Gored And Jolted By A Powerful Current

Let me admit right away that I do not often sing the American national anthem. Let me admit that I often forget the anthem's lyrics; that the first half of it trips me up most of the time; and that I know the second half perfectly.

Does this make me a bad person? Does this make me a bad American?

Maybe it does make me a bad person, a bad American.

But the fact remains that the national anthem that swells my heart with pride when I participate in a public event is the American national anthem, sung in English: it is the anthem of my fatherland. And that it is in English not only gives it meaning (for those of us who speak that fair language), it unites us: there is nothing exclusionary about it for those of us who have had the fortune of learning English as our native tongue.

This morning, while quickly scanning the TV channels for a weather update, I landed on Current TV. Amazingly, I happened to witness a report on the "Nuestro Himnos", the Spanish "translation" of this country's "Star-Spangled Banner." And how do you think the news on this rather important turn of events was spun? After all, this new anthem is a hot news item, worthy of aggressive reportage. How, pray tell, do you think the TV channel chaired by Al Gore reported the story that has pro-illegal alien activists writing a version of the national anthem in Spanish and then encouraging over 100 Spanish radio stations to broadcast the song at 7:00 pm Friday last? Well, the report was framed rather simplistically: the news was that the "Star-Spangled Banner" was being sung in Spanish, and that some people thought it was a good thing, while others thought it quite bad. There was a brief clip of Jimmy Hendrix bending his guitar strings at Woodstock to America's anthem; there was a clip of comedienne Roseanne Barr desecrating it at a baseball game. But when the reporter rather nonchalantly reported that there was some brouhaha about the new anthem, she merely said that some people have no problem with the song "being sung in Spanish, while some others do" (or something to that effect). And who do you think has a problem with the use of Spanish? You guessed it: Current TV projected a couple of pictures of George W. Bush in one of the most startlingly blatant abuses of truth and putative journalistic balance. The "reporter" even had the temerity to include comments from some observer who opined that it is ironic President Bush should want the anthem sung in English when he himself can barely speak English. Cute.

The repulsive aspect is that at no time did the reporter give the viewer the simple, startling and controversial truth: the Spanish version of the American national anthem is not a direct translation from English to Spanish; it is a rewrite of the English song into a completely unique Spanish language song. That is what is controversial; that is the where the rub is. It is not that people are singing the "Star-Spangled Banner" in Spanish; it is that they are not singing the "Star-Spangled Banner" at all. What is controversial is that this a different song -- a completely different lyric -- married to a familiar tune. In the end, it is an anthem for someone else. It is not an American anthem.

That Google/Current TV does not even hint at this; that it keeps the truth from the viewer, is Orwellian in its omission. This is not news; to call it propaganda is too generous. It is deception. It is wide-eyed lying, all with a dismissive, cavalier regard for the only fact that is germane to the national discussion: The song is not a translation but a revision.

Why would Current TV hide this from its viewers; why would a network intentionally conceal this from viewers when one considers that Current TV claims to represent "all" viewpoints? Is it because Al Gore is the chairman of Current TV? Is it because "all" is meant amphibolously; is meant disingenuously?

Look, the story now is not that the Spanish revision is offensive to many of us. The real story now is that Al Gore's channel does not want us to know the truth.

***

The idea of having one anthem in English is not meant to exclude, but to include. If everyone speaks one language, everyone participates in the thrills of that language. If everyone is required to speak EVERY language, inclusion will be impossible. But if one group rewrites its own version of an anthem; if every group writes its own rallying song, we will have descended into tribalism; exclusion will be the norm. Hence, in America, the French immigrant will not be united in co-participation with the Spanish immigrant, or the Indian or Swiss or Portuguese, if each language group is promoting its own tongue, if each is singing its own anthem. This all doesn't unite. It divides. It is not about diversity, but disunion.

It is heartening to learn that many Spanish-speaking immigrants, legal or illegal, are opposed to this "new" anthem. Of course, Al Gore's Current TV would never tell you about that.

Peace.

©Bill Gnade 2006/Contratimes - All Rights Reserved.

Tags: Gore, Current TV, nuestro himno, national anthem, star-spangled banner