There is a sound-proofed room with a large glass window separating it from the Worship Hall. We call it "The Cry Room," and it's there to be used by the considerate parents of very young children, so that they can enjoy the service without having to worry that their little ones might disturb the grown-ups. Makes sense- yelling at a two-year old for crying would be like yelling at a dog for barking.

Everyone wins.

Now, I propose that such a room be built, for use by unruly, ill-tempered [because they haven't had a nap /wet themselves/ are hungry/ suffer from night-terrors/ are unformed little savages with no better nature] congress-critters. Anytime one of these little ankle-biters acts up, the Sergeant-at-arms can grab them by the squeaky-clean scruffs of their red necks, and toss them into the Congressional Cry Room for a lengthy time-out. There will be plenty of toys and puzzles to busy and calm their little minds, and of course, the sound portion of the proceedings will be piped in for the benefit of any little miscreants trying to catch up in between sobs.

A room roughly the size, um, I dunno... the right side of the Senate Chamber ought to do the trick.

It's only the paranoid far right and far left who do not have confidence in government...

...whenever it's convenient, that is;

like any time their not doing things like picking up their Social Security check or driving the Interstate highways.

If you'd just, for once, hang the damn toilet paper facing away from the wall, I wouldn't have to beat ya!

And having read your letters history, thank you double!

We're practically neighbors, BTW- I live in the mountains of East Tennessee, right up I-26. I love our respective parts of the country.

Be well!

Yes, Dr. Smith-

Thank you for reminding us again. The fact that American Businessmen make plenty of money off the sweat and passivity of undocumented workers must be repeated as often as possible.

As to you, Unlovely Truth, I know damn well you're too chickenshit to answer the following question without dissembling, if you answer them at all, but here it goes...

1. Do you agree that vigorously enforced legislation, mandating stiff fines, and jail time for repeat offenders for anyone caught hiring undocumented workers would go a long way to solving this problem? If not, please explain why not, or don't even waste your time responding.

2. What have the politicians with the loudest voices against undocumented workers done to make such legislation a reality? If they have done little or nothing, why do you think that is?

Tell us please, we'll be waiting.

(P.S. Get yourself a bottle of Ben-Gay before you respond. I'd hate to see you injured as you bend yourself into a pretzel trying to reconcile these ideas.)

In case you're tempted to not answer me because of my choice of terminology, by all means, you have my permission to call "undocumented workers," "illegal aliens." I'll look the other way this time, as long as you answer the questions. It will be well worth it.

...was tuned into these kinds of racial scare-tactics many years ago. Here is a link to one of my favorite cartoons of his, c. 1993. You can be pretty sure that this is pretty consistent with the fevered imaginations of the GOP leftovers:

www.heretical.com/miscella/rcnoa.html

(Warning- contents not for the faint-hearted)

Once upon a time, I was a Libertarian, but then I grew up.

Would that the legions of arrested adolescent Randians could do the same.

Well, thanks for taking up my challenge.

I am wondering, however, that if you truly believe that the problem of illegal immigration can be solved by going after employers, how is it that you can still pen such racist garbage as this:

Illegal immigrants and their children need to be removed from this country. Or hadn't you noticed that we are being overrun by Third Worlders? I guess you liberals just want to pretend that our social services and schools are failing and overstretched because of, ehm, sunspots. Yep, that's it.

For someone who believes in going after employers, you seem to have been curiously silent on the issue.

In other words, you're full of it.

First, let me say that I don't doubt your story for one second, and that I'm sorry you had to suffer so.

If it were me, I'd be pissed, for sure.

But tell me, wouldn't your anger do a lot more good if it were directed at the root cause of such matters- namely the fact that honest law abiding citizens like you and me, who are properly insured, can still get wiped out by something like this?

This has a lot more to do with how much benefit (!) we actually get from our insurance policies during our times of need, to say nothing of impotent DUI laws, then it does about the undocumented immigration problem.

I live in Southern Appalachia, and don't think for a second that I am not constantly endangered by more than a few uninsured, often drunk, motorists driving their beat-up, Bondo-colored conveyances. What happened to you could just as easily happen to me or my wife, and we'd be in the same boat except for one thing... the odds are against- way against- the hypothetical perpetrator in this case being an immigrant, undocumented or otherwise.