Papers, Please

Your humble and obedient servant is proud to live in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Commonwealth, using funds collected from its citizens via its sovereign power to tax, has constructed a very great number of roads throughout Virginia. It has also established a comprehensive system of regulating the use of those roads, and licensing persons to drive on them. Violation of those regulations can lead to anything from a small fine to incarceration. Persons using those roads are required to carry documentation establishing that they have been properly licensed, and that the vehicle they are operating has been registered with the state.

From time to time, while using the roads of the Commonwealth of Virginia, I have been required to produce my papers. In each instance, the person making the request has been very tall, carried a gun, and wore a uniform and really cool sunglasses. In no such instance did it occur to me that the request was unreasonable, nor did I consider failing to comply.

Which leads me to the conclusion that there must be something fundamental that I'm missing in the immigration "debate," and in the widespread hysteria exhibited at the decision by the State of Arizona to ask people to produce documentation to show that they are legally present in the United States.

Maybe I'm just stupid.