While Republican gubernatorial hopeful Tim James is taking the “English-only” spotlight, candidate questionnaire responses available at the Eagle Forum of Alabama show how much strong support the issue has garnered.
Notably, every statewide candidate who sent the form back to Eagle Forum as of this morning support English-only driver’s license exams: Robert Bentley, James, Bill Johnson, Roy Moore, Kay Ivey, Gene Ponder, Troy King, George C. Wallace, Jr., and Beth Chapman. James clearly isn’t a renegade, right?
But wait a minute.
The questionnaire asks if candidates “agree” or “disagree” with this statement:
State officials should enforce the Alabama Constitutional Amendment requiring that driver’s license exams be given in English only.
It’s hard to disagree with anything following “State officials should enforce the Alabama Constitutional Amendment requiring…” Well, sure, let’s enforce the law. But I don’t know which amendment the Forum is pointing to in the question. I assume it’s this one, found at our legislature’s website:
Amendment 509 Ratified
English as Official Language of State
English is the official language of the state of Alabama. The legislature shall enforce this amendment by appropriate legislation. The legislature and officials of the state of Alabama shall take all steps necessary to insure that the role of English as the common language of the state of Alabama is preserved and enhanced. The legislature shall make no law which diminishes or ignores the role of English as the common language of the state of Alabama.
Any person who is a resident of or doing business in the state of Alabama shall have standing to sue the state of Alabama to enforce this amendment, and the courts of record of the state of Alabama shall have jurisdiction to hear cases brought to enforce this provision. The legislature may provide reasonable and appropriate limitations on the time and manner of suits brought under this amendment.
That’s the entire amendment. Where is the part about driver’s license exams?
I don’t mean to pick on the Eagle Forum. Well, maybe I do, but only insofar as they chose to form a misleading “agree” or “disagree” statement in their questionnaire. Meh. They’ve got a clear mission outlined on their website, they work to that end.
I’m really picking on the candidates (particularly the lawyerly ones) who — by agreeing with that statement — suggest they know there is a constitutional amendment “requiring that driver’s license exams be given in English only.” How can they know that — to the point they would agree with that — when there isn’t such an amendment?
Applying epistemology to politics is a futile exercise, I know, but these questionnaire responses are illustrative of how quickly candidates will simply endorse a platform issue without even thinking about it. You’re a Republican, so you believe all people in the great state of Alabama “should” speak English. James gets to be the face of the “English-only” sentiment, but clearly it’s got wide — however baseless? — support.