Ah, the chauvinism. Here's Rickie Santorum's version (via Huffpo) of how to appeal to Hispanic voters:
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"Like any other state, there has to be compliance with this and any other federal law," Santorum said. "And that is that English has to be the principal language. There are other states with more than one language such as Hawaii but to be a state of the United States, English has to be the principal language."
One little problem for Rickie "Super Genius" Santorum: there ain't no such federal law.
Oops.
Of course, that hasn't kept him from this phony concern over the "threat" to English by Puerto Rico statehood, which has been pumped up by those grifters over at U.S. English since at least 1997. And according to NPR, regarding Santorum's latest brainwave ...
While both Santorum and Romney have supported Puerto Rico's right to self-determination on its status, they have faced pressure from conservative Tea Party groups to back certain pre-conditions for statehood, such as the language requirement and proof that the island will not place an undue burden on the federal budget deficit.
There's whole BUNCH of dog whistles in that one, I'll you pick them out.
UPDATED. Check out teh goodness over at Free Republic. I thought I'd see praise for Rickie there, but oh no. (Maybe Ron Paul is their man?) Here's the best comment:
"Santorum To Puerto Rico: Speak English If You Want To Become A State"
I haven't heard a more stupid thing said by a candidate since Ross Perot addressed an audience at the NAACP as "You People".
Pax.