Let's face facts: Las Vegas is not the intellectual capital of the Western world.

Generally speaking (this phrase is important), Las Vegas does not attract or breed a large share of the nation's Ph.D.s. This is a city fueled by hard labor, good service and wads of disposable income. It's not a place where reading books will get you anywhere.

Generally speaking.

The Atlantic Monthly magazine's October issue includes an interesting map showing where highly educated people congregate in the United States. The map reveals Nevada to be a wasteland of brain power, with only Washoe County (where Reno is located) offering any hint of educational achievement.

Ah, but believe it or not, my goal today is not to insult Las Vegas. Because today, at least, we have every right to feel superior. You see, compared with our neighbors to the west in Pahrump, Las Vegas looks like a giant Mensa convention.

To be fair, my aim with this comment is not the entire population of Pahrump, where I grew up, where I have family and where there are plenty of fine people, but one Pahrump resident in particular: Town Board member Michael Miraglia.

Miraglia is a kook. And a bigot. Last week, newspapers reported that Miraglia has proposed something called the "English Language and Patriot Reaffirmation Ordinance." It's an asinine document.

Like many places in Nevada, Pahrump is growing, and some of its new residents are Hispanic. This doesn't sit well with Miraglia, who clearly doesn't like Hispanics and wishes they would all go away.

Miraglia is upset that some Hispanics don't speak English, so his ordinance would make English the "official language" of Pahrump. This is funny, because the ability to speak clear, grammatically correct English is hard enough for some pale-faced Pahrumpians.

There's more. Miraglia's ordinance would make it illegal to fly a foreign flag all by itself. This, one assumes, would include the Confederate flag, which means this measure could be problematic for Miraglia's core constituency.

The bill also would make it illegal to close a business as a show of support for protests concerning immigrant issues. I have to believe this is a fairly minor problem in Pahrump, where Hispanics are far more likely to be employees than employers.

Miraglia also would punish employers who hire illegal immigrants, landlords who rent to them or anyone who lends them money.

This guy is a walking cliché.

When asked by a Las Vegas Sun reporter where he got his ideas for the proposed ordinance, Miraglia said he gathered material from talk radio and anti-immigration Web sites.

Case closed.

The Pahrump Valley Times noted that Miraglia included some "backup material" with his proposed ordinance: a copy of a report titled "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in the United States."

Of course, we all know that people of Anglo-Saxon ancestry never commit sex crimes.

My first question is how a goof like this landed a seat on the Pahrump Town Board. Of course, my Pahrump readers probably spilled their coffee reading that sentence, because they are familiar with politics in their hometown. For veteran observers of local politics, Miraglia isn't all that unusual.

You'll recall that Pahrump, population 37,000, has an uncanny knack for making offbeat headlines. From indicted brothel barons (Joe Richards) to popular late-night radio hosts (Art Bell), Pahrump is known for its, shall we say, colorful people and stories.

As for Miraglia, reporters seeking balance called civil libertarians -- i.e., people who understand and respect the Constitution -- to get their reaction to the proposed ordinance. Naturally, they didn't think much of it. Allen Lichtenstein, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney in Las Vegas, rightly called it "so un-American that it requires an immediate negative response from individuals throughout the entire political spectrum."

Count me in. Miraglia's ordinance should be ridiculed and quickly dismissed, as one would dismiss the ravings of a madman. At a public meeting last week, my new hero, Pahrump resident Vicky Parker, said she was "appalled" at Miraglia's "racist dribble."

Sadly, I predict that while Miraglia's proposal ultimately will not pass when it comes up for a vote -- the Town Board probably doesn't have the authority to enact most of what he wants anyway -- it will be taken seriously by a fair number of people in Pahrump, in Southern Nevada and across the nation.

Miraglia has tapped a hot button that will rile up the talk radio crowd in red states across the land. He'll be treated kindly by Bill O'Reilly and Lou Dobbs and embraced by the rabid "Minutemen" dutifully guarding the Southern border. (By the way, don't those guys have jobs they need to get back to before the immigrants steal them?)

The good news is that in the end, Miraglia's ordinance will fail and he will fade into obscurity -- where he belongs.

The extreme anti-immigrant movement in this country does not have a future. President Bush doesn't support it. Most business owners don't support it. Most moderates and liberals don't support it. Candidates who rest their entire campaigns on an anti-immigration stance don't win (see lieutenant governor wannabe Barbara Lee Woollen). Only a minority of conservatives believes that millions of immigrants should be rounded up and forced to go home.

Immigration is a legitimate, serious issue in 21st-century America. The huge number of illegal immigrants coming into the country creates social and educational challenges that must be addressed. In addition, illegal immigration raises national security issues (although it's radical Islamists, not Mexicans, we should be worried about). These are real issues, and they have nothing to do with Miraglia's misguided crusade.

Rounding up 12 million illegal immigrants at gunpoint and transporting them across the border is neither realistic nor humane. Building a wall along the border is a huge waste of money and an environmental disaster. Making English the "official language" of Pahrump is, to quote the late, great Nevada Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, goofier than a three-winged owl.

H.L. Mencken, the legendary 20th century journalist and critic, coined the phrase "Boobus Americanus" to describe the breadth of stupidity in American life. Yet I have to believe even Mencken would be surprised that Michael Miraglia is being taken seriously in some circles.

Of course, in his lifetime, Mencken never got a good look at Nevada.

Geoff Schumacher (gschumacher@reviewjournal.com) is Stephens Media's director of community publications. He is the author of "Sun, Sin & Suburbia: An Essential History of Modern Las Vegas." His column appears Sunday.