Ohio Blogging In Tongues Protest: Time Magazine Picks Up The Story

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Time's Karen Tumulty has picked up on the protest by Ohio bloggers who have written posts in languages other than English today. The protest is a pushback against Cincinnati-area GOP State Rep. Bob Mecklenborg's bill that makes English the state's official language. Below is a sample of some of the participating blogs, and it's fun to try and guess the languages when you click on the list of links to see they've written:

Bad American
Blogesque
Bring Ohio Home
Buckeye State Blog
Glass City Jungle
Gloria Ferris
Ohio Daily Blog
Rowsey Blog
The Bellwether Daily
Writes Like She Talks

Throughout the day, the list has expanded . At last count, there were 17 Ohio blogs taking part in the the protest. Andthey all have cranked out content in languages other than English. There are posts in everything from Portuguese to Hungarian, Vietnamese and Dutch. If you want to see the English translations, click here. The protest was organized by Jill Miller Zimon, a Cleveland area blogger who authors Writes Like She Talks. (But I wonder if she can really speak Portuguese.)

What's The Difference Between Mecklenburg, Germany And Ohio State Rep. Bob Mecklenborg? Mecklenburg Embraces Other Languages

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Je vous écris en français sur le Land de Mecklembourg-Poméranie occidentale, qui semble être le nom d'État Rep Bob Mecklenborg, le républicain qui parraine l'Ohio officielle en anglais projet de loi.
[Why the French? Please click here.]

Mecklenburg, l'Etat allemand de la Baltique, exploite un site officiel en polonais et en anglais, ainsi que l'allemand, et a un partenariat transfrontalier avec la région française de Poitou-Clarentes. [The government site is here in English, Polish and German.]

Mecklembourg est à la frontière avec la Pologne, et a longtemps été une partie de l'Allemagne de l'Est, le satellite soviétique dissoute que lorsque la chute du mur de Berlin. C'est la patrie de la chancelière allemande Merkel. Le gouvernement de l'Etat de Mecklembourg se vanter qu'il n'a pas peur de différentes cultures ou langues différentes. Il embrasse. «Notre État fédéral soutient activement la coopération transfrontalière dans la région de la Baltique. Il existe des partenariats avec les voïvodies de Pommeria et de l'Ouest Pommeria en Pologne, ainsi qu'avec les régions SydSam (Suède), le sud-ouest de la Finlande et la région de Leningrad (Fédération Russe). En outre, un partenariat avec la région française de Poitou-Charentes existe aussi. " Les Européens ont été divisés par nationalités et des frontières, et ils parlent des langues différentes, mais ils ne semblent pas à craindre les langues. Le parlent, et dans l'Union européenne qui est en train de devenir un important partenaire commercial et concurrent des États-Unis, la diversité de la langue est un avantage. Les Allemands et les Français, les Allemands et les Polonais, les Allemands et les Anglais, tous ont combattu et ont été ennemis jurés. Mais maintenant, vous trouverez des exemples de ces langues utilisées librement et sans crainte sur les sites Web gouvernementaux, ainsi que le commerce.

Bob Mecklenborg probablement les efforts de l'Ohio pourrait causer un préjudice à ses efforts pour grandir et se développer et prospérer dans l'économie mondiale. En prétendant que l'anglais est la langue unique, il applique l'hégémonie culturelle et nous met sur la route du français, langue qui ont la police à préserver la pureté de leur langue. Par conséquent, aucune crème glacée en France. Et pas de frites.

Creating More Lobbyists: Ohio Taxpayers Fund Hispanic Legislative Advocacy Classes

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- They are not billed as courses in how to develop and exercise political clout. But exerting influence at the Statehouse is what these taxpayer subsidized classes are all about. The Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs -- a state agency whose members are appointed by the governor -- is sponsoring workshops across the state designed to create a whole new crop of lobbyists. Some details are here on the commission's Web site. A session was held Friday in Cincinnati and the flier for the program says:

"Participants will also learn how to effectively engage in legislative advocacy by recognizing the areas of responsibility within the House and Senate. At the end of the workshop, they will be prepared to identify and select appropriate officials with whom to speak, participants will also learn to evaluate the best approach of engagement -- written correspondence, telephone calls and/or visits. This workshop is part of OCHLA's [the state commission] Grassroots Capacity Building Initiative."

