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Although it is out of fashion to say so today, the fact is that only decisive action by both the Bush and Obama administrations prevented a great depression.

At the time, I told you that as great as the economic distress might be, there was a predictable social and political rage coming that was even more dangerous than the financial apocalypse.

So in that context, the Arizona immigration law is no surprise. Nor is it likely the last expression of political rage coming down the pike.

Here is the hard reality. There is no way to enforce the law without racial profiling, since there is only one targeted ethnic group.

Roughly one out of three people living in Arizona are of Hispanic descent, and have now been told by a near party-line Republican vote that they will have to carry papers not practically required by whites, African-Americans or Asians.

This should be a good year for Republicans since they are best positioned to ride the rage. But the bigger question is not whether the GOP has captured the rage but rather, has the rage captured the GOP? How durable can their likely electoral success be when they have just written off the fastest growing demographic of voters in the country?

Here in Texas, whites still vote in greater numbers, but our Hispanic population is an even larger percentage than in Arizona.

The best example of the Republican conundrum? Gov. Rick Perry routinely accuses Bill White’s Houston of being a sanctuary city where law enforcement ignores immigration status. Actually, Houston’s policy is to check on immigration status after an arrest for anything other than a traffic or city ordinance violation.

So imagine my surprise last week when Perry sounded like he suddenly agreed with Bill White and the Houston policy. The Governor faulted the Arizona law for turning law enforcement officers into immigration officials.

He said the measures would keep law enforcement, “away from their existing law enforcement duties, which are critical to keeping citizens safe.”

Perry and the Republican establishment know the demographic score. The Arizona law is a winner in a Republican primary, but over the long term and in the general election it is the kiss of death.