What kind of county are we living in? Maybe today's election results will provide some insight.

Tomorrow we'll know whether the Republicans have kept control of the Monroe County Legislature. If they have, one reason may be an inflammatory direct-mail piece sent to voters last week on behalf of Republican legislature candidates.

The subject of the mailing is Eliot Spitzer's plan to let undocumented immigrants get drivers licenses - and the County Legislature's vote ordering the county clerk to resist the governor. Nine of the Legislature's 12 Democrats voted against that proposal.

Spitzer's idea is well worth a debate. I understand his reasoning, and I also understand the concern about letting undocumented immigrants have privileges while thousands of people wait years to immigrate legally. All of that deserves a civilized discussion.

But the Republicans' mailer isn't civilized.

One side of the card shows a group of drivers licenses, the top one with a photo of an angry man in an Arab headdress. The other side shows a figure designed to look like an Arab man holding an Uzi.

The card charges that Democrats in the County Legislature "want to make it easier for illegals and terrorists to get drivers licenses" and that Democrats are "making our country more vulnerable to terrorist attacks by weakening the security of our drivers licenses."

The card plays on fear and ignorance. But worse, it portrays immigrants - many of whom are poor laborers simply trying to make a living for themselves and their families - as terrorists.

It also fuels hostility toward Arab immigrants.

It's a despicable political tactic. But for Republican Party Chair Steve Minarik - who seems to be morphing physically as well as temperamentally into Karl Rove - apparently no gutter is too foul to stay out of.

When I first saw the card, I wondered if this was a desperation move by Minarik. Did he have polls showing that Republicans were going to lose the Lej? Was he afraid that the FAIR plan had turned voters against the Republicans?

Maybe. But it's just as likely that for Minarik, with money to burn and no opponent for Maggie, the immigrant smear was a way to beef up the Republicans' margins - and have a little fun at the same time.

Somebody besides the Democrats should have spoken out about this. But other than statements by Muhammad Shafiq, imam at the Islamic Center of Rochester, and a mild reprimand by the Democrat and Chronicle, there's mostly been silence.

Where was the voice of the mayor? Where were the voices of business leaders? Where were the voices of Republican County Legislators? At least a few of them must have been appalled by this mailing. Where were the religious leaders?

This is serious business. Minarik's mailing feeds prejudice - against immigrants of all kinds, and most especially against Arabs, citizens as well as non-citizen immigrants.

Is this the kind of community we want?