Liveblogging CSPAN

I’m watching the debates on CSPAN and decided to live blog it for a while. If I have time later I’ll add relevant links from the Congressional Record. Enjoy.

[Update - both the Inhofe and Salazar amendments passed! Senatorial Death Match coming up!]

2:05 - Salazar (D-CO) discussing the Inhofe amendment to make English the national language is repeating referring to documents and statistics from La Raza, which he seems to think is a reputable, neutral source.

2:10 - Alexander (R-TN) is refuting it, breaking down the actual terms of the amendment. Unlike Salazar’s claims, there’s nothing in there that prevents the government from having things in multiple languages. It just says people can’t sue to get services in their native langauge UNLESS that is already provided for by law. Apparently the Inhofe amendment doesn’t just require that you have to be in school to learn English, you have to already know it, in order to gain citizenship. Salazar’s amendment apparently weakens the language that would have strengthened the citizenship test by adding more history to it. A vote for the Inhofe amendment is for making English the national language, getting immigrants to assimilate better by learning it, and by learning our history.

2:24 - Alexander and Salazar have been going back and forth and the gist of it is that Salazar’s amendment doesn’t really require anything of illegals in terms of assimilation, while Inhofe’s does. Now Bingaman(D-AZ but open borders anyway) is standing up against Inhofe’s amendment. The Democrats are trying to play this off as the eeevil racist Republicans are trying to prohibit people from speaking Spanish. Bingaman is griping because Inhofe’s amendment means that you are NOT entitled to communicate with your government or have your government communicate with you except in English. He admits that in the case of criminal cases, the law provides for interpreters. The word “entitled” rolls off his tongue so smoothly, I bet he says it in his sleep. What’s really interesting about this is that Mexico, for example, has Spanish for it’s national language, and only communicates with its citizens in Spanish. But Bingaman thinks America needs to respect other languages.

2:35 - Kennedy (D-Chivas) is stepping up to the mic. This ought to be good. Quick interruption from Inhofe and Salazar to modify their amendments, and Salazar says Graham is now cosponsoring his amendment. Leahy (D-VT) is now speaking, what happened to Kennedy?

2:37 - Leahy is against Inhofe’s amendment because it “treats people like a second class person.” How he’s listing his second language street creds. Whatever… Do we REALLY want to restrict government publications to English? What if there’s an avian flu epidemic? A uricane? (I swear, he said it like that, “yuricane”, what an idiot.) He brings up court proceedings in English only, must have been napping earlier because this was already addressed and dismissed. Will it make the use of Spanish illegal? This asinine demagogery ought to be illegal, or at least fact based. He’s now complimenting President Bush, let me mark the calendar. And he’s talking about how Latin is used all over the place, e pluribus unum, etc. Look, idiot, get to the point already. Oh, okay, Spanish is derived from Latin, and look how much Latin we’re surrounded with.

2:49 - Now Kennedy is back. Of course he’s for Salazar. It says it clear, plain, preserve and enhance the use of English as a common unifying language. (What it lacks is any enforcement.) He’d be impressed if Inhofe had provided some resources to help people learn English. Now listing all these people who are on waiting lists to learn English. So the only possible way they can learn it, is if the taxpayer pays for that class, evidently. They can’t take responsibility for themselves and learn it the way previous generations of immigrants did.

If you have not called your Senator to ask them to support the Inhofe amendment, you really ought to.

2:56 - Babs Boxer! This ought to be good. She thinks the reason for this amendment is that we’re “insecure” because “of course” English is our language. She really needs to watch less Oprah. She’s worried about the unintended consequences of the Inhofe amendment. Bringing up the pandemic or terror attack idea again, there will be mass chaos and it will all be the eeevil racist Republicans fault. Again, all the more reason for people to assimilate.

Kennedy Amendment passed 56-43, guest workers can “self petition” for green card.

3:01 - Graham (R-SC) is making the point that people applying for legal status are already required, under the current bill, to learn English. He’s playing both sides, referring to “undocumented illegal immigrants” coming out of the shadows. He says under the bill if they fail to pass the English proficiency exam “you can be deported!” Give us a break; that’s never going to happen.

3:09 - Turban Durbin (D-IL) says these are issues about people’s basic rights; it’s about the 1964 Civil Rights legislation. (Huh?) He’s about the third person to mention Inhofe’s address to the Senate in Spanish about SCOTUS nominee Estrada, which was translated into English for the record. Inhofe was wrong, wrong, wrong for doing that. And hopefully he’s squirming now to have it thrown back in his face.

3:18 - Durbin’s unintentionally funny line, Why do we have to change the laws of America on this issue? YES, very good point, Senator. Why not just drop this whole immigration law debate and just enforce the laws we already have?

3:25 - After some completely useless and boring anecdotes about non-English speakers he’s encountered, Harry Reid is pulling the same scare tactic about health care, epidemics, etc. and the Inhofe amendment. Whenever this guy leaves the Senate, he could make millions selling tapes of himself reading bedtime stories for children. Parents would buy, trust me. Serious snoozeville.

3:32 - Reid wonders if this amendment is going to impact the right to vote!! Well, since only citizens are eligible to vote, and since in order to become a citizen you have to pass an English proficiency test, then NO. It might hinder some illegals who managed to get registered thanks to Motor Voter, but it will not ever hinder actual American citizens. Somebody better call him on this.

3:42 - Salazar (D-CO) The rhetoric is getting a little harsher. Says elevating one language above others is discrimination. Is it discrimination when Mexico and other countries do it?

3:46 - The vote is coming up. Alexander (R-TN) recaps the whole thing and comments on the weakness of the responses.

3:52 - Inhofe is summing up and says it’s interesting that the word “racist” was used, and that he has received awards from the Hispanic community in his district. Says 77% of Hispanics believe that English should be the national language. Says this is our last chance to have English as the national language.

3:58 - Finally voting!

4:29 - IT PASSED!!

And my Senator, Mary Landrieu, voted for it. Now they’re voting for Salazar’s amendment. Mary’s a weasel, she voted for that too. If they both pass I wonder what happens? Senatorial death match? (In which case I’ll be buying a TIVO.)

4:49 - Salazar’s amendment ALSO passed, SENATORIAL DEATH MATCH! WHOOHOO!! I’m going to make popcorn.

Okay, I have no idea how they work this out. But I’d really love to see MTV do something with that concept.

4:53 - Now Hillary is griping about how the Federal government has been neglecting it’s responsibilities re: immigration. That’s rich. But that’s enough liveblogging for one day.