The Audacity Of Multilingualism

By Patrick Appel

Matt tackles Ruffini:

Patrick Ruffini slams the Obama campaign for using a foreign language in its promotional material for an event in Germany. Apparently it's now unpatriotic to so much as concede that they speak foreign languages in foreign countries. Or maybe American politicians should only be allowed to speak in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the UK.

Larison adds:

If the problem with Obama’s rally in Berlin is that it’s in Berlin, you can make the case that this is unwise and will cause a backlash here at home, but are we really supposed to expect the Obama campaign to advertise the rally using English?  Isn’t it enough that Obama can’t speak German (or pretty much any other foreign language)?

Matt also notes Melissa Couthier's juxtaposition of Obama's flier with Nazi propaganda, which affirms Godwin's law.