Several conservatives are questioning the execution of the 2010 Census. Rep Michelle Bachmann (R- MN), for one, sees the dark and heavy hand of ACORN behind the gathering of census data at the command of President Obama.
I actually agree with those who are troubled by the expansion of the Census. The Constitution requires a census for the specific purpose of apportioning representation in Congress. Yet anyone who has ever received a long form knows that it has become a deep and intrusive survey of you and your family's lifestyle.
In 2000 I reported my ethnicity as "Fullblood Yeti" and hand-delivered my form to the local office. This earned me two visits from young census workers telling me that they "hadn't received my form yet," and asked me to fill one out today. I told them I had in fact delivered it in person. Nothing ever came of it. My guess is that those college kids just wanted to see what an Abominable Snowman really looked like.
There was a $500 fine and possible jail time penalty for frivolous entries, but I thought it was worth the risk. If they ignored it, I get a cheap laugh. If they pressed this issue, I would insist that they prove I'm not a Yeti by taking a DNA sample. If they accepted *that* they would be admitting that they actually had Yeti DNA to compare. A revelation well worth 500 bucks for sure.
The point is, there are many types of crazy. The right wing kind just isn't very entertaining. Thank you for your time.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
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