In case you missed last night’s Superbowl, here’s pretty much what happened:
(Found on Failblog.org; original source unknown.)
The other big news is that some ninnies have their knickers in knots over a Coke commercial. It should be noted that while the ninnies in question appear to be right-wingers, plenty of conservatives are as baffled by their reaction as anybody else, including such arch-conservatives as RedState.com editor Erick Erickson, who Tweeted, “People were really upset about the Coke advertisement? Seriously?”
What set a lot of people off is that the soundtrack of the commercial was the great patriotic song “America the Beautiful,” and it was sung in a mix of languages, beginning and ending in English, in celebration of this country’s wonderful diversity. Glenn Beck insisted that the ad was “in your face” and, “That’s all this is: To divide people.” Ex-Congressman Allen West said it was “This was a truly disturbing commercial for me,” and Fox News’s Todd Starnes tweeted multiple silly complaints, including, “Couldn’t make out that song they were singing. I only speak English,” and “Coca Cola is the official soft drink of illegals crossing the border.”
As Time and Cheezburger.com/ observed, a lot of objections were themselves offered up in ungrammatical, misspelled, or semi-literate English. To be fair, some might have been simply typos, such as Allen West’s reference to “American the Beautiful.” At least a few people seemed to think “America the Beautiful” is the National Anthem. Some indeed advocate making it the National Anthem, not least because it’s easier to sing.
It’s obviously useful to share a common language, and in the U.S. English is in not the slightest danger of being dislodged from its position of dominance. That many Americans speak other languages as well as English and come from a diversity of cultures is a strength celebrated on the Statue of Liberty, which is a nice reminder that any effort to deny people the right to speak other languages is betrayal of the very liberty this country was founded on.
One amusing sidelight is that the loonies were so outraged over the sound of other languages that they managed not to notice the presence of a gay couple in the ad.
Anyway, here’s the ad itself, which I found rather nice:
Link: http://youtu.be/443Vy3I0gJs
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