"President Obama used his weekly address to appeal to families counting their blessings on Thanksgiving, reminding Americans that the holiday isn’t only about turkey but a tribute to the deep immigration history that led to the nation’s founding.

" 'In 1620, a small band of pilgrims came to this continent, refugees who had fled persecution and violence in their native land,' Obama says. 'Nearly 400 years later, we remember their part in the American story – and we honor the men and women who helped them in their time of need.' "

I am not a fan of this analogy. The Pilgrims brought to this continent much of the trouble that vexes America to this day. After all, as many so often forget, they "fled" Europe because they thought things were getting too LAX over there!!

Problem solved!

••

There is a difference between refugees and illegal aliens, of course. Refugees are normally invited into a country, as a humanitarian act.

That New Yorker cover misses the important detail that the Pilgrims did not enter an established Nation with laws governing immigration.