Am I the Only One Who Thinks It Would Be Cool to Live in a Bilingual Nation?

I don't know a lick of Spanish. (I have a decent knowledge of French, which I took throughout high school and college; I'm not sure whether knowing French is more or less unpatriotic than knowing Spanish.) Still, I do not feel at all threatened by the language's recent surge in usage in the United States. I understand that the rise of a second primary language in a relatively short period of time causes logistical problems involving commerce and public services. But, so far, I think that both our public and private sectors have responded effectively to the demographic shift; and I don't mind having to select "English" on the credit card machine at Kroger. Bi- and multilingual nations are not unprecedented. Switzerland and Canada, for instance, both adequately do business in more than one language, as do several African and Asian nations.

On a related note, I think that the debate over whether our national anthem should be sung in Spanish is possibly the most unnecessary controversy of the cable news/Internet/talk radio era. Over the years "The Star-Spangled Banner" has been translated into several languages, giving non-English-speaking persons an opportunity to express their devotion to the United States in a familiar tongue. Why is this suddenly a big deal? Because the Senate is considering immigration legislation? Because it gives talk radio personalities and bloggers (including idiots like myself) material they can use to kill time and bytes? And why is the President's grasp of Spanish—considered an asset during the 2000 campaign—suddenly a political liability?