I'm sorry ... I've tried, but I just don't get it. What is the big huge problem with the new immigration law in Arizona? There's been near-riots in Phoenix, and Democrats in congress are in an awful frenzy. Al Sharpton has hauled his lying, race-pimping posterior to Arizona and wants to lead some marches. About what?

Just what is it that this new law does that has people so upset? Is it the provision for new and harsher punishment of businessmen who knowingly hire illegal aliens? Truthfully, I haven't heard much about that. The real sticking point seems to be that the police in Arizona are now not only permitted, but required to ask some pertinent questions if they have reason to believe --- do you hear that? --- REASON TO BELIEVE that the individual they're talking to might be in this country illegally.

To understand this new mandate for police, perhaps it might be instructive to see just what the rules WERE before this new law was signed. As I understand it, an Arizona cop could stop a beater speeding north on I-10, away from the border with Mexico. The driver could be Hispanic, and there could be 10 people the cop believes to be Mexicans crammed into the seats. The cop could cite the driver for speeding; no problem. He could check for a driver's license; no problem. But there was one thing he could NOT do. He could not ask the driver for some evidence that those people crammed into his car were in this country legally. Now that has changed. The cop would have every reason to believe that the driver is bring some illegals into Arizona, and he could ask questions. Sharpton has a problem with this because, as he explains it, the people in the car are Mexicans! I actually heard Sharpton trying to explain that the law was wrong because the intent of the law is to keep Mexicans from crossing the border illegally into Arizona, and to do that the police would have to question ... Mexicans. Oh, the humanity!