Voters in Nashville have decisively rejected an ‘English First’ proposal sponsored by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR):

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nashville voters rejected a proposal to make English the mandatory language for all government business, easing fears that the measure could damage the city’s reputation and cost agencies millions in federal funding.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting early Friday morning, unofficial results showed the “English First” proposal losing with about 57 percent of voters against it and 43 percent in favor. Proponents said using one language would have united the city and saved money.

The city would have become the nation’s largest to pass such a measure. Similar measures have passed elsewhere, though business leaders, academics, the city’s mayor and Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen opposed the “English First” proposal, which the governor has previously called “mean-spirited.”

And FAIR has an interesting connection to some recent LGF opponents; they’re making alliances with the Belgian fascist group Vlaams Belang: English-first backer tied to alleged hate groups.

The man who founded the Virginia nonprofit paying for the push to make English Nashville’s official language also is behind several organizations that have been labeled hate groups. Dr. John H. Tanton, a retired eye surgeon, started both ProEnglish and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

The Southern Poverty Law Center identified FAIR as a hate group last winter based on its acceptance of $1.2 million from a white supremacist organization, employees’ ties to other such groups and a history of “anti-Latino and anti-Catholic attitudes.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a Montgomery, Ala.-based civil rights group that monitors extremist activity. It took a second look at FAIR in 2007 after learning that a senior official of the federation met with leaders of a Belgian political party known for its racist views, said Mark Potok, director of the law center’s Intelligence Project.

“It was fairly shocking that they would have that meeting,” Potok said Monday.

For those of us who’ve been watching their machinations, not shocking at all. Vlaams Belang is pursuing connections among American groups, pundits, and bloggers who are stupid enough to swallow their pretenses, and finding plenty of willing dupes.