At their Denver convention, Democrats hope to show leadership. I wish someone in Rhode Island would show leadership.

Actually, last week someone did, but, sadly, it wasn’t a public official. It was Bishop Thomas Tobin. He and 15 Catholic pastors urged federal officials to declare a moratorium on immigration raids here.

Their willingness to speak up should be a powerful message amid the madness and mean-spiritedness of Republican Governor Carcieri and other politicians, notably some Democratic legislators, who feed off and fuel resentment toward people who look different or sound different, who seek better lives for their families but are voiceless, intimidated and ripe for scapegoating.

God bless Bishop Tobin and the other priests for speaking truth to power and denouncing the division, fear and disruption the raids have created. “As religious leaders concerned for our people, we would be negligent of our pastoral duties if we didn’t speak out,” they said.

And what about you? While you’re at it, notice and voice alarm about some other things:

I am appalled when a contract dispute between the governor and state workers, which he should be as eager to settle as they, wastes the time of Superior Court Judge Patricia Hurst and she has to scold Carcieri for “disregarding the laws of the state when he deems it expedient.”

And note this Hurst assertion: “By allowing a deficit-burdened budget to become law while relying upon future revenues that he and the legislature had dubious power to secure, the governor embarked upon a perilous mission, fraught with unconstitutional and other legal difficulties that, unfortunately, may well cost the state more in time and litigation than it stood to gain.”

I’m glad Hurst slammed him, but because she spoke in the context of a fight between Carcieri and the employees, her remark about the legislature having to share blame with him for a dangerously risky budget didn’t get the attention it deserved.

Meanwhile, The Journal recently reported that the state unemployment rate has now reached 7.7 percent. Do you see Carcieri or legislators demonstrating any sense of urgency and rushing out a torrent of new initiatives?

More bleak news on education. I tire of reading stories like this by our Jennifer Jordan:

PROVIDENCE — Little has changed for the state’s urban schools. The latest round of school classifications, released yesterday, show urban districts again in need of state intervention, having failed to make enough progress on state tests for multiple years.

It’s a chronic problem the districts and the state Department of Education have been unable to fix, and now deep cuts in staffing and budgets further hamper the state agency’s ability to aid the worst-performing districts…

Hello, Mr. Carcieri. Hello, Senate President Montalbano. Hello, House Speaker Murphy. Hello, rank-and-file lawmakers. Hello, prospective 2010 gubernatorial candidates Caprio, Chafee, Cicilline, Laffey, Lynch, Roberts.

Can’t someone come up with solutions and put them across?

Meanwhile, for the fourth time since 2004, the Ethics Commission is investigating a possible Carcieri violation of state ethics rules. He settled the three previous cases.

I see these stories day after day — immigrant-bashing, bitter labor relations, growing joblessness, repeated education failure and questionable ethics — and they break my heart.

Can’t Rhode Island do better?

Wake up!

M. Charles Bakst is The Journal’s political columnist.

mbakst@projo.com