Only English Spoken Here

The U.S. Congress is set to pass a law declaring English the country's national language. Proponents of the bill say the move will unify Americans while others protest that it smells of racism. I agree with the move to declare English the official or national language and I'm actually quite surprised that it hasn't been so yet. But I also understand where the those who cry racism are coming from.

The timing of the whole thing is a bit odd, especially given the current row over border security with Mexico and amnesty for illegal aliens. It strikes me though, that there is more to it than just that. Rather than racism I think it also smells a bit like isolationism, or as a step taken by the U.S. to isolate itself from the rest of the world for various reasons.

One of these reasons, I think, is the war on terrorism. A lot of Americans are probably fed up with this war by now and, looking at al-Qaida's main justification for their attacks on the U.S., wondering why the U.S. has to be the world police and butt into everyone's affairs. I've even read recently that many Americans are concerned along this regard and growing weary of the U.S. government's exploits abroad. After all, if we weren't mucking around all over the Middle East, making friends with corrupt governments in pursuit of the all mighty resource, would these crazy Arabs even care what we were doing?