I think he really does not like the anthem in Spanish.
His biographer notes it was often sung in Spanish and that he joined in the singing during the 2000 campaign. They also had some Hispanic pop singer and a bunch of kids sing it in Spanish at the first inaugural.
Wikipedia says: "The Star-Spangled Banner was translated into Spanish in 1919 by the US Bureau of Education[4]. It has also been translated into a number of other languages. In 1861, it was translated into German [5] (and is also on that page in Latin). It has been translated into Yiddish by Jewish immigrants[6]and into French by Acadians of Louisiana [7]"
link:
the State Department's copy of the 1919 Spanish version
The 2006 version is different and expresses entirely different sentiments from the 1919. I still haven't found out if the inaugural or the Bush campaign events used the 1919 version or this newer one. I think the new one just became popular this year so I think Bush used the 1919 which is, of course, officially approved as a Spanish translation.
Well, it's probably more fuss over "To Anacreon In Heaven" than it's really worth. Mostly symbolic of larger issues, I guess. Still, if people care so much about the anthem, why don't they ever sing (or even know of) the last three verses? Yes, the anthem has four verses, not one.
Wow, thanks for the info. I think I'd heard that it had been sung in Spanish during the 2000 campaign.
I also didn't know it had 4 verses, shame on me! Gonna google it now and read it.