"As much as I hate to give him credit for anything, George "no W" Bush DOES speak pretty fair Spanish. No French, though."

Well misophist, I won't give him ANY credit for having any bilingual or multilingual sensitivities. His appointed an ambassador to France who doesn't even speak French! So I'd call that linguistic hostility!

From the NYT:

April 20, 2001, Friday
Public Interests; Try a Little Helpfulness
By GAIL COLLINS
Now that the job market is softening, you're probably asking yourself: What does it take to become a U.S. ambassador in a country with a nice climate and no cultural tradition of hostage-taking?
There are a number of excellent job opportunities available in the Bush administration. Just recently, Clay Johnson, the White House director of presidential personnel, told The Times's Marc Lacey and Raymond Bonner what questions the president asks himself when he screens ambassadorial candidates: ''Is the person a longtime friend? How close does he feel to the person? Has the person really gone out of their way to help him become president?''

The definition of ''help'' is a little hazy. It is against the law to take campaign contributions into consideration when picking ambassadors. Mr. Johnson must have been referring to people who gave the president rides to the airport in inclement weather.

The law also says ambassadors should speak the language of the countries to which they're posted. Mr. Bush has shown a strong commitment to this principle by nominating as ambassador to Britain William Farish, a family friend and horse breeder who is fluent in English.

Howard Leach, an agricultural business investment banker who does not speak French, has been nominated to be ambassador to France, a nation famous for its patience and tolerance in dealing with Americans who don't know the language. But Mr. Leach, whose helpfulness involved a stint as chairman of the Republican National Committee, is said to be taking lessons.