Just in time for General Hayden's confirmation hearings, the Administration caves in to pressure and releases a list of Congressmen briefed about the domestic spying program, otherwise known as the U. S. KGB. It is interesting to note that thirty lawmakers were briefed and of the briefings, half have occurred since some hero revealed the illegal program to us (sorry, guys, there still is a fourth amendment). Turns out the efforts to mine data from corporations extends farther than expected. Hey, NRA'ers, you don't mind the Fourth Amendment being trampled in the name of NASCAR and country, how about the Second? Want to bet they're not checking up on who's buying guns?

There's an urban legend that German was once nearly selected as the nation's official language. I mention this because the first bill to establish a national language, English, of course, was introduced in 1983. Language has much to do with culture and the debates about establishing a national language have nothing to do with language. English is spoken as a first language by 84 percent of Americans. If we pick up a few phrases or concepts from a foreign language, great. That's English's strength, assimilation of other words and concepts, and it's why English is now the world language. I do not support bilingual education, it only puts the student at a disadvantage because, instead of having to master the de facto tongue of the land, they master their original one to their own detriment. I'm bilingual. I learned German as an adult and know how difficult learning a second language can be. It's necessary for our foreign-born students to learn English; therefore, while we should offer English as second language courses, we should keep English as the primary language in our schools and we should not educate in other languages. And I do think we should require immigrants to have basic competence in English as a criteria for citizenship.

Still, the original English as official language bill was an expression of xenophobia, not of concern for the linguistical status of the country. Ken Salazar's version was milder and hopefully, if one of the measures pass, it will be his. Or maybe we should let the Republicans win. I'd love to hear Boehner have to change his name to "Bean man."