I'm calling it! 11 precincts left and an 9,000+ margin = defeat for English Only!
It's not even close!
Showing posts with label English Only. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English Only. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Go Vote!
If “English Only” fails today, it will be one of the most spectacular failures of a Nashville politician in decades. Metro Councilman Eric Crafton will be proven wrong on every level a Council member can go wrong.
Failure as an Issue: Crafton will have anointed himself as the champion of an issue the people of Nashville did not want -- proving himself completely out of touch.
Failure of Leadership: Crafton will have failed to win over the skeptics or motivate his supporters -- proving himself incompetent as a leader.
Failure of Politics: Crafton deliberately forced an early election believing the odds of victory to be greater. If he’s wrong, he’ll prove himself an embarrassment as a political strategist.
Failing the Taxpayers: This special election will cost the city of Nashville up to $300,000, possibly more, in a time of fiscal crisis. If the measure passes, maybe you can argue that it was worth the money to enact the will of the voters. If it fails, it will be a total waste of taxpayer money on the vanity project of a deluded politician.
For these reasons, if “English Only” fails today, I call on Metro Councilman Eric Crafton to resign immediately. This is a long, divisive, expensive path he has forced us down -- and if it all turns out to be folly and hubris, he should step aside.
I have no idea whether “English Only” will pass or not. Crafton may well be vindicated by victory. I hope not.
If you haven’t voted, GO VOTE NOW!
Failure as an Issue: Crafton will have anointed himself as the champion of an issue the people of Nashville did not want -- proving himself completely out of touch.
Failure of Leadership: Crafton will have failed to win over the skeptics or motivate his supporters -- proving himself incompetent as a leader.
Failure of Politics: Crafton deliberately forced an early election believing the odds of victory to be greater. If he’s wrong, he’ll prove himself an embarrassment as a political strategist.
Failing the Taxpayers: This special election will cost the city of Nashville up to $300,000, possibly more, in a time of fiscal crisis. If the measure passes, maybe you can argue that it was worth the money to enact the will of the voters. If it fails, it will be a total waste of taxpayer money on the vanity project of a deluded politician.
For these reasons, if “English Only” fails today, I call on Metro Councilman Eric Crafton to resign immediately. This is a long, divisive, expensive path he has forced us down -- and if it all turns out to be folly and hubris, he should step aside.
I have no idea whether “English Only” will pass or not. Crafton may well be vindicated by victory. I hope not.
If you haven’t voted, GO VOTE NOW!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Si Se Puede
Well, tomorrow is election day here in Metro Nashville. At stake: whether the Metro government will be considerate or obnoxious to people who don’t speak English.
The typical argument for being obnoxious is that it’ll force people to learn the language. And if everyone speaks the same language, we’ll be more unified and prosperous as a city. Plus, it’ll save the government some money in translation services.
These arguments are stupid.
For one, it won’t encourage anyone to learn English. They’ll just have a harder time dealing with the city government--schools, libraries, permits, etc. They’ll learn to avoid them and they’ll make due without.
Which means they’ll have less privileges, less opportunities, less prosperity. They’ll stay poorer, longer. They’ll also be more isolated. So that unified and prosperous city thing is out the window too.
And any money we save in translation services will be overwhelmed by other costs associated with the “English First” amendment, not the least of which will be trying to defend it and losing miserably in court.
(Here’s the thing: Councilman Eric Crafton has a Constitutional right to say anything he wants in any language he wants when he’s on the job in a Metro Council meeting, and no one can take that Constitutional right away from Councilman Crafton -- least of all some pissy, fear-mongering councilman like Eric Crafton.)
Furthermore, those arguments aren’t just stupid; they’re crap.
No one supports the “English First” amendment because they think it’d be good for the immigrants and Spanish speakers. That’s spin and happy talk. The real reason is that the demographics of Nashville (and the U.S.) are changing. You don’t have to be racist to think that sucks.
You do have to be ignorant and shortsighted, but racist – no, not necessary.
Either way, get over it. Demographics are changing, technology is changing, culture is changing. You can’t stop it no matter how much it all scares you.
You can’t write modern American culture into law so that future generations have to live just like you do today. It’s obviously a fool’s errand. And that’s all this “English First” stuff is. It’s a bunch of people wanting the future to conform to the past, and it’s never going to happen -- whether this stupid amendment passes tomorrow or not.
