NOONAN!

Upon seeing the subtitle of Holy Dolphin Lady's new bit of auto-writing, I thought she might be coming out against the CIA's secret Eastern European detention facilities. Hmm, thought I in that brief moment, I guess it makes sense that the noted Reagan's-foot-worshipper would have a problem with our building ghost prisons on the crumbled remains of Communist tyranny...

But alas, no. It's a column decrying illegal immigration.

Noonan takes the position that, as the close descendant of (legal) immigrants, she is in a position of special authority to condemn people who enter this country illegally, who don't choose to wait, in poverty, for their immigration Lotto number to come up. Now, I don't suggest that we should turn a blind eye to this, U.S. immigration policy is right near the head of the line of Things That, Like, Totally Need To Be Reformed, but I'm not saying anything new when I point out that the real tragedy here is that conditions for so many are such that their best option is to risk starvation, dehydration, exhaustion, the elements, and encounters with fascistic, gun-toting rednecks to get into our country. Perhaps it's true, as Peggy insists, that their "first act on entering a country...is the breaking of that country's laws." Their second act, however, after having completed the Southern Border Iron Man Challenge (itself an impressive citizenship credential), is to cut your grass, flip your eggs, wash your dishes, and take care of your kids. 80 hours a week. Sending what money they can back to their families. So, Peg, as the child of (legal) immigrants myself, my response is: Save it. These people "earn it," just as our grandparents did, in a way that you and I never had to.