Found: U.S. commissioned Spanish anthem in 1919...

[kpete]

FACT CHECK: U.S. Government Commissioned Spanish-Language ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ in 1919

The right wing is up in arms over a new version of the Star-Spangled Banner written in Spanish. Last week President Bush stated that “the national anthem ought to be sung in English.” Yesterday Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced a resolution requiring the Star-Spangled banner to be sung only in English:

...............

In his press release, Alexander said the Star-Spangled Banner has “never before…been rendered in another language.”

But in 1919, the U.S. Bureau of Education commissioned a Spanish-language version of “The Star Spangled Banner.” The State Department’s website also features four-separate versions of the anthem in Spanish.

It appears xenophobia isn’t part of the American tradition.
more at:
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/05/02/spanish-anthem/
http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.100000007/pageturner.html?page=1§ion=
http://usinfo.state.gov/esp/home/topics/us_society_values/national_symbols/anthem_spanish.html
via:
http://www.rawstory.com/

and
From Kevin Phillips' American Dynasty:

But in his book American Dynasty, Kevin Phillips notes that during Bush’s first presidential campaign, he would often sing the national anthem in Spanish. From pg. 142:

When visiting cities like Chicago, Milwaukee or Philadelphia in pivotal states he would drop in at Hispanic festivals and parites, sometimes joining in singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in Spanish, sometimes partying with a "Viva Bush" mariachi band flown in from Texas.
http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_04_30_atrios_archive.html#114658108596238187

[Media_Lies_Daily]

1. Bwahahahaha!!! Good find! :-))

[derby378]

2. Once again, here's my take

I think La Bandera de las Estrellas is cool. I saw the lyrics. It's true to the spirit of the original English-language version, and if someone wants to sing our National Anthem in Spanish, I'm not gonna stop them. Last I heard, there is no such thing as an official language in America - not even English.

Nuestro Himno is a little different. I appreciate the spunk and the energy of the guys who performed it. But the lyrics were tweaked somewhat, and the whole effort seems, well, overproduced. It's like Francis Scott Key, Carlos Vives, and American Idol all collided with each other.

[FredStembottom]

12. Rachel Maddow got it right the other day........

...that we are way past the day when you can shock and upset white Americans with the mere fact that someone is speaking another language in the grocery store (oh! the HORROR!). It's just been too commonplace for too long now. Even right here in the whitest of white states Minnesota....Spanish, Hmong and Somali languages are routinely heard everyday (except possibly in the deepest, darkest 3rd-ring suburbs but even then, I bet those folks hear these things at or near their jobs!)

Enough with the English-Only already!

[tyedyeto]

3. Email this info to Mr. Alexander

http://usinfo.state.gov/esp/home/topics/us_society_values/national_symbols/anthem_spanish.html

Himno nacional - La Bandera de Estrellas


Amanece: ¿no veis, a la luz de la aurora,
Lo que tanto aclamamos la noche al caer?
Sus estrellas, sus barras flotaban ayer
En el fiero combate en señal de victoria,
Fulgor de cohetes, de bombas estruendo,
Por la noche decían: "!Se va defendiendo!"

Coro:
!Oh, decid! ¿Despliega aún su hermosura estrellada,
Sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada?


En la costa lejana que apenas blanquea,
Donde yace nublada la hueste feroz
Sobre aquel precipicio que elévase atroz
¡Oh, decidme! ¿Qué es eso que en la brisa ondea?
Se oculta y flamea, en el alba luciendo,
Reflejada en la mar, donde va resplandeciendo


Coro:
!Aún allí desplegó su hermosura estrellada,
Sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada!


¡Oh así sea siempre, en lealtad defendamos
Nuestra tierra natal contra el torpe invasor!
A Dios quien nos dio paz, libertad y honor,
Nos mantuvo nación, con fervor bendigamos.
Nuestra causa es el bien, y por eso triunfamos.
Siempre fue nuestro lema "¡En Dios confiamos!"


Coro:
!Y desplegará su hermosura estrellada,
Sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada!


(Versión en español de Francis Haffkine Snow. Copyright 1919)


edit to add:

Note(s)
Spanish translation by Francis Haffkine Snow. This version of the song was prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Education.

http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.100000007/full.html

[Hissyspit]

7. I emailed it to Olbermann. n/t

[populistdriven]

10. you should also email him the info about GWB singing it in spanish

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1080644

[DUHandle]

4. Nicely done, sir

[killbotfactory]

5. I'm so glad these geniuses are running the country

I wish they'd realize that "learning from history" means more than reading the bible.

[Bridget Burke]

6. Excellent!

Unfortunately, xenophobia has been one part of the American tradition. Only a part--but one that can be trotted out from time to time to divide the working people.

Mostly, saner heads prevail.

[reality based]

8. I guess the former Secretary of the Department of Education

never got around to reading the archives. He must have consulted his gut for the facts. One more shot from the hip for truthiness.

[tanyev]

9. But the facts don't matter when you FEEL the truth in your gut!

[formercia]

11. Information Superhighway Roadkill of the Day.

Please accept this award. :evilgrin:

[Az_lefty]

13. Oh, nice find.

:applause:

[malaise]

14. Delish

Thank you

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

15. kick

:kick:

[deaniac21]

16. I say the song is awful in any language.

[Chiyo-chichi]

17. And Bush's opinion won't change... no matter what happened on Tuesday.

[MazeRat7]

18. Agreed - Great Find ! (n/t)

[Strawman]

19. Nice find, but

thinking about the spirit of that time, I wonder about what really motivated that. I suspect it wasn't tolerance so much as it was a demand that suspected "hyphenated Americans" demonstrate their loyalty to the Stars and Stripes and "100% Americanism."

I could be wrong, but at face value and not knowing the context that motivated it, that's as likely to be evidence of xenophobia as it is evidence of tolerance.

[Gregorian]

20. Spirit, not letter. Somethng repigs just don't understand.

Just like the flag burning amendment. I don't give a god damned if it's sung in Klingon. It's the spirit.

Just because we sing the song, doesn't mean we love America. Just because we don't burn a flag doesn't mean our flag isn't burning.

These people are retarded. Plain and simple. They are image oriented goons who do not see the significance behind anything. Thus, Darfur explodes, while we sit here blabbing about who should look and sound a certain way. They need therapy.

[kevinbgoode]

21. Lamar Alexander needs to just resign

This shameless pandering to every hysterical paranoid fear-and-smear that the wingnuts construct in their drama queen minds is one reason the stupid Republicans can't accomplish anything except pi*s off 3/4 of the country.