I had always held out the hope that there was one last vestige of intelligence in America, and that it would be in a place that has a reputation for tolerance and open-mindedness, such as Vermont. After all, NTodd lives happily there.
But I guess not. From Wonkette:
Here’s a sweet little story of Democracy in Action. A bright eighth grader writes to her state legislator with an idea for a law: Vermont doesn’t have an official Latin motto, so why not adopt one? And for that matter, make it a reference to history? Neato!
So state Sen. Joe Benning — a Republican who was actually trying to do a good thing, which he has probably learned to never try again — introduced a bill to adopt the motto “Stella quarta decima fulgeat.” — May the fourteenth star shine bright.” Because Vermont was the 14th state, see? Benning noted that when Vermont briefly minted its own currency, it was engraved with “Stella Quarta Deccima,” so the phrase had real historical cachet.
And then Burlington TV station WCAX put the story on its Facebook page with the headline, “Should Vermont have an official Latin motto?” and all Stupid broke loose when morons thought that Vermont was knuckling under to a bunch of goddamned illegal immigrants.
Click on the link to read some of the more enlightened comments.
Stultitia est infinita.
They oughta look at what’s written on their money.
One more reason they’re so enamoured of the gold standard: no pesky Latin there.
I’d be interested to learn how many of the wingnuts’ comments were from actual Vermonters, and how many from residents of other parts where languages – and history, and grammar, and all sorts of other things – aren’t taught so much. IIRC Vermont schools are supposed to be fairly good.
My mate Stella approves of the slogan, but insists on first, not fourteenth.