Meet Mary Turck, who joins Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman in attacking Gov. Tim Pawlenty's "unfair" report that shows how much Minnesota is spending each year to subsidize the "search for a better life" for those who thumb their noses at our laws and our sovereignty. "Lies, damn lies and statistics," is what Ms. Turck calls Pawlenty's report, and then rattles off a long list of statistics that show, well, shucks, Minnesota's legal residents should count their lucky stars to have Third World workers willing to keep Minnesota's economy humming along. Ms. Turck unloads on the cold-hearted Pawlenty and his jack-booted cohorts:

"In its 21 pages, the report uses the word "illegal" some 87 times. "Crime" or "criminal" appears 11 times. This drumbeat of denunciation reinforces existing prejudices against immigrants. With or without documentation, immigrants are human beings, and human beings are not illegal. People may lack documentation for many reasons." "Immigrants are human beings, and human beings are not illegal."

Hmmmmmm. Sound familiar? OK, let's end the suspense, shall we? Ms. Turck is the editor of a magazine called Connection to the Americas(Uh-oh!), which is cranked out by the Resource Center of the Americas. (Oh, boy!) Get the picture? Why, if we well-off members of Western Civilization can't save everybody, what's the purpose of our miserable existence? Memo to Ms. Turck (e-mail her): You say Gov. Pawlenty's study is a huge "error of omissions." What your opinion piece omits is any concern about something called the rule of law and strongly suggests that such support is "Un-Minnesotan." (I also oppose rights or benefits for illegal aliens. Does this make me "Un-Wisconsinite?") If all this is a problem for you, i.e., the idea that laws are fundamental to any civilized society worthy of the name, then why don't you take up residence where the law has little weight? How about certain suburbs of Paris, France? Iraq???