and there will likely be big advertising money spent against it as well as for it.
Either way Terrill’s bill is taking up unnecessary legislative time, when there is other important business requiring attention of that body.
It seems that every controlling party has its legislator kooks, whether in the democratic or this republican era. The republican kooks may be a little easier to spot. Like Terrill, they sponsor off-the-wall legislation on immigration or maybe gun-toting on college campuses. Like Brogden, they may espouse ideas like turning down the federal stimulus money that is already at work fixing bridges and doing things we have been neglecting because of their state tax cutting.
The ruling republican party would be well advised to control its kooks. These nutty people give their party a bad name. Since they are now the party in power, they are the ones who must act responsibly if they are to govern in a reasonable, restrained, and successful manner.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
I did not fully understand at that time what was wrong with the idea.
This effort has intensified the last few years, especially since republicans have been in control of any part of the legislature. Representative Terrill has been sponsoring all the tough, harsh legislation against immigrants, and he seems to take great delight in the spotlight of controversy he creates.
He appears to thoroughly enjoy appearing in front of the TV cameras, except when he has to defend his failure to pay his taxes – to the point of having a tax lien filed against him in court. But then, again, we are not sure that he doesn’t like that as well. There is an old saying among politicians, “It doesn’t matter what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.”
There is another bill sponsored by Senator Anderson from Enid, a much more reasonable republican senator, and it refers to English as the common language. It makes English the common language for conducting state business. But there are exceptions for instances where state or federal laws require otherwise, thus eliminating one basis for challenging the constitutionality of such legislation.
Further, the Anderson bill is supported by groups affected – Indian tribes and Hispanics, primarily. They see the Terrill bill as unduly harsh and discriminatory, and they believe it to be a hostile attack on non-traditional citizens. They will contest it legally.
It should be easy to discern which of these bills deserves support. Terrill’s bill is extreme, and he knows that. Facing a gubernatorial veto, he now wants to hold up the Anderson bill, pass his bill first as a referendum, and force the issue to a public ballot at a future election.
Terrill appears to be counting on the gullibility of Oklahoma voters for right wing ideas and propaganda. However, his bill is opposed by the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce, and there will likely be big advertising money spent against it as well as for it.
Either way Terrill’s bill is taking up unnecessary legislative time, when there is other important business requiring attention of that body.
It seems that every controlling party has its legislator kooks, whether in the democratic or this republican era. The republican kooks may be a little easier to spot. Like Terrill, they sponsor off-the-wall legislation on immigration or maybe gun-toting on college campuses. Like Brogden, they may espouse ideas like turning down the federal stimulus money that is already at work fixing bridges and doing things we have been neglecting because of their state tax cutting.
The ruling republican party would be well advised to control its kooks. These nutty people give their party a bad name. Since they are now the party in power, they are the ones who must act responsibly if they are to govern in a reasonable, restrained, and successful manner.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
