In the months following the 9/11 attacks in our country, all sorts of articles appeared — in newspapers and news magazines — asking the same question:

Why do they hate us?

I’m sure Europe’s Jewish population asked the same question as Nazis killed entire families in a brutal factory-style fashion.

Why do they hate us?

Now, a few weeks after Arizona signed into law a measure that makes it illegal for an immigrant to go anywhere without documentation and allows for racial profiling, I have to wonder: Why do we hate them?

Think about it. How often have you dashed off somewhere without  your driver’s license? Have you ever lost one? Had to wait weeks to get a new one? Ever driven around with an expired license because you didn’t get around to renewing it?

Now imagine getting pulled over because you look like a careless sort of person, at least according to the cop standing at your window. Maybe he didn’t like the looks of your car. Maybe he thinks a bleached blond is probably prone to leaving her license at area nightclubs. Regardless, when you can’t produce your license, he asks for a passport. Of course, you don’t have that either because, really, who carries their passport around everywhere? What if you lost it? What if someone stole it? That’s why you keep it safely locked away at home, or in your safe deposit box.

Now imagine that your inability to provide either a license or passport could get you kicked out of the country, even if you are a legal resident of the United States, born and raised.

So yeah, I have to say that no matter how you feel about immigration, Arizona’s law is pretty dang stupid and reeks of Nazi-style practices in its demand for papers.

And it’s hateful.