You’ve probably heard about Barack Obama admonishing Americans to learn Spanish.

I don’t understand when people are going around worrying about, we need to have English only. They want to pass a law, we just, we want English only… Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English, I agree with this. But understand this, instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English, they’ll learn English, you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish.

Imagine my surprise to learn that Obama himself does not speak Spanish.

The candidates appeared separately before the League of United Latin American Citizens at the Washington Hilton, making for a fun-filled afternoon of identity politics. The McCain campaign stocked the audience with posters announcing “Estamos Unidos McCain,” while the Obama campaign supplied stickers and posters saying, “Latinos for Obama.”

“Sí, se puede!” Obama, who doesn’t speak Spanish, said as he arrived on stage.

(Hat tip: Abe Greenwald.)