There was a lovely troll diary recently about Barack Obama suggesting that children be taught Spanish. The diarist took this as an affront to America.
My response:
I am sorry you feel that way and that you believe American children should not be equipped to compete in the world that the Bush Administration has presented our children. You are asking our children to become the British children of the 1920s - ill-equipped to talk to the emerging global competitors in their language, left on the sidelines of global business.
My case in point - spent the spring break this year at the end of March in Vail, skiing with the family. Nice, All American place. 50% of the ski lift rides I took were with non-Americans - why? Because the Europeans discovered it was cheaper to fly to the US, buy ski tickets, get lodging and food than it was to go 3,000 miles closer to Switzerland.. The foundation of the need for foreign language skills can be traced directly to the fiscal irresponsibility of Republicans - so don't go jumping on a candidate who can recognize reality.
The Bush Administration has debased the US dollar - our debt is held by countries such as China (about 25% of the new debt) Japan (about 27% of the new debt) and South American investors. US real estate is being subsumed by non-American buyers. I get work in consulting because I am marginally bi-lingual in Spanish - it is a good career move.
I have required each of our three children to take a foreign language (so far we are Spanish, German and French). I would love to have a required program in Mandarin - our kids will need it.
In America, too few kids take any foreign language. I applaud a presidential candidate who is willing to make that a priority.