Slipped One Past The WSJ Editors...(BUMPED)

Behind the subscription firewall at the WSJ, there's a column by Ruben Navarette Jr. that I thought was going in a very predictable direction:

In Orange County, it looks as if arson played a role. And in San Diego County, a rancher on whose land one of the larger fires may have started has said that the likely culprits were power lines and dry brush -- and, of course, the Santa Ana winds.

Still, with or without evidence, some people are all too eager to blame illegal immigrants. How original. The undocumented are blamed for rising crime, traffic congestion, falling wages, failing schools, overflowing hospitals, crowded jails and other societal ills. And, now, natural disasters.

It's funny that Californians never get around to blaming themselves for luring illegal immigrants to their neighborhoods and towns with the promise of employment.

Navarette goes on to make some valid points about how suspicion fell on illegal immigrants without much evidence to justify it, and how tough and dangerous the fires were for illegal immigrants--for example, the "reverse 9-11" calls put out by the San Diego police warning residents of approaching fires didn't do much for immigrants who didn't speak English.

Thus Navarette set up what I thought was going to be a typical WSJ "we must bring them out of the shadows!" punchline. Not quite:

The official tally thus far is that seven people perished as a direct result of last week's fires. That includes four charred, and as yet unidentified, bodies that were uncovered -- bodies that authorities believe to be those of illegal immigrants who didn't make it out. There could be more.

There is one way for San Diego County to put to rest this part of the story and avoid these kinds of headlines in the future. Employers could kick their addiction to illegal immigrant labor.

Dream on. This is San Diego -- and California. And so, over the next few months, just who do you think is going to help rebuild all that burned down?

Nativist!

BUMPED: The article is now out from behind the firewall on Opinionjournal.