Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
This trophy isn't just for the idiot of the month, it's for the fucking idiot of the month. The only possible way to describe Rickie Pitre is an utter fucking moron. First, some background on a graduation speech given at a Louisiana high school:
Cindy Vo, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, spoke of high-school memories, friends and the future. Then she recited a sentence in Vietnamese, dedicated to her parents as they looked on. "Co len minh khong bang ai, co suon khong ai bang minh," she said into the microphone.The 18-year-old graduate told classmates that the line, roughly translated, was a command to always be your own person.
How that could bother anyone in the entire universe is beyond me, but then along comes the school board, and one fucking moron in particular:
Secondary education supervisor David Bourg is forming a committee of educators to study the graduations at the four high schools and eventually make recommendations to the board. Officials are considering other proposals, including requiring a prayer during the ceremony."As board members, we get to observe the different ceremonies and there's some inconsistencies I think the board or administration more importantly needs to address," board member Rickie Pitre recently said in committee. "I don't like them addressing in a foreign language. They should be in English."
It was one fucking line, you fucking idiot. It was a gesture of love and thanks to her Vietnamese parents.
Critics of the changes questioned whether they would infringe on civil rights.
I suggest a different tack: critics of the changes called those who advocate them fucking idiots who need to get their fucking heads out of their fucking asses.
Politics
Comments
It never fails to shock and disgust me whenever I catch a glimpse of the sort of narrow-minded stupidity the "red-blooded" American attitude breeds in people.
Posted by: stevogvsu | July 2, 2008 9:57 AM
As board members, they get to observe the different members of the board, and there's some inconsistencies I think they need to address. I don't feel comfortable with them having a dumb-ass on the board. They should be intelligent in all senses of the word.
Posted by: Umlud | July 2, 2008 10:00 AM
Out of this world xenophobia. Can't even form thoughts on this one. Multiculturalism is literally a dirty word to these kind of people.
Posted by: Dennis N | July 2, 2008 10:01 AM
And by and large it seems that many school boards 'do' have intelligent members. However, now and then a mindless goon finds their way in and it's their hijinx we always seem to hear about.
Posted by: stevogvsu | July 2, 2008 10:03 AM
This article adds a level of hypocrisy to the story too, as is usual.
Posted by: Dennis N | July 2, 2008 10:06 AM
"Pitre" in French means a clown, a buffoon. Too bad the guy is not funny.
Posted by: Christophe Thill | July 2, 2008 10:07 AM
From the Fox article:
"Marjorie Esman, executive director of the Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union, said the proposal might violate speakers' civil rights."
"Esman said no law gives students a right to speak in languages other than English ..."
What? There's no law that says you can speak a sentence or two in your mother tongue?
I don't believe you!
Next you'll be telling me that there is no law which says that people can wear socks.
Posted by: Felix | July 2, 2008 10:17 AM
Ummm....isn't the use of the "R" word appropriate?
Eight years of Bush, and the yahoos think their racist crap is now acceptable in polite society....
Posted by: gwangung | July 2, 2008 10:26 AM
The Latin on U.S. Currency must drive this Pitre batty.
E Pluribus Baro.
Posted by: Bruce | July 2, 2008 10:30 AM
What I find even more ironic about this is that it occurred in Huoma, Louisiana. A place not far from New Orleans.where French, Spanish and English words are mixed and interchanged by many in the local dialect.
Idiots.
Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!!
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | July 2, 2008 10:38 AM
I agree the Pitre clown is probably racist, but the Fox article stated that the cousin's speech had a longer part in Vietnamese, and she did not translate. I do not think that is right. It is rude to speak in a language for a long period with no translation in front of a group of people who do not speak that language. Does she have the right to? Yes. Is it good manners? No.
Posted by: Cindy | July 2, 2008 10:38 AM
Of course, it could simply be that the longer passage was merely a translation of an English portion of her speech into Vietnamese for the benefit of those there who may not speak English very well. Of course, I don't expect FauxNews to even consider such a thing.
As for whether or not it's good manners, I disagree. One must be attentive to every member of the audience, not just those in the dominant group.
Those who are easily offended should be. And often.
Posted by: G Barnett | July 2, 2008 10:50 AM
Let me see...the place where they live is in a parish that is a French word. Get with the rest of the country and call it what it is Goodland COUNTY!
And let me guess-the Bible was never in Greek and Hebrew and Jesus spoke Shakesperean English-right?
It's not like she was forcing the school to speak Vietnamese.