That should raise alarms bells everywhere. The Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs -- a relatively obscure panel -- has traipsed close to meddling in the political process by trying to create lobbyists. Obviously, all citizens have the right to petition their government. But few have been coached in how to do it by the government. In this case, state funds are being spent to pay for lobbying classes specifically designed to target Ohio lawmakers. And with issues such as immigration and "English only" on the legislative agenda -- issues that stir deep passions on both sides of the debate -- should Ohio's Hispanic and Latino population receive advocacy training subsidized by taxpayers? The goal of the program seems to be to help what the commission calls "'New American' populations across our state . . ."

Ohio's Kucinich Wrongly Tells Iowa Debate: My State's Founding Documents Were In German

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- During the NPR-sponsored Democratic presidential debate in Iowa today, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich claimed Ohio's original "founding documents" were written in German. But that is not true. The 26-page Ohio Constitution adopted in 1802 as the state entered the Union is handwritten in English. A copy is preserved at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, and you can actually see it online by clicking the Ohio.gov link above.

The other founding document is Thomas Worthington's draft of the Enabling Act, which was submitted to Congress, adopted, and signed by President Thomas Jefferson on April 30, 1802. It set the boundaries of the new state named Ohio and said it would be considered an equal of all others upon admission to the Union. Again, the handwritten document has been preserved. You can see it for yourself at at the link -- along with some background information from the Ohio Historical Society about the politics behind the statehood movement. Jeffersonians wanted Ohio for its presidential electoral votes; the competing Federalist Party wanted it carved into two separate states, figuring that some of the frontier territory contained supporters. The Jeffersonians prevailed.

Kucinich, D-10, was answering a question about immigration and the use of English at the Des Moines debate when he said Ohio's original statehood materials were written in the German language. He said that while serving as a state legislator he had fought and defeated efforts to make English the official language in Ohio. He said the bill was rejected "when I pointed out our state's founding documents were in German."

While that is not precisely correct, there is no doubt that German was widely spoken and used in Ohio during the 19th Century and up until the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917. After war was declared on Germany, street names were anglicized, schools were prohibited from teaching German, and meetings where German was spoken were broken up by the police.

The NPR Web site has the debate and a photo of the debaters (the photo accompanies this blog post, thanks NPR). You can hear streaming audio, and if my watch was correct Kucinich made his German comment around an hour and 51 minutes into the debate.

Oh-02's Rep. Jean Schmidt: Make English 'Official' Language

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt signed up last week to cosponsor two bills that make English the nation's official language. One eliminates the Voting Rights Act requirement that some elections be bilingual. In areas with large Hispanic populations -- South Florida, for example -- there now are Spanish/English ballots. And also Creole for Haitians. But the measure, HR 769, would forbid the practice.

[UPDATE: Check out THIS take on language laws about Singapore. Clever satire, right?]

Schmidt became a co-sponsor March 8. She joined two other Ohioans, U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Oh-14, and Ralph Regula, R-Oh-16. The measure is called the "National Language Act of 2007" and more information is HERE. The measure has been referred to committee and probably won't go very far.

Schmidt also put her name on HR 997, another bill that make English official. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Oh-01, already was a co-sponsor. This bill specifically says the states and the District of Columbia must use English, and says anyone seeking naturalization as an American citizen will have to pass a test showing they can comprehend English. One of the requirements: "All citizens should be able to read and understand generally the English language text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the laws of the United States."

But that last clause is a doozy -- could it open the door to questioning potential citizens about the tax code? Imagine being tested about the IRS rules? They are written in English, but everybody knows they are nearly impenetrable for average Americans.

There are details about the measure HERE.

Schmidt is a conservative pro-life, pro-gun lawmaker whose district starts in Cincinnati and stretches east along the Ohio River to Scioto County. She may have opposition in the GOP primary from State Rep. Tom Brinkman Jr., an ultra-conservative from Cincinnati, and the bills to require English will play well in her district. Whether the measures become law or not, her decision to co-sponsor was a canny political move and shows that Schmidt -- a marathon runner -- is toughening up for a potential race with Brinkman.