Say Anything Blog

Hmm...

MIAMI - British music producer Adam Kidron says that when he came up with the idea of a Spanish-language version of the U.S. national anthem, he saw it as an ode to the millions of immigrants seeking a better life.

But in the week since Kidron announced the song — which features artists such as Wyclef Jean, hip-hop star Pitbull and Puerto Rican singers Carlos Ponce and Olga Tanon — it has been the target of a fierce backlash.

Some Internet bloggers and others are infuriated by the thought of "The Star-Spangled Banner" sung in a language other than English.

"Would the French accept people singing the La Marseillaise in English as a sign of French patriotism? Of course not," said Mark Krikorian, head of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that supports tighter immigration controls.

Personally, I think this idea is about as dumb as waving Mexican flags at protests aimed at allowing illegals to stay in the country (why would you wave the flag of the country you don't want to go back to?) or staging work walk-outs to "shut down" American cities.

If the goal is to demonstrate that these illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in America then they should be demonstrating that they are willing to work to integrate with American society and make this country better. Waving flags from other countries, translating our national anthem into another language and "shutting down" our cities to intimidate citizens into doing what they want them to do is no way to go about this. If anything it solidifies the idea that many of these illegals are here to "cash in" on America's wealth without, in fact, becoming American or paying homage to things that made our society great.