Newsweek starts out well enough:
A 1955 cartoon depicts bare-chested, bearded country boys, wearing overalls and pointing their guns at a diminutive, bespectacled census taker. "It's OK Boys. You can tell him everything … He's the Census Man!" one of them tells the others, in what is part of a decennial phenomenon that is beginning again—the massive advertising and manpower effort to persuade Americans to take part in the U.S. Census. The old ad assures readers that census takers have no connections to the "revenooers," a reference to the Prohibition-era feds who cracked down on illegal production of alcohol. Back then, as now, there is hesitation and distrust of the census among the public.
Back then, as now, there is hesitation and distrust of the census among the public. True enough. There is a decades long sentiment that the government uses the census to stick its nose in where it doesn't belong. It is nothing new and it is neither "right" or "left" wing. Our Constitution requires that our population be counted at a regular interval for apportioning purposes. Politicians being busybodies at heart expanded the census beyond its constitutional mandate and thus we have the "long form."
Sample questions from the 2000 census long form:
What are the annual costs of utilities and fuels for
this house, apartment, or mobile home? If you have
lived here less than 1 year, estimate
the annual cost.
a. Electricity
Annual cost — Dollars
$ , .00
What were the real estate taxes on THIS property
last
year?
Yearly amount — Dollars
$ .00
Answer ONLY if this is a MOBILE HOME —
a. Do you have an installment
loan or contract
on THIS mobile home?
Reading the questions, one can't help but wonder if the census is being conducted by the IRS. In other words, much of it is simply none of the government's damn business. Combine this with the fact that up until recent events ACORN was involved. Let's face it, most people don't want someone from a criminal enterprise knocking on their door.
So a man who happens to be a census worker is killed and the Left and their puppet scribes start screaming "Right wingers!" Newsweek is smart enough to use qualifying words like "may" and "might" but their message is obvious.
I think