The price of paranoia
The lies about the Census, and the unhinged who believe the lies
The price of paranoia
Dick Polman, Inquirer National Political Columnist
In the kingdom of ignorance, this story reigns:
Anti-government conservatives - apparently clueless about the history of the country they want to "take back," and willfully believing the Pinocchio whoppers circulated via spam mail, talk radio, and YouTube - are currently engaged in a fascinating form of protest. Millions are refusing to fill out their 2010 Census forms.
The boycott statistics are incomplete at this point, but, to cite just one example, early returns from the most conservative Texas counties indicate that anti-Census paranoia is all the rage on the right. While roughly 52 percent of all Americans thus far have participated - answering all 10 questions - the rate of compliance in those conservative counties is 20 or 30 points lower than the national figure.
The trend is so alarming that one Republican congressman, Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, felt compelled yesterday to plead with his right-wing brethren to fill out the forms; as he wrote on redstate.com, the popular conservative site, "If we do not respond, we will not be counted, and if we are not counted, then we effectively will not exist."
Most notably, he urged his readers not to believe "the blatant misinformation" that has been circulated by "otherwise well-meaning conservatives." Which was a polite way of saying, "Don't listen to the liars."
The liars have been marketing ignorance for nearly a year now, painting the Census (or, more specifically, the Obama-era Census) as a manifestation of Big Brother tyranny - and insisting (despite the rigors of factual reality) that most Census questions are "unconstitutional," and that a boycott is legally permissible.
It's hard to know when the bull began, but Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann gets much of the credit. Last June, she claimed (again, contrary to factual reality) that the Census information could be grist for the government to arrest Americans en masse and put them in prison camps; accordingly, she said she intended to answer only one question - how many people in the household? - because, in her fact-challenged view, "the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that."
Various talk-radio hosts ran with that one. Glenn Beck said he was considering not filling out his own form. Rose Tennent, on Clear Channel's The War Room, said, "It just scares me to think that these (Census) thugs are getting this information from us." Neal Boortz, on his show, fumed, "It's nobody's business but mine...as to how many flush toilets I have in my house. Nobody's business. And the Census bureau? They just - hey, in my household? Two adults. That's it. You need any more information? Ask my neighbors."
Texas congressman Ron Paul chimed in, complaining about "the invasive nature of the current Census," as evidenced by the government's plans to ask people about their race. He lamented how the government "consistently encourages citizens to think of themselves in terms of groups."
Fast forward to March, 2010. The hottest item among fevered conservatives is a YouTube video - by mid-March, more than 1.6 million viewings - created by a California TV camera operator named Jerry Day. He contends that citizens don't have to respond to Census questions or even talk to Census workers ("you don't even have to open the door for them"). Day's certitudes are seconded by the spam e-mails which insist that, under the Constitution, "they can only ask how many people live in the house...nothing else."
Wow. Where to begin...
Perhaps GOP congressman McHenry, who sits on the House committee that oversees the Census, said it best yesterday, during his bid to knock some sense into the heads of his conservative friends: "Anyone who tells you that this year's census is unconstitutional, and that you are not required to fill out the form completely, is flat out wrong...That argument doesn't stand up to either history or the Constitution's text."
He got that right. The U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 2) requires that Congress oversee the Census "in such Manner as they shall by Law direct," which means that Congress is empowered to decide how the Census is conducted and what questions are asked. Failure to fill out the form, or complete the entire form, is a violation of Title 13, U.S. Code. These are the rules of the road, as repeatedly upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, dating back to 1870.
What's most laughable is the delusional claim that the Census can ask only for the number of household members. Apparently there are denizens of the right who think that asking anything else is a new scheme hatched by Obama's socialist cadre. Well, here's a quick cure for the paranoia:
Census-takers were asking questions about people's occupations...in 1820.
Census-takers started asking people about their race...in the first Census, in 1790.
In other words, as McHenry pointed out as well, "Every Census in U.S. history has asked for more information than a simple count," and the race question has been a fixture in every Census since the first.
And as for Boortz' umbrage about being asked to enumerate his "flush toilets," here's some news: the Census has been asking that question, off and on, as a poverty measure, since 1940.
And as for Bachmann's pinwheel-hat assertion that the Census might be used to enumerate Americans for the purpose of shipping them off to internment camps, Title 13 of the U.S. Code bars the use of such information "for any purpose in any action, suit, or other judicial or administrative proceeding."
Nevertheless, the litany of lies has apparently curbed or slowed the compliance among many credulous conservatives, and the thing is, they're only hurting themselves politically.
For instance, if Texas right-wingers persist in being refuseniks, they may well reduce their own power. The state has been tapped to be a big winner in the '10 Census, gaining four new congressional seats thanks to a burgeoning population; but if the Census count is down, the four seats may not materalize, and the predominantly conservative regions would have fewer House members than anticipated.
