DH> Mike, as always, you make little sense, in this discussion, you have
DH> engaged in an effort to make our Constitution say something which it
DH> doesn't say, in order to back up your claims. The simple fact is, trhe
DH> law is as it is, and as a citizen of this country, you are bound by
DH> them. Should you feel that they are unjust, then feel free to violate
DH> them, but don't come crying to me when you wind up on the wrong end of
DH> the law. If you feel that you are oppressed, then by all means, feel
DH> free to leave this country and go somewhere else. Eventually you will
DH> learn that we live have greater liberty than any other country in the
DH> world.
  
     I am not the one making a claim that English is consitutionally
sanctioned to be a singularily accepted language in the United States.
It was, and remains, my point that the only consitutional remark that
could be even remotely related to language is the first amendment which
assures freedom of speech.  Therefore, if we must make an issue of
language, which should not be an issue at all, I see no alternative but
to accept the proposition that it should be government which has been
created to serve the people rather than the people to serve government.
Whatever language an American may speak, it should be the duty of their
representative government to deal with them in that language.
        As for my current sense of oppression and the constraints
placed upon my liberties by the federalist system, I do not consider
a member of a free society.  In fact, I consider the United States one
of the least free nations in the world today.  We are, in many ways, a
relatively free people, but in others, especially relative to personal
freedoms, we are a quite unfree people.
        If you wish to consider the state of liberty in the United
States consider the plight of it's population.  We have the dubious
distinction of not only having the largest percentage of our population
in prison of any nation on Earth, we even have more people in prison
than any other nation, including communist China whose population is
ten times our own.  When you also consider that almost 80% of those
languishing in American prisons are there not for violent crimes
against others or their property, but for having violated someone
else's preferences of how they choose to live thier lives, I believe
the question of the state of American liberty becomes a quite valid
one.
       As for your suggestion that I leave if I am dissatisfied with
this government, I have no intention of leaving my native soil.  I may,
given the opportunity, work to effect a political separation between 
the United States and Texas in accordance with the lawful means to do
so defined by the Supreme Court (Par. 6, White vs. Texas, 1868), or, as
I am doing now, I may work lawfully within the system to coorect the
injustices and abuses of federalism, but I will not abandon the soil my
forefathers sacrificed their blood to free from tyrrany no more than I
will accept willingly or in silence the continued destruction of my
liberty.
       As for my currently having greater liberty now than I would
have in any other nation, I disagree.  It may be that I may be able to
speak as openly as in any nation and express my political views, though
these too can be suppressed and my privacy invaded for views that do
not toe to the federalist line, but my personal liberties, most
certianly, are far more restricted here than in many nations I have
visited.  If you truely believe you have more personal liberty in this
nation than in any other, as most seem to believe, you are seriously,
and potentially dangerously misguided.
 MA> I do, it's called the First Amendment.  I simply do not see the
 MA> signifigance attached to forcing an individual to learn a language. 
 MA> There are values that being an American relates to, but not a
 MA> language. Our own citizens, from Puerto Rica to Alaska, do not all
 MA> speak English. If we ourselves are not entirely fluent why should we
 MA> require it of others?
DH> 
DH> Simply put, Mike, you are wrong!
 
        I may be, that potential certianly exists, but if I am, future
generations will most certianly suffer the consequences that will
continue to be forthcoming from the hands of those who are "right". 
 
                                                  /\/\ike
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