ddndoug wrote:
D & M wrote:
If you can read this, thank an English teacher.
And if you can read it in English, thank a veteran!
Doug
As opposed to what, Cherokee? The first European settlers who were able to permanently establish a toe-hold in what is now the USA were English. The vast majority of territory acquired by the US from anyone who spoke anything but English was purchased (see Louisiana purchase and Seward's Folly). The only war fought against insurgent forces invading any State was fought against the British (war of 1812) and they speak English. During the Civil war, both sides spoke English. The Spanish American war never fought a battle on US soil. World War One was fought exclusively overseas. Hitler had no designs on conquering the US during WW2, he envisioned Germany ruling Europe. Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor was an attack on an American Colony (Hawaii was not a state at the time), but their goal was to rule the Pacific, and they had no designs on the US mainland. They did make some incendiary Balloon attacks on the West Coast, which start several small fires, but the US military did have any actions against those attacks. The Korean War, the Vietnam war and the Wars in the Gulf were never about anyone attempting to take over the US. The Cuban missile crisis, should it have spun out of control, would have had us not speaking at all, a nuclear war wouldn't have had any winners. That leaves the war on terror, and I don't really see us on a precipice, close to speaking Arabic or Farsi.
Our military veterans have served our nation outstandingly. However, the most likely reason we will ever be forced to speak another language will most likely be political (see laws that require multilingual services). BTW, my position is void if we are ever attacked by Martians or other alien beings.
