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Washington Post Covers Bush Hypocrisy On Singing National Anthem In Spanish

The Washington Post — in an article headlined “Administration Is Singing More Than One Tune on Spanish Version of Anthem” — picked up on President Bush’s hypocrisy on singing the national anthem, reported by ThinkProgress yesterday. An excerpt:

The Center for American Progress, a liberal group run by Clinton chief of staff John D. Podesta, posted on its blog a reference to Bush singing the anthem in Spanish. In his book, “American Dynasty,” Kevin Phillips wrote that Bush “would drop in at Hispanic festivals and parties, sometimes joining in singing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ in Spanish, sometimes partying with a ‘Viva Bush’ mariachi band flown in from Texas.”

White House spokesmen and former campaign operatives said they could not recall whether that happened, though given the level of Bush’s Spanish proficiency, they seemed dubious.

“Honestly, I don’t remember him ever singing the national anthem in Spanish,” said Leonard Rodriguez, who was national director of Hispanic Coalition for Bush/Cheney 2000. “I can’t see any of his advisers recommending it.” But he added: “They may have played it. That’s certainly in the realm of possibility.” And Rodriguez said he does not recall Bush ever objecting to it.

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The Post also noted that a news story by Cox News Service which reported that the national anthem was sung “in English and Spanish” at Bush’s 2001 inaugural, cited by ThinkProgress yesterday, was incorrect. We updated our post below last night to reflect this information.

Read the whole article. It’s a good rundown of the national anthem controversy to date.