BTW in our "Bitch In" section of the paper-where people can call in and leave anonymous opinions-had one guy call in complaining about "Handy Manny" on the Disney Channel. He thought it was wrong to have a cartoon character teach Spanish words to kids. It's a friggin' cartoon, dude! My kids love it and I think it's great they're picking up a few Spanish words.
Posted by: Rev. AJB | July 2, 2008 10:52 AM
Back when I was in high school, I observed that the typical school baord has five members, and that of those, it seemed that at least one was dedicated to the idea that students should hear nothing about evolution; one was committed to opposition to sex education; and one wanted us not to learn anything about socialism.
Thus, there was a pro-ignorance majority built in at the top level, and reflected down the hierarchy.
In the decades since, I've seen very little evidence to contradict this hypothesis.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | July 2, 2008 11:16 AM
These schlemiels provide a smorgasbord of Schadenfreude. A linguistic coup de theatre sends this Doof totally loco, proving that, faut de mieux, you can rely on fundies' ability to take offence ex nihilo to provide a cassus belli for a good tardfight.
And if, arguendo, this homunculus was to be granted his wish, would it be OK to end the prayer with an Aramaic word, like, say, Amen?
Anyway, if Jesus was a Jew, how come he's got a Mexican name, huh?
Posted by: Amadán | July 2, 2008 11:21 AM
Who said Jews can't be Mexican, huh? And remember, French does not have a word for "entrepreneur."
Posted by: Theron | July 2, 2008 11:44 AM
Don't you remember that his parents were "wetbacks," sneaking from country to country to avoid political persecution? And that they eventually settled in a town that was not their homeland?
Posted by: Rev. AJB | July 2, 2008 11:51 AM
And all without proper documentation!
Posted by: Rev. AJB | July 2, 2008 11:52 AM
Rev - So why weren't Joseph and Mary sent straight to Roman GITMO? Must of been one of them GODLESS LIBERAL Roman Emperors -☺ DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | July 2, 2008 12:11 PM
Actually, recent scholarship has established that Jesus was Irish:
- 30 years old and unmarried
- hanging about with a bunch of lads who just up and leave their wives if he wants to go somewhere
- still living with the mammy
- she thinks he's God
- he thinks she's a virgin
Posted by: Amadán | July 2, 2008 12:21 PM
Because it was that Jewish "figurehead" Herod who wanted them-and he didn't know who they were-just that a young boy would overthrow his kingship. As far as GITMO goes-what the Romans did to Jesus (thanks Mel Gibson for the visualization of it) makes waterboarding look like a county fair dunk tank;-)
Posted by: Rev. AJB | July 2, 2008 12:35 PM
What I find even more ironic about this is that it occurred in Huoma, Louisiana. A place not far from New Orleans, where French, Spanish and English words are mixed and interchanged by many in the local dialect.
No foolin'! And most of the so-called English down there is damn near unintelligible even to us Texas hicks! I spent a week or so working there and only understood about half of what was said to me, mon cher!
Posted by: Coragyps | July 2, 2008 12:36 PM
I hope they pass this. I want to see them enforce it. Are they going to swoop down and arrest the speaker if she breaks into a foreign language for a sentence or two? I guarantee you that every year there will be at least one rebellious teen who does it on purpose.
Posted by: Taz | July 2, 2008 12:45 PM
I love that, has to be in English and requiring a prayer. I swear some of these guys are trying to get their school districts sued.
Posted by: dogmeatib | July 2, 2008 12:55 PM
At the Baptist church where I attend we have a service in English and a service in Mandarin. Occasionally the two services are combined. I have sat through entire sermons that were given in English while been simutaneously translated into Mandarin. So for this donkey to get upset about having to listen to a single sentence in Vietnamese is absolutely incredible.
Posted by: Cheddar | July 2, 2008 12:59 PM
Mr Petrie, here's some fine old English:
Fuck you.
Posted by: T. Bruce McNeely | July 2, 2008 1:05 PM
We have a winnah!
Posted by: gwangung | July 2, 2008 1:38 PM
I guess Mr. Petrie (or is that Monsieur Petrie?) should be happy that Ms. Vo's parents were not deaf. Then she might have communicated to them without even opening her mouth, which would clearly be a sign of the devil's influence, or maybe a communist's influence, or something like that.
Posted by: CPT_Doom | July 2, 2008 1:41 PM
How do you say WTF in Latin?
Posted by: Bill the Cat | July 2, 2008 2:00 PM
While I still agree that this gentleman is an absolute moron I think that insinuating that he is racist is jumping the gun ever so slightly.
