Seriously… it's 10 questions. Who are you, how old are you, what race are you, what kind of home do you live in and how many people live in your house. Did I miss something?
Last week I listened to a radio segment with people sure that the census was going to be used to round up and deport [select your minority group of concern here], to take your guns away (I thought that was gun registration), or to enable the country to house soldiers in your home in times of national emergency (I presume they're going to link the census database with realty databases to determine if you've got more bedrooms than people living in your home). My favorites were the ones complaining about it being unconstitutional, when the Constitution mandates a census be taken every 10 years. (Extra bonus points — and hopefully a special place in hell — if you're a Congressperson making that claim.)
People, we've been doing one of these every ten years since we ratified that Constitution. Is our "socialist" President somehow a greater threat than the "fascist" President we elected in 2000? Or is this just so much more of the "cultural noise" we've had to deal with in recent years?
I think the real problem is media-related. We simply can't discern between real news and real info and the noise coming from the lunatic fringe. We've always had people complaining about the Census… it's just now we're actually paying attention to their rants. (Well, at least the media is.)
Can we please stop validating the lunatic fringe? Let's give the Census-phobes a time out, put 'em in the corner with the Tea-Baggers and the Palin for President party and let the adults have the floor again.
Think what a relief it would be to read the news and see intelligent discourse on real issues come to the fore. I don't know if we'd be able to handle it, but it sure would be a breath of fresh air. (Yes, this presumes there's intelligent discourse to be HAD, but a guy can hope, right?)
Last week I listened to a radio segment with people sure that the census was going to be used to round up and deport [select your minority group of concern here], to take your guns away (I thought that was gun registration), or to enable the country to house soldiers in your home in times of national emergency (I presume they're going to link the census database with realty databases to determine if you've got more bedrooms than people living in your home). My favorites were the ones complaining about it being unconstitutional, when the Constitution mandates a census be taken every 10 years. (Extra bonus points — and hopefully a special place in hell — if you're a Congressperson making that claim.)
People, we've been doing one of these every ten years since we ratified that Constitution. Is our "socialist" President somehow a greater threat than the "fascist" President we elected in 2000? Or is this just so much more of the "cultural noise" we've had to deal with in recent years?
I think the real problem is media-related. We simply can't discern between real news and real info and the noise coming from the lunatic fringe. We've always had people complaining about the Census… it's just now we're actually paying attention to their rants. (Well, at least the media is.)
Can we please stop validating the lunatic fringe? Let's give the Census-phobes a time out, put 'em in the corner with the Tea-Baggers and the Palin for President party and let the adults have the floor again.
Think what a relief it would be to read the news and see intelligent discourse on real issues come to the fore. I don't know if we'd be able to handle it, but it sure would be a breath of fresh air. (Yes, this presumes there's intelligent discourse to be HAD, but a guy can hope, right?)
Comments
Now, I want a rant on 'lifetime achievment awards'. How on earth is Matt Damon getting a lifetime achievment award? Time to shut that concept down.
Q