Hooked On Phonics

Don't get me wrong, I love my home state of West Virginia. I really do. It's not perfect, mind you, but no place is. There's just something about the mountains and the general atmosphere and attitude of most of the people there that make it home to me. That being said, when West Virginia makes national news, it's usually with something pretty embarrassing that will only invite more jokes to be made at our expense.

So, I submit to you this bit of news from Tuesday, when West Virginia legislators accidentally voted English as the official language of the state. Apparently, sneaky Whip Billy Wayne Bailey placed a tiny amendment into another bill having virtually nothing to do with the language topic, during one of the last few rushed days of the session.

In the grand scheme of things, I can't imagine what the impact of this will be, if any. I don't agree with the reasoning behind lobbyists wanting to make English official; I don't think it's really fair to say that making anything an official language will encourage people to learn that language . If anything, maybe this will make the next legislative session in the Mountain State more interesting.