We'd written last week that days after the national anthem was translated loosely into Spanish on a widely released album, Rep. Jim Ryun, Kansas Republican, was seeking co-sponsors to legislation affirming that the musical composition be sung only in English. As far as the congressman was concerned, there are a "few things specific to our nation that should not be recited or sung in another language" We can now tell you that Ryun's legislation has been overwhelmingly approved by the Congress.
ADIOS, AMIGO
How might the Mexican government deal with illegal aliens in their country? We doubt few Americans would ever consider crossing the border into Mexico under the cover of darkness, but if they did, Mexican officials would turn to Chapter 3, Article 33 of their country's 1917 constitution, which reads: Mexico "shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action. Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country."
FIND A HYDRANT
That was no ordinary pair of trees that President Bush planted on Sunday evening with Australian Prime Minister John Howard at that country's ambassador's residence. One is an American Elm and direct descendant of a tree planted at the White House in 1826 by John Quincy Adams. The other, a Southern Magnolia, got its roots from a tree planted at the White House by Andrew Jackson in 1835. Bush says it's now up to Australia's ambassador, Dennis Richardson, "to look after the trees - and to keep his two rottweilers away from them."
NOT BUYING A BRIDGE
So, Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, tell us how you really feel about President Bush's gesture to send the National Guard to the southern frontier: "Sending unarmed troops to assist the (U.S.) Border Patrol with logistics consisting of paper-pushing and vehicle maintenance is . . . (a) political scheme during an election year. President Bush's political maneuver will do nothing more than place career desk jockeys and support personnel in a very dangerous environment - and will greatly anger the American people." Anything else? "We do not take lightly those who try to take us for fools."
PAT'S OPINION
"Americans are holding on in Iraq today, not because we anticipate the glorious fruits of victory, but because we do not want to witness another defeat for the United States." - Conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan, comparing the war in Iraq today to what he calls the only war America ever "lost": Vietnam in 1975. Continued... |