Look at what this Immigration Bill is doing

[ouleaf]

To expose yourself as someone that is anti-immigration/almost racist over such a trivial matter is ridiculous. Is this really that big of a deal in Alabama that it is an issue on somebody's platform?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/201004...s/ynews_ts1831

Amid a national debate over Arizona's tough new immigration law, Republican Alabama gubernatorial candidate Tim James (and son of previous Gov. Fob James) vows in a new campaign ad that if he's elected, he'll give the state driver's license exam only in English, as a cost-saving measure.

"This is Alabama; we speak English," he says in the ad. "If you want to live here, learn it."

It's not clear how James thinks the change would save the state money. Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic says Alabama could actually lose billions of dollars in federal funding if it enacts the measure, and he points to an Alabama political blog that runs down the legal history for why the exams are in multiple languages.

James says he's been attacked by the left for the ad, singling out MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. A writer on her blog called the ad "just plain mean" and argued it was simply pandering to the candidate's conservative base.

"I have come under attack and under assault by a very interesting group of far-left reporters," he said Monday, according to the Birmingham News. He said English exams are a public safety issue, to ensure drivers can read signs. Exams are currently given in Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese, according to AOL News

[Leroy Lizard]

To expose yourself as someone that is anti-immigration/almost racist over such a trivial matter is ridiculous. Is this really that big of a deal in Alabama that it is an issue on somebody's platform?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/201004...s/ynews_ts1831

To be honest, I wouldn't legally immigrate to a country unless I knew enough of its language to pass a driver's license test. Seriously, is that too much to ask of an immigrant?

[Frozen Sooner]

He said English exams are a public safety issue, to ensure drivers can read signs.

I wonder if he knows why stop signs and the like are in uniform shapes?

Anyhow, he's the subject of much ridicule among the Republicans I know. Bill Byrne should walk away with the Republican nomination (and the governorship.)

[Frozen Sooner]

This seems like something of a stretch to connect this to AZ SB 1070, though. Tim James is his own brand of hilarity.

Also, since Alabama is a Choctaw word, I wonder if we'll have to change that. I could kind of go for living in a town named "Black Warrior."

[Leroy Lizard]

I wonder if he knows why stop signs and the like are in uniform shapes?

You mean like this one in Japan?



A lot of municipalities are leaning toward digital signs for obvious reasons. The trouble is that they cannot change shape.

Now what? Are we going to be straddled with stone-age technology forever because some people refuse to learn even the most basic English?

[Frozen Sooner]

Communities are leaning towards digital stop signs? Yield signs? Really?
Psst. I believe what you just posted was a "yield" sign.
Ah. I see. Japan is a non-signatory to the treaty on signage convention.

[Leroy Lizard]

Communities are leaning towards digital stop signs? Yield signs? Really?
Psst. I believe what you just posted was a "yield" sign.
Ah. I see. Japan is a non-signatory to the treaty on signage convention.

Oh, gee. I guess your stop sign isn't so uniform after all. And I would expect that most Japanese that emigrate to the U.S. learn a little English before applying for a driver's license.

[NormanPride]

They didn't sign to sign their signs right?

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

To expose yourself as someone that is anti-immigration/almost racist over such a trivial matter is ridiculous. Is this really that big of a deal in Alabama that it is an issue on somebody's platform?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/201004...s/ynews_ts1831

Thnx for swelling the leftist ranks of Soonerfans. Yer knee-jerk brethren needed some company.

[Frozen Sooner]

Oh, gee. I guess your stop sign isn't so uniform after all. And I would expect that most Japanese that emigrate to the U.S. learn a little English before applying for a driver's license.

Oh gee, I guess you need to read English to recognize a red octagon.

The argument "They need to be able to read stop signs" argument is ****ing ridiculous and you know it. We don't bar illiterates from holding driver licenses, do we?

[Leroy Lizard]

Oh gee, I guess you need to read English to recognize a red octagon.

The argument "They need to be able to read stop signs" argument is ****ing ridiculous and you know it. We don't bar illiterates from holding driver licenses, do we?

By the same token, should the DMV be expected to read out loud all documents related to obtaining a license because a person never bothered to learn to read?

They already may. But should they?

How much are we expected to kowtow to those that have never bothered to learn to read English? If you immigrate to another country, is there any level of responsibility to learning to communicate in that country? Any at all? Or, is it up to the country to spend the money to accommodate your unwillingness to assimilate?

[delhalew]

You are supposed to read English to be a truck driver, but surprise, there are drivers out there that stand at a fuel counter trying to communicate until everyone involved gets frustrated and gives up. It's not safe. There are a lot of important things to read out there, in addition to all those with cute shapes.

[StoopTroup]

Oh gee, I guess you need to read English to recognize a red octagon.

The argument "They need to be able to read stop signs" argument is ****ing ridiculous and you know it. We don't bar illiterates from holding driver licenses, do we?

Phil even lets him post here.

[StoopTroup]

I like it when they think 100's are less than 20's

[SCOUT]

Oh gee, I guess you need to read English to recognize a red octagon.

The argument "They need to be able to read stop signs" argument is ****ing ridiculous and you know it. We don't bar illiterates from holding driver licenses, do we?

Another question is, should we? There are a myriad of written instructions that drivers should read. If they are incapable, they become a menace to the other drivers.

Of course, this will not solve the seemingly ever present problem of mistakenly advancing in the turn only lane when intending to go straight. We should tackle that problem later.

To respond to a much earlier post, the cost savings comes from not having to print all of the materials in various languages.

[ouleaf]

What surprised me most wasn't the issue James was discussing involving changes to a driving test, or whether you need to be able to read english to have a drivers license, it was the fact that he flat out said, if you want to live in Alabama you have to speak English. That is what really had me laughing at him. What an ***.

[yankee]

Oh gee, I guess you need to read English to recognize a red octagon.

maybe not, but last time i checked there's a lot more signs than just a stop sign.

what about the sign on the freeway that indicates a left exit?
what about the flashing mobile construction thing that tells you how far up construction is or how traffic is slow up ahead?
what about parking only for emergency vehicles?


the list goes on and on...

[Harry Beanbag]

maybe not, but last time i checked there's a lot more signs than just a stop sign.

what about the sign on the freeway that indicates a left exit?
what about the flashing mobile construction thing that tells you how far up construction is or how traffic is slow up ahead?
what about parking only for emergency vehicles?


the list goes on and on...

Do we have signs that say you are now crossing the United States border? Cuz those obviously are very difficult for some people to read and understand.

[yankee]

Do we have signs that say you are now crossing the United States border? Cuz those obviously are very difficult for some people to read and understand.

ha.

i think the border patrol needs to invest in red octagon signs, since those are apparently pretty easy to understand.

[Frozen Sooner]

maybe not, but last time i checked there's a lot more signs than just a stop sign.

what about the sign on the freeway that indicates a left exit?
what about the flashing mobile construction thing that tells you how far up construction is or how traffic is slow up ahead?
what about parking only for emergency vehicles?


the list goes on and on...

And what about the fact that every "publish the test in English only" bill allows an exemption for reading it aloud to illiterates?

Sorry, but you're never going to be able to convince me the actual purpose of these bills is traffic safety "because they need to be able to read the signs" until you get rid of those exemptions.

And really, how much English do you need to read the signs you have up there? Do you really think that reading a question on a drivers exam doesn't take a different level of fluency than recognizing an exit sign?