Matthew Campbell of the Times reports that "prominent feminists" helped to lead the push for the minaret ban, deeming the structures "male power symbols," that represent the oppression of women. ""If we give them a minaret, they'll have us all wearing burqas," a woman named Julia Werner tells the Times, "Before you know it, we'll have sharia law and women being stoned to death in our streets. We won't be Swiss any more."

Though 57% of the Swiss apparently agreed, on some level, with Werner's xenophobic assessment, the AP reports that 300 people have already turned out for a demonstration over the vote, leaving signs that read "This is not my Switzerland," and "We're sorry."

Swiss Ban Mosque Minarets In Surprise Vote [AP]
Swiss Voters Back Ban On Building Of Minarets [TimesOnline]
Women Lead Swiss In Vote To Ban Minarets [TimesOnline]
Swiss Vote To Ban New Minarets [NYTimes]

[Athens, Greece; May 9. Image via Getty]

Anti-riot police members detain a young woman during demonstrations in central Athens on May 9, 2009. Violence erupted after some 300 members of neo-Nazi group Chryssi Avghi, or Golden Dawn, gathered in Omonia square saying they wanted to liberate Athens and Greece from what they described as 'hordes of illegal immigrants'. AFP PHOTO/ ARIS MESSINIS (Photo credit should read ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Councilman Eric Crafton certainly can't think of any. "I happened to see a state legislature meeting in California where several of the state representatives had interpreters at their desk because they couldn’t speak English,” Mr. Crafton tells the New York Times, “That’s not the vision I have for Nashville.”

Crafton has reportedly wasted $350,000 worth of taxpayer money on his quest to ensure an English-only government, money he believes is well spent: “We’ll make English the official language here,” he claims, “After that happens, we’re going to go city to city, show them how we’ve done it here, and let the dominos fall.”

Yet other city officials don't agree: Mayor Karl Dean, local civil rights leaders, and business owners have all come out against the proposal. “Economics is global, and to be competitive you cannot drive away immigrants and the businesses that rely on them,” says Ralph J. Schulz, President of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, “Businesses from outside Nashville have been calling and saying, ‘Is Nashville a xenophobic place?’ ”

Xenophobic attitudes often spring up in tough economic times, as citizens look for a scapegoat on which to place the blame. The threat of anti-immigrant attitudes is only amplified by such measures, which are exclusionary and give momentum to the idea of "the other"'; the fact that Crafton is pushing for "English-Only" rules is just a means for him to push the idea that English speakers are somehow more worthy of holding local offices. As David Morales, a Mexican immigrant, notes: “It’s part of a larger problem of people not understanding immigrants: their habits, their languages, their barbecues in the front yard. It’s more than just fear about jobs. It’s fear about a whole way of life.”

In Nashville, A Ballot Measure That May Quiet All But English [NYTimes]

• Sarah Palin knows that John McCain's robocalls are pissing people off and she wouldn't do them if she were running the campaign. However, since she's not running things, she dutifully spoke into the robocall-making microphone like the big boys told her to. [CNN, TPM Election Central]
• Also, in North Carolina, black people exercising their franchise is "cheating" and white people trying to harass them into leaving the polls and not voting is just sickening. [Washington Times]
• But go watch some McCain supporters tell some fear mongers to fuck off at a Virginia rally, you might feel slightly better. [Attackerman]
• And then just imagine the sweet bliss of an Obama SNL appearance on November 1st. [Mollygood]

• The fuzz made their first voter fraud arrest of the 2008 election season. He's a Republican. The Bush Administration smacked their foreheads and said "D'oh!" in unison. [LA Times]
• Speaking of, remember that funny video of Homer being unable to cast a vote for Obama because the machine wouldn't let him? Yeah, that's actually what's happening in West Virginia right now. That shit's only funny when it's not true. [Politico, Charleston Gazette]
• In the great "boxers or briefs" debate of oh-eight, John Kerry might go commando and, slightly more horrifyingly, he joked that John McCain wears Depends. McCain probably gets them black market off of David Vitter, slightly worn. [Politicker MA]
• And in possibly the best quote of the day, in reference to everyone's favorite McCain debate picture, The Independent says: "If everyone thinks you're a bit old, and a bit weird, it's best not to do what makes you look rickety, undignified and mad as a sack of badgers." Badgers! [The Independent]