Apparently, only unhinged conservatives are freaked about filling out the Census; as a new CNN poll reports, 83 percent of Americans don't view the Census as an invasion of privacy. So if the right wants to cut its own clout, no doubt that gesture will be welcomed on the Democratic side.
As McHenry pleaded yesterday, "It would be a tragedy if some of our ill-informed friends handed Democrats a victory at the last minute." But perhaps that's the price to be paid for paranoia.
Rabe...Hannity was using that tongue in cheek comment because of the rabid assertions made by the media about the tea partiers. For example, there is still no video/audio about someone using the N word 13 times during Pelosi's march on the capital, despite Andrew Breitbart offering a $100,000 reward for any information. Yet, eggs were thrown at the tea party bus in Nevada by supporters of Harry Reid (by IBEW members) and a Democrat party operative called the police to say tea party members were the ones throwing the eggs. Also, word is that the guy arrested for threatening Eric Cantor is an Obama supporter, yet was that story even on Olberman or Maddow? Meanwhile, the government hiring 49,000 census workers an part time agencies adding 40,000 workers is a sign of economic recovery. Yay.— tom - wilmington, de- I have no problem with the census, other than having to give my social security number and the ss numbers of my children living in my house. Why is that needed?— tom - wilmington, de
- So the law doesn't apply to conservatives if they decide it doesn't? What a great lesson for their children. People who don't fill out the census forms should not be eligible for any kind of government aid and stripped of their right to vote.— cybersport
- midgets (as in mental), how will Obama use these raw numbers to further his supposed domination of our lives, just a curious realist here— nj2az
nj, I think MIDGETS is being facetious. At least I hope so.— potus- Djoko- Obviously you have found it easier to hurl insults than to explain the math behind the healthcare bill.
- Apparently , Fast Edie Rendell wants to toll Interstate 80. This proposal was twice rejected by the Bush Administration but it will likely win approval of the Obama administration. This is another example of the deceitful ways that government takes the liberty of getting into your wallet. And if you think you will not pay because you do not drive int. 80 then guess again. It will reflected in the costs of goods. Obama lied when he said he was not going to raise taxes on people making under $ 250,000.
- Tom, every time you say "Democrat" party it makes me shudder. You're a smart guy. You don't need to borrow these ugly rhetorical twists that frankly are not mainstream vernacular but insults concocted by the conservative media. Let me point out another while I am at it, since it appears in Polman's post. Why is it that anyone who belongs to a union or works for the government is a thug? Really?! It's an unfair and misleading meme that conservatives have appropriated in order to scare their members into thinking that some burly men from the Teamsters are coming to get them. Here folks, I will link the board of the NJEA. The guy in the middle sort of looks like he could be Big Red's cousin, but otherwise... do they look like "thugs" to you? CD75, are you scared that these old ladies are coming to get you? come on. http://www.njea.org/page.aspx?a=2685— puttinonthefoil
- P-FOIL: What's great about Conse 'Pubs is that most of the insults on this board come from them, and as you pointed out they have standard insults. Then, they find it hard to believe that tea-party protesters insulted Dem Reps., and claim that Libs act like them.— Talvenada
- You know you are a liberal if you refuse to attend the "Save the Wilderness" charity dinner because the chicken being served isn't free range.— Alvenada
- Those conse pubs insult tea party mod lib dems cause they insult right back at you. Insult, mod lib dem, grabba beer it's Saturday. Conse pubs, mod lib dems, HALLIBURTON, HALLIBURTON, HALLIBURTON!— Alvenada
- I didn't fill out my census cause I have no friggin use for the government. From my mailbox to my file 13. see ya! I did put in the recycling though-save the planet!— Alvenada
- The first sign that a plan was in place was the ham-fisted, high-camp posturing of the most controversial members of the Democratic caucus walking through the peaceful but animated “Tea Party” demonstrators on Capitol Hill. There is no reason for these elected officials to walk above ground through the media circus amid their ideological foes. The natural route is the tunnels between the House office buildings and the Capitol. By crafting a highly symbolic walk of the Congressional Black Caucus through the majority white crowd, the Democratic Party was looking to provoke a negative reaction. They didn’t get it. So they made it up.— Alvenada
- MOCKY: #131 for Bush-Cheney & #9 for Obama is $4.6T BAILOUT KEPT SECRET. It was $700B in congress but $4.6T total. ............ Getting your money's worth before I get too busy for posting?— Talvenada
- No idea what you are talking about. So no, I am not getting my money's worth. AND CHARLIE MANUEL IS A REPUBLICAN— Alvenada
Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation's top political reporters, and lauded by the ABC News political website as "one of the finest political journalists of his generation," Dick Polman is a national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as "writer in residence." Dick has been a frequent guest on C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC. He covered the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential campaigns.
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