All “English First” is going to do is embarrass us and cost us a lot of money until it’s finally thrown out.
But, having said all that, there’s something bigger and more important at stake here. Our government should serve all its citizens equally. No one is a second-class citizen, no matter what language they do or don’t speak. This is America.
So please, vote NO tomorrow.
Vote NO on Amendment 1.
Vote NO on Amendment 2.
It’s a weird mid-January election so turnout is going to be low. Whoever turns out the most people wins. Don’t let it be fear and ignorance that wins tomorrow.
The typical argument for being obnoxious is that it’ll force people to learn the language. And if everyone speaks the same language, we’ll be more unified and prosperous as a city. Plus, it’ll save the government some money in translation services.
These arguments are stupid.
For one, it won’t encourage anyone to learn English. They’ll just have a harder time dealing with the city government--schools, libraries, permits, etc. They’ll learn to avoid them and they’ll make due without.
Which means they’ll have less privileges, less opportunities, less prosperity. They’ll stay poorer, longer. They’ll also be more isolated. So that unified and prosperous city thing is out the window too.
And any money we save in translation services will be overwhelmed by other costs associated with the “English First” amendment, not the least of which will be trying to defend it and losing miserably in court.
(Here’s the thing: Councilman Eric Crafton has a Constitutional right to say anything he wants in any language he wants when he’s on the job in a Metro Council meeting, and no one can take that Constitutional right away from Councilman Crafton -- least of all some pissy, fear-mongering councilman like Eric Crafton.)
Furthermore, those arguments aren’t just stupid; they’re crap.
No one supports the “English First” amendment because they think it’d be good for the immigrants and Spanish speakers. That’s spin and happy talk. The real reason is that the demographics of Nashville (and the U.S.) are changing. You don’t have to be racist to think that sucks.
You do have to be ignorant and shortsighted, but racist – no, not necessary.
Either way, get over it. Demographics are changing, technology is changing, culture is changing. You can’t stop it no matter how much it all scares you.
You can’t write modern American culture into law so that future generations have to live just like you do today. It’s obviously a fool’s errand. And that’s all this “English First” stuff is. It’s a bunch of people wanting the future to conform to the past, and it’s never going to happen -- whether this stupid amendment passes tomorrow or not.
All “English First” is going to do is embarrass us and cost us a lot of money until it’s finally thrown out.
But, having said all that, there’s something bigger and more important at stake here. Our government should serve all its citizens equally. No one is a second-class citizen, no matter what language they do or don’t speak. This is America.
So please, vote NO tomorrow.
Vote NO on Amendment 1.
Vote NO on Amendment 2.
It’s a weird mid-January election so turnout is going to be low. Whoever turns out the most people wins. Don’t let it be fear and ignorance that wins tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Eric Crafton Hates Democracy
Metro will spend more than $300,000 in taxpayer money to hold a special election for the sole purpose of screwing over non-English speakers. Metro Councilmember Eric Crafton, of course, is behind it all.
Why waste money on a special election rather than wait until the next time Metro voters are scheduled to go to the polls? There’s nothing urgent about this but the politics.
Crafton is against waiting because 1) it would give both sides a chance to make their case, and 2) a reasonable number of voters would actually show up to vote.
Crafton doesn’t hide it; he tells the Tennessean he’s against any delay because his opponents are “trying to give themselves time to mount a campaign."
Wow, what a horrible thing that would be. Hey, Crafton – in America we tend to like democracy. Campaigning and voting are kind of important around here. Both sides make their case, and the voters get to choose the winner.
Leave it to the English Only crowd to fail to understand the very fundamentals of American government and what makes us a great nation.
Why waste money on a special election rather than wait until the next time Metro voters are scheduled to go to the polls? There’s nothing urgent about this but the politics.
Crafton is against waiting because 1) it would give both sides a chance to make their case, and 2) a reasonable number of voters would actually show up to vote.
Crafton doesn’t hide it; he tells the Tennessean he’s against any delay because his opponents are “trying to give themselves time to mount a campaign."
Wow, what a horrible thing that would be. Hey, Crafton – in America we tend to like democracy. Campaigning and voting are kind of important around here. Both sides make their case, and the voters get to choose the winner.
Leave it to the English Only crowd to fail to understand the very fundamentals of American government and what makes us a great nation.
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