As President Barack Obama (D) pointed out, his Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, is "the granddaughter of immigrants." What he didn't mention is that Ms. Kagan's grandparents and parents undoubtedly did not expect the government to subsidize their old country's culture.

Her parents must have adapted to American life, learning English among other skills as her father graduated from Yale Law School in the days when the school blatantly profiled its incoming students; it was known to have a restrictive--oh, let's call it what it was, bigoted--Jewish quota (its admission policy for blacks was worse). Her mother became a teacher in New York. Their daughter, Elena, is apparently bright enough to be admitted to top schools without positive profiling.

And yes, Ms. Kagan's mild New York accent is more than acceptable American English.