I honestly hope these people have better things to do than debate whether or not English is America’s "national language" or a "common and unifying language".  Either way, the piece of legislation is symbolic, since you can’t enforce anything. 

Aren’t there real problems out there that need addressing in real ways, rather than symbolic ones?

Of course, the legislation is just meat for social conservatives and the religious, who are disgruntled that the GOP is not catering to their desires.  Politicians seem to think that empty symbolic legislation will appease them and bring them to the polls in November.  Sadly, they may be right.

Powerline’s John Hindrocket does his best to defend the importance of the issue:

But the issue is not a trivial one, nor is this just a temporary bowing to "nativist" sentiment, as it will no doubt be portrayed in the MSM. It is absolutely vital that America remain an English-speaking country.

Was there a chance it wouldn’t be, John?  Take the tin foil hat off your head.

Right next door, in Canada, we have the starkest possible evidence of the catastrophic consequences of bilingualism.

Not suprisingly, Hindrocket doesn’t inform us what that evidence is.  Canada, like any country, has its share of problems, but how much of it can be attributed to bilingualism?  Is bilingualism any more destructive than say, a two party government?

I like Bob Harris’s take:

In over two centuries of constant immigration, never once has an official language been important enough to bother with. And in these days of the Internet, massive multilingual communication, and translation tools at our fingertips, never has an official language been less necessary. Not even close.

But it’s an election year. And for about 30% of this country, fear is an emotion that overrides everything else.