At this point, it looks like Republicans statewide won't do anything to earn a mention on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" -- unlike their Utah County counterparts.

In April, Utah County Republicans made headlines by debating a resolution that labeled illegal immigration a satanic plot to overthrow the United States. As John Jacob illustrated before, there's no better way to wreck a political effort than to invoke the name of the Prince of Darkness.

Even though the resolution didn't go anywhere (enough delegates walked out of the hall to deprive the sponsor of a quorum) it did create some laughingstocks on cable TV for an evening.

It seems that state delegates have learned from this experience. Most of the resolutions posted on the party's Web site actually appear to be rational.

For example, one resolution by Grant Misbach, a state delegate from Provo who is running for party vice chairman, calls for the party to raise government's ethical standards. He wants legislators to wait at least one year after leaving office before becoming lobbyists, and he wants state lawmakers to abstain from voting on matters in which they have a conflict of interest. This would be a worthy plank in the GOP platform.

Another good resolution, sponsored by delegate Lowell C. Nelson, calls on the state GOP to oppose the proposal to give Utah a fourth seat in Congress in return for granting the District of Columbia a voting member in the House of Representatives. It states that the Constitution only allows states to vote, and that if the district wants one, the Constitution should be amended to permit it.

On the other hand, delegate Joe H. Ferguson of Cedar Hills has taken up the immigration issue with a resolution calling for the government to "protect the home base." While it does not claim that the devil is sponsoring illegals, Ferguson's resolution does use some language that takes the shine of its credibility.

For example, it states that "many who have come into this country illegally have committed serious crimes, including drug dealing." How many is manyfi Halffi A quarterfi One percentfi And how does that percentage compare to the percentage of U.S. citizens who have committed serious crimesfi

Likewise, the statement that "a certain percentage" of illegal immigrants are trained terrorists is pretty wild. While we do think the border needs to be controlled and all immigrant workers verified, we cannot endorse such verbal flailing.

Illegal immigration is a complex problem. It can't be solved through bumper-sticker slogans. It requires a thoughtful debate with all the available facts in evidence. Emotion doesn't help; it leads to inadequate, and possibly dangerous, courses of action.

Delegates should demand sober precision as they shape the party platform.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A5.

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