Citizen U.S.A. The Reality

My American citizenship was an arduous journey, years in the making. It took mountains of paperwork on both sides of the Atlantic. Papers had to be translated from and into English, notarized, fiscally stamped, taxed, and approved. Appointments had to be made with various officials and officers of the law. Security Police interrogations and screenings were performed. Were you ever a Communist, how much debt did you have, did you have a savings account, did you have a job, who was going to support you, who was going to pay my medical bills, did I speak English, did I pass the American Government test, was I literate, and who was the president. And the questions never stopped until the American government was sure that I would not be a burden on the American taxpayers and would be a contributing citizen to this wonderful republic.

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Things have changed dramatically. Now prospective and future American citizens come to hearings with their translators in tow. The American government has to provide them with translations in Spanish of any piece of paper they have to fill out. If foreign nationals come to court, although some of them have lived in the U.S. for 23 years and speak English, they prefer to give testimony in Spanish, out of respect for their first language. What about the respect for those present in the courtroom who conduct business in the language of the land, English? Voting rolls are translated into Spanish and school curricula are provided in two languages, at great expense to the taxpayer. Hospitals must provide translators to illegal aliens who flock to the emergency rooms as if they are doctors’ offices. Companies display every sign in their stores both in English and Spanish and phone calls are answered only after pressing one for English. The ceremony of becoming a citizen is a sacred one – one swears allegiance to America, to the republic and everything it stands for. You swear to honor and preserve its culture, its symbols, its flag, and its national anthem. You do not have the right to wave and display the flag of your former country in the face of Americans while telling them that America will soon be yours because it was stolen from you. I am not sure that borders of any country in the world have been adjudicated by entirely peaceful means; usually borders were carved out after a conflict, armistice, as a purchase, or other forms of forced distribution. Washington Post writes in a recent column about “Citizen U.S.A.,” a 53-minute film made by Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra. Washington Post states that we have “not learned much” from this film other than “how easy it is to take your citizenship for granted.” The writer was apparently fascinated not by the momentous occasion of becoming a citizen of the greatest nation on earth, but by the “wide and occasionally bizarre variety of amateur entertainment that precedes a swearing-in ceremony: choirs of elderly patriots, story tellers, a woman doing a song and an audience participation dance, involving red, white, and blue paper plates…” I was not aware that choirs of elderly patriots, dance, or story telling are bizarre. The Washington Post article continues that, although we are a “nation at war” and “griped out,” the swear-in ceremony “will give you hope in this 235-year experiment we’ve got going here.” I thought we lived in a 235-year old most successful nation on earth, not an experiment. The critic is annoyed with the film because only “passing references are made to current immigration debates, particularly when Pelosi visits Arizona and there’s a mob (my emphasis) outside the building counter-protesting the state’s recently harsh-ified (my emphasis) immigration laws.” The writer apparently ignores the fact that in Arizona the debate is over, it is the law, the majority has decided. It is hard for progressives to admit defeat when their minority ranks do not get their wishes. Only in a liberal mind is a law that already exists at the federal level in more stringent form, harsh. Only in a liberal mind, breaking the law to come to this country by crossing the border illegally should be rewarded with instant citizenship. The writer claims that this film, “Citizen U.S.A.,” is “without an agenda, open to all.” The final revelation he has, describes his real frame of reference. “Apart from the occasional debate over whether the United States needs to replace the national anthem with something more singable than “The Star Spangled Banner,” one song was apparently long ago chosen for that task by the people in charge of swearing-in ceremonies, Lee Greenwood’s sap-tastic (my emphasis) 1984 ballad “God Bless the U.S.A.” I was not aware that the national anthem was open for debate. As a proud American citizen by choice, I cherish and honor it. Perhaps it is debatable in the progressive mind and the minds of the newly minted Americans interviewed for the movie. Proposing to change our sacred national anthem and still trying to debate the immigration law that has passed in Arizona and is being implemented, does not seem to me that the movie has no agenda. I hope the newly minted citizens will give us all hope that this 235-year old Constitutional Republic will thrive in spite of its financial troubles created by past and current administrations through their schizophrenic economic policies and outlandish spending. The torch of freedom of the land of plenty, of the shining city on the hill that everyone wants to immigrate to, will be passed on by this proud American to my children, my former students, and all proud Americans who make this country exceptional.