Posted by: stevogvsu | July 2, 2008 2:00 PM
"no law gives students a right to speak in languages other than English"
So what? What is legally permissible for individuals to do is not based whether there is an individual edict authorizing that action. We aren't slaves or feudal serfs.
This should have said "no law prohibits students from speaking in languages other than English."
Posted by: Jim Lippard | July 2, 2008 2:09 PM
I would have to disagree with the idea that "no law gives students a right to speak in languages other than English." There is in fact such a law. It's called the First Ammendment.
Posted by: Theron | July 2, 2008 2:28 PM
Can't wait till these jackasses invade a Ctholic Mass held in Latin. These guys are sooooo getting sued. -DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | July 2, 2008 2:38 PM
Dingo - wanna buy a vowel? :) -DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | July 2, 2008 2:52 PM
Ctholic? That a formalized religion based on Cthulhu? Pharyngula's that way ---> ;)
Posted by: G Barnett | July 2, 2008 2:57 PM
In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards.
- Mark Twain; Following the Equator; Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar
Posted by: JohnH | July 2, 2008 3:02 PM
Down there it's probably a zydeco mass in creole/cajun. Actually, come to think of it, I wouldn't mind attending a mass like that;-)
Posted by: Rev. AJB | July 2, 2008 3:05 PM
U-S-A! U-S-A!
retards
Posted by: wheyghey | July 2, 2008 3:22 PM
I wish New Orleans could just secede from the rest of the state. I am so sick of being defined by these idiots and assholes.
Obviously the jackasses in Terrebone don't remember their ancestors' struggle with "official" language. The Cajuns, who were here before Americans, were forbidden from speaking (Cajun)French in school and when conducting official business.
They've also forgotten that the Vietnamese revitalized the seafood industry when they arrived.
What a bunch of shitheads.
Posted by: bullet | July 2, 2008 3:31 PM
Hey Rev BDC:
It's rouler.
Posted by: bullet | July 2, 2008 3:40 PM
The school in a community like that should capitalize on their diversity and require fluency in two languages to graduated, with the students choosing from the languages now spoken there, French, Spanish, Vietnamese and, yes, English too. Idiots like Pitre probably should be required to go to school to learn English before serving on the school board.
Posted by: Keanus | July 2, 2008 4:11 PM
"no law gives students a right to speak in languages other than English"
What law gives students the right to speak in English?
Posted by: Da Bubs | July 2, 2008 4:24 PM
bullet: Yay! Thanks for pointing out how beneficial the migration of Vietnamese has been to communities around the Gulf, bullet; I was about to but you beat me to it. They haven't just revitalized the seafood industry though; best snapper I ever ate came out of a Vietnamese-owned Cajun seafood restaurant.
Posted by: Julian | July 2, 2008 5:03 PM
Bigotry is bigotry.
You're basically saying that if he's prejudiced against people who have a native language other than English, that's okay, because it isn't their skin color he's prejudiced against. Nope. Same thing.
One of the few things this country still has right is that we don't have an official language and people have the constitutional right to speak any language they want.
Posted by: harold | July 2, 2008 5:08 PM
Whoa, some of y'all need to take a deep breath and read for context. It was the local ACLU rep who said:
...which I read as meaninng that the right to use another language isn't legally guaranteed, but if the board tries to impose an English-only policy, they might find themselves sued for discrimination.
Also: the FoxNews article (somewhat to my surprise and their credit) does seem to play up the irony that this complaint comes from a guy with a French name, in a place that has been trying to recover its Francophone heritage.
Posted by: Eamon Knight | July 2, 2008 5:26 PM
Why listening to Vietnamese would be a burden is unclear to me. I guess tastes vary, but I think that it is very pretty. When I lived in California I would sometimes turn the TV to the Vietnamese channel for background while I was working - I liked the sound of it, even though I couldn't understand it.
Posted by: Bill Poser | July 2, 2008 5:32 PM
When Alexander Ovechkin won rookie of the year in 2006 he addressed the crowd in broken English before addressing his parents in his native Russian. The crowd applauded this touch and no one ever complained. The lesson: Canadian hockey fans are smarter than Louisiana school boards, and that is nothing to be proud of.
Posted by: B8ovin | July 2, 2008 6:08 PM
JohnH, PLEASE tell me that's a real Twain quote.
Posted by: Sam Lewis | July 2, 2008 6:12 PM
Two things. First, I would expect that many (Republicans?!!) would somehow feel that *I* am less "American" than they are because I have lived outside of the USA for just over half of my life now. It irks me, because when I first travelled abroad at age 16 to attend an international (multicultural!) school in the Alps a fellow from the State Department told several of use students how we were representing the USA as young ambassadors and how our behaviour reflected on our birthplace. After the bombing of Cambodia, I was caught up in a quite multi-ligual exchange while taking a train in Europe, having to absorb some of the heat from that. How I can be *less* of an American than they are when I am recognised as "American" by everyone I meet here escapes me. In my more recent periods living abroad (nearly three decades in Sydney now), I have people I meet (on an almost daily basis!) ask me what part of the states I am from or if I know a place there that they have visited.
My second point is that, at that multi-cultural school (The Ecole d'Humanite in Goldern, CH), every lunchtime we were read a short quote from a famous person or source whilst we had some fruit and soup ahead of our meal. In the quiet persod (talking not permitted until the meal itself) we were given a chance to reflect on the quotation, which was first read in the original language and then translated into perhaps three other languages for everyone to appreciate it fully. Are these (Republican?!!) idiots going to tell me that the only good quotation is an American one?
D'Oh. I guess they are.
Posted by: marc buhler | July 2, 2008 6:28 PM
Pitre delenda est!
Posted by: Bob Carroll | July 2, 2008 7:19 PM
Funny fact: this guy's name, "Pitre", means "buffoon" in French!
Posted by: Irene | July 2, 2008 8:25 PM
Of course, if anyone was interested in what she said they could always ASK HER. But I guess that would be counter to the goals of education. We can't have the kiddies having curiosity, now can we? They might find out things that aren't in the bibble, and THAT would be WRONG!
Posted by: Blaidd Drwg | July 2, 2008 8:35 PM
As if English is clearly discernible from "any other language." Do these people not realize that English is a polyglot built from French, German, Latin, Greek, and who knows how many other languages?
Posted by: Tyler | July 2, 2008 9:17 PM
Yes. better speak in English only. And don't use words having more than 2 syllables, so that Bored members can understand.
Posted by: mark | July 2, 2008 9:24 PM
This stooge-pitre makes me want to find a short length of two by four and go hunting for the side of his head.
This "individual" hasn't learned shit or he hasn't learned how to think. In either case, he needs to be taught some basic manners. Just five minutes alone in a small room . . .
Naah. To much trouble and effort. More efficient to pick away at this kind of dumbfuckery bit by bit, day by day because that's the way it naturally occurs. Like the constant drip, drip, drip or the Chinese water torture!
I hope the hell someone can cut him some slack since I sure won't.
Posted by: Crudely Wrott | July 2, 2008 9:44 PM
I venture that what Pitre is really pissed about is that the co-valedictorians were ethnically Vietnamese, and thus not "Amurican" enough.
Contrast this with my niece's high school graduation, in Small East Texas Town, this May. One of the student speakers (not the valedictorian, that was my niece!) spoke for a minute or two at the end of her speech in Spanish, thanking her parents and grandparents for their support. She didn't translate, but prefaced her remarks with a suitable introduction.
She got applause, not criticism.
Leigh
Posted by: Leigh | July 2, 2008 11:01 PM
Wonder if he'd have complained if she had said she was speaking in tongues instead? Glossolalia is usually just A-OK with these buffoons.
Fuck, what happened to your country?
Posted by: AlanWCan | July 3, 2008 6:50 AM
XKCD has a wonderful response to "native language" proponents.
Posted by: Tenax | July 3, 2008 9:48 AM
Why yes it is. Seems I made a common mistake though. It's all over the intartubes as Roulez. I should know better considering how much time I've spent in NOLA.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | July 3, 2008 10:16 AM
How do you say dumbass fucking douchebag in vietnamese?
That's what I want to know.....
Posted by: FastLane | July 3, 2008 10:57 AM
Aaaaa...Neu nhu ma co noi bang tien phap, thi ong Pitre se con dan, hai khong?
Translation:
Hmmmm...I wonder if Mr. Pitre would've been as up-in-arms if she would've made the remark in French instead?
Posted by: Andy Nguyen | July 3, 2008 11:09 AM
bullet, can Baton Rouge join New Orleans as well?
Posted by: Shawn Wilkinson | July 3, 2008 11:23 AM
Vietnamese is a communist anti-American language :).
Posted by: libarbarian | July 3, 2008 12:30 PM
I'd put good money on Pitre's immigrant ancestors not being English speakers. A very fast and dirty Google suggests that they came from France. And isn't this an area (according to a link in another comment) that fought hard to keep French as a language in schools?
Posted by: Miche | July 4, 2008 3:53 PM