With all that is happening in the world, it seems almost frivolous to discuss the Republican primary (yes, it is still going on . . . Illinois today), but the ultimate winner could end up president of the United States, so it is a contest with a significant trophy. Ironically, Sunday was not a good day for Rick Santorum.The candidate, who has developed a Romney-like penchant for inept phrasing (“I don’t care what the unemployment rate’s going to be. Doesn’t matter to me.”), may also have his own Jeremiah Wright problem. At a morning service at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, Rev. Dennis Terry blessed Santorum . . . and repeated the “I don’t care” mantra. “I don’t care what the liberals say, I don’t care what the naysayers say, this nation was founded as a Christian nation. . . . If you don’t love America, if you don’t like the way we do things, I have one thing to say — get out!”

Later in the day Romney trounced Santorum in the primary in Puerto Rico (or Rich Port), partly perhaps because the latter announced that the “Spanish speaking country” must adopt English before it can be considered for statehood. (I have been unable to confirm rumors that he has called on California to rename its major cities Saint Francis and The Angels.)

Actually, this is more than a joke. The public hostility toward immigrants, particularly those from Latin America, disfigure the history of a nation whose west was settled by indigenous peoples and then – 500 years ago – by Spaniards and retains a rich heritage from both.