Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Hannan / Media / Politics Eric Crafton on Fox News, Now With More Intentionally Vague Scare-Tactics!
Posted by Caleb Hannan on Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 12:45 PM
I bet these guys ask the real hard-hitting questions.
It's a good thing we're fanatics about Fox's morning news show, Fox & Friends. Otherwise we might have missed this morning's special guest, Eric Crafton.
You can probably already guess why Crafton was on. And, if you've been following the debate around English Only for more than a hot minute, you can probably already guess what was said. But that doesn't mean you still shouldn't watch (video here, Fox doesn't seem to allow embeds).
Crafton, it seems, has a new anecdote he's peddling. This one, like the last (the California politicians can't speak English quote in the NYTimes) also seeks to turn the Left Coast into Enemy Territory #1. And this one, like the last, is purposefully vague, the better to make it seem like the world is black-and-white and you'd have to be an idiot not to see it that way.
From the 2:05 mark in the video:
Crafton: In fact, out in Oakland California, they have a law in the books that says if you apply for government job that interacts with the public, then you not only have to be able to speak English, but you have to be able to speak Spanish or Chinese. So I just don't think that's the road we have to travel.OK. So on this one Crafton is right, sorta. Oakland does in fact require its PCP (public contact positions) to be bilingual. It's a result of their Equal Access Ordinance, a law passed in 2001 that sought to make interaction between government and its citizens more efficient.
Fox News: (Disapproving harrumph) Where does it end?
According to Monique Tsang, Oakland's Equal Access Director, it does NOT mean that everyone in the city of Oakland must speak Mandarin. It just means that if you apply for a receptionist's job in a city where every third person is either Chinese or Hispanic, you had better know how to communicate effectively with said constituents. It's all so goddamn logical and tolerant it just make me want to puke.
Said Tsang, a native of Hong Kong, when we explained Crafton's explanation of her city's ordinance: "I think he's confused."
Remember: Crafton's spin on the national media carousel continues this afternoon on Lou Dobbs' radio show. Will he drop the Oakland anecdote again or does he have a new one for us to parse? We can't wait!
Comments (6)
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Why doesn't Eric Craton pick on Texas for a change? I found an old Tom Tancredo quote where he alleged there are some Texas border towns where Spanish is the "official" language. Naturally he didn't name any. But I mean my God, the horror. There are no words.
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Crafton: "In fact, out in Oakland California, they have a law in the books that says if you apply for government job that interacts with the public, then you not only have to be able to speak English, but you have to be able to speak Spanish or Chinese."
Kindly point out what part of this is incorrect and/or misleading.
And after "English Only" passes, we will go after those companies who use "Press 2 for Spanish" and make them stop or discontinue doing business in good ole Nashville. We can then have English check points on the roads where English is tested by selected authorities and people are fined or deported if they fail. We have to do this now or Nashville will become a third world banana republic run by a dictator named Bermudez or something. This is the most pressing matter in the history of time. Our survival absolutely depends on it. All of the Fox personalities, except that commie Geraldo, agree. El Rushbo and Michael Savage also agree.
English Only or die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
disclaimer: above was attempt at satire. This should be obvious but I've seen more outrageous things written on The Tennessean's chat boards after English Only articles.
Karl Dean's remarks were far more damaging to Nashville's international image than were Craftons...what a piker!
Emmett --
It's misleading in part because of the format on which it's delivered. Whoever said "TV is the enemy of nuance" (forgive the paraphrasing) had it dead on. Crafton probably knew he had three minutes or so to speak and, because of that, could only offer the anecdote, rather than the explanation behind why such a bill would be passed.
The whole point of the post, and the posts that will surely follow his next media appearance, are to add a little depth to Crafton's potentially misleading statements. We aspire to some modest level of nuance because, unlike TV, we have the space to do it.
