Uh, yeah, requiring an elected official speak English is nowhere near legal. Of course this comes to us from that hotspot of bigotry, Arizona.

Arizona and Florida are proving that Logan's Run made a lot of sense.

English motherf**ker, do you speak it?

Arizona is working hard to become the Mississippi of the 21st century. Obama should have jacked Governor Brewer in the face last week.

"I know that many people know both languages, but the truth is that, whether we like or not, all the people speak Spanish. If you go the market, if you go to the post office, if you go to pay your water bill, nobody speaks to you in English," she said.

Does no one else see a problem with this statement/concept?

She's not nearly hot enough for me to care.

FriarReb98: Let me flip that thought for you: Even if it is illegal, how in God's name is someone supposed to do a job when all the reading and listening involved is all in a language they cannot understand enough? Why would you elect someone like that? Why would someone do that to themselves? And why in the hell would you immigrate to a country where they speak a different language and *assume* you know it enough?

Let me flip that thought for you again: if a community consistently elects Spanish-speakers, maybe that's a sign the government should be regularly conducting business in that language.

Arizona -Great State, or Greatest State?

Ka'plah!

YouPeopleAreCrazy: "I know that many people know both languages, but the truth is that, whether we like or not, all the people speak Spanish. If you go the market, if you go to the post office, if you go to pay your water bill, nobody speaks to you in English," she said.

Does no one else see a problem with this statement/concept?

It's a huge country, I don't care.

Que?

While I'm aware the United States has no official language, can government documents be written in any language, or is there some provision that they have to be stored in English?

State law requires elected officials to know English, but Cabrera's attorneys have argued the law does not define proficiency in the language.

She knows of English.

jingks: While I'm aware the United States has no official language, can government documents be written in any language, or is there some provision that they have to be stored in English?

There are actual spots in the US where English is the official language and government is done in English and no other language. Miami-Dade is one such area where all government documents and meetings must be in English.

jingks: While I'm aware the United States has no official language, can government documents be written in any language, or is there some provision that they have to be stored in English?

I think Arizona state law says English-Only.

But barring her from candidacy is a mistake. She has a right to be a candidate, everyone does. If she is elected, and then cannot function in the job, she can then be removed and a special election called to fill her position. Not efficient, but at least it respects everyone's rights.

Is she completely unintelligible/illiterate speaking or writing English or is this just Arizona being Arizona?

Lets say there were enough support to elect her. Will they have to provide a translator for council and committee meetings? Will residents of the town have a translator to understand what's being said at Council meetings? I don't understand how this would work, but I can see that an American forbidden to run for office because they aren't proficient in reading and writing English might be a bit of trouble....

/Especially in West Virginia.

If you're elected, then the other council members become your coworkers. Shouldn't you be expected to communicate effectively with your coworkers?

/have been in meetings like this

If she wins her appeal and runs, why would people vote for her ? Who wants a representative that can't participate fully in council ? She would have to have some other incredible strengths going for her to justify the people voting for her.

don't get it.

Biff Spiffy: If you're elected, then the other council members become your coworkers. Shouldn't you be expected to communicate effectively with your coworkers?

/have been in meetings like this

No offense, but business and representative government are slightly different things.

She speaks fine; somebody was just asking her for a Budlight when she said "no speak English."

People who have spoken English their whole lives, even those that never even learned a second language, often have problems when they have to deal with legal English. Lawyer is hard to read, you better have perfect written English if you want to get something done correctly. The letter of the law is often more important than the spirit of the law, so everything must be perfectly taken into account. How often are 'unintended consequences' of the lettering used in alternate fashions or completely abused?

As for the legality of rules other than 'elect them', what about no felons? They can't even vote. There are rules in place for the protection of our people. We operate in one language so that we all know how to run under the rule of law, not translating the law and hoping our translation of our own country's laws are correct. I'm not against immigrants, but, as many of them would say, "Ve're en emerika, sveek eenglis."

YouPeopleAreCrazy: "I know that many people know both languages, but the truth is that, whether we like or not, all the people speak Spanish. If you go the market, if you go to the post office, if you go to pay your water bill, nobody speaks to you in English," she said.

Does no one else see a problem with this statement/concept?

Yes.

yves0010: There are actual spots in the US where English is the official language

Air Traffic Control the world over is conducted solely in english. Don't see foreign pilots throwing a fit.

badhatharry: YouPeopleAreCrazy: "I know that many people know both languages, but the truth is that, whether we like or not, all the people speak Spanish. If you go the market, if you go to the post office, if you go to pay your water bill, nobody speaks to you in English," she said.

Does no one else see a problem with this statement/concept?

You sound racist.

How is it racist? I'm of German descent but think its wrong to elect a German speaker whou can't speak English. Am I racist against my own race? This is actually quite scary and I'm glad to see Arizona has the balls to protect our culture.

The guy who tested her English proficiency didn't, apparently, speak American; he was Australian, and didn't know the local pronunciation. Clearly, people of Australian origin should not be allowed to hold public office in Arizona.

FriarReb98: Let me flip that thought for you

Even if it is illegal, how in God's name is someone supposed to do a job when all the reading and listening involved is intended for Christian men? Why would you elect a woman? And why in the hell would you try to insert yourself into a society dominated by another gender and *assume* you can interact on their level?

Maybe it's a bad plan to elect her. Maybe it will make her life miserable. Aren't those decisions best left to the voters and the candidate, rather than those currently in power? Isn't any limitation on who is eligible to hold power a form of injustice that should be carefully and specifically justified when the power to make that decision is removed from the people?

learn English in a city that had at least five discernible languages going on (English, French, Portuguese, Italian, Polish)

They learned English because there were 5 languages, not in spite of it. If there are a lot of languages you all have to pick a common one to get along because the average person cannot learn 5 languages in their spare time. That isn't the case when there are only 2 languages -- yes, there's still an advantage to a common language, but there isn't the same sort of necessity.

So, wait. Does this mean that someone who was blind or deaf and therefore in need of assistance to either read documents or speak with those around them would be unable to legally run for office in Arizona? Because the way this story is written, that's what it sounds like.

GAT_00: Uh, yeah, requiring an elected official speak English is nowhere near legal

yeah, because who needs the ability to understand english in a job where you are reading legal documents all day.

Okay, I'm going to be 'that guy'. If you live and work in the United States, you are only hurting yourself by not speaking english. Yeah, the people in her area speak mostly spanish, but she isn't going to be able to speak to other state officials.

I'm glad that Arizona has this policy of english only. It's no different than France or Denmark or England's policies of only doing legal and government work in their official languages.

Heh, no one in Congress would get better than average on an SAT or GRE. I'd actually be ok with an 8th grade understanding (minimal, but enforcable). The trick is avoiding the Jim Crow intelligence test where the judge alone decides, and even a perfect score could still not be enough.

Still, it'd be nice to have a Congress where everyone knew where countries were on a map, how economics work, and that evolution is a real science.