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Ron Paul supporters celebrate ignorance

January 6, 2012
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Ron Paul supporters prepared the following advertisement attacking Jon Huntsman – because

  1. he is bilingual,
  2. he adopted a daughter who was abandoned in a vegetable market in China,
  3. he adopted another daughter who was left for dead on the streets in India (and to celebrate her heritage, the family celebrates Diwali),
  4. as US Ambassador to China, he gave interviews to the Chinese media (which – of course – is in the job description of “ambassador”).

You simply must see this advertisement to believe it:

Here is another (unbelievably stupid) advertisement teasing a Presidential candidate for speaking a foreign language:

America.  Where knowing a foreign language is a disgrace.

from → Chinese, French, Politics
3 Comments leave one →
  1. Kristen Merino's avatar
    krismerino permalink
    January 6, 2012 10:20 pm

    I can’t tell you how angry this makes me. This level of jingoism, of provincialism, of downright ignorance is awful.. and to celebrate it?? There are no words. I am, for the first time, really afraid with the direction this country has taken.

  2. J. K. Gayle's avatar
    J. K. Gayle permalink*
    January 7, 2012 7:26 am

    Despite our nation’s long history of immigration, and the fact that almost all of our ancestors were immigrants, the control of a second language among the populace is surprisingly low. Not so with our presidents. Thirty of them were at least bilingual, with some mastering six (John Adams and Teddy Roosevelt), nine (John Quincy Adams) and even ten languages (Thomas Jefferson)!

    http://2012.presidential-candidates.org/Foreign-Languages.php

    Of the 44 Presidents of the United States, at least [22] have displayed proficiency in speaking or writing a language other than English. Of these, only one, Martin Van Buren, learned English as his second language; his first language was Dutch. Four of the earliest Presidents were multi-lingual, with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson demonstrating proficiency in a number of foreign languages.

    James A. Garfield not only knew Greek and Latin, but used his ambidexterity to write both at the same time. Both Roosevelts spoke French [as did Madison, Jefferson, Monroe, and Quincy Adams, and as candidate Mitt Romney does], and Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke German…. Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush displayed a limited ability in Spanish. Two presidents have shown some ability to speak an Asian language: Herbert Hoover spoke fluent Mandarin Chinese [as candidate Jon Huntsman does] and Barack Obama can speak some Indonesian.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multilingual_Presidents_of_the_United_States

    Jon Huntsman’s best statement — as the video was reportedly released by Ron Paul supporters — is about his adopted daughters:

    So I have two little girls who are a daily reminder that there are a lot of kids in this world who don’t have the breaks that you do and face a very uncertain future … and now these two girls are on the presidential campaign trail. I say, how cool is that?

    Maybe one of these two young Hunstmans will run for president themselves and will change how we Americans view and value the presidency:

    http://speakeristic.blogspot.com/2010/03/if-your-bodys-sexed-female-your-highest.html

    Of course, many of our presidents have found it valuable to appoint secretaries of state who are worldly and who show facility with more than just English. The last four secretaries are at least bilingual: Madeleine Albright speaks and reads Czech, English, French, Polish, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian; Colin Powell speaks and reads English and speaks a bit of Yiddish; Condoleezza Rice speaks and reads English and French; and Hillary Clinton speaks and reads English and speaks a bit of Spanish.

  3. Theophrastus's avatar
    Theophrastus permalink*
    January 7, 2012 10:17 pm

    Kurk, thanks for reminding us that being American can also mean being educated. Even someone with the conservative credentials of a Herbert Hoover is allowed to speak Mandarin. (By the way, Colin Powell reportedly learned Yiddish in the course of his employement as a “Shabbos goy,” and Barak Obama was also reportedly one.)

    But, as you know, John Kerry hid his French ability during his presidential race. (Based on Romney’s remarks in his video, I think his abilities as a French speaker may have been exaggerated.)

    Kris, I agree that the anti-Huntsman advertisement is highly offensive. It reminds me of the “whisper campaign” against John McCain in 2000 because he had adopted a daughter from Bangladesh.

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