We can crush them.

The Hispanics that protested the state's illegal-immigration law Wednesday were a sad spectacle. Most were poor, and many struggle with English.

They suffered far more than we did when they closed their businesses or stayed home from work.

They are powerless. They cannot congregate in public because, through the immigration law, we control the police. They can't be violent because their own faith and decency preclude it. They have no political recourse, because the state Legislature realizes that targeting Hispanics is the best way to consolidate power with a resentful majority.

Battered by the economy, frustrated at our inability to get ahead, tired of being victims -- we finally can be top dog. Not many enemies bow to our superior might, but this one will.

We can harden our hearts to their plight. We can ignore the cries of their children. We can refuse to hear the stories of why they  left places of violence and poverty to come to what they thought would be a better place.

Mercy and compassion are weakness, and we can resist their tug.

They are the poor, the meek, the persecuted and the hungry.

We can crush them