My new phone book was delivered recently...

... and given the latest brouhaha about immigration, it's quite an amazing document. Between "Torres" and "Torrez," about fifty households. There are, maybe, 250 names beginning with "Mc" and at least 150 Smiths. There are Randalls, and Ramirezes, and Randeaus. Selecting at random in the middle of the book, a page begins with Jimenez and a couple of pages later, one ends with Kunkel. There are Chans, and Verhoevens, Goluskas and Cambones.

In this rather "red" part of the country, there are Pakistanis, Chinese, Russians, Poles, you name `em, they're probably here, including Mexicans and Canadians.

It's that way in much of the country. That is the country, and it's been that way throughout our history. Maybe this sudden interest in immigration is a manufactured issue, with the most draconian and punitive proposals meant to appeal to that part of the population who still believe, erroneously, that they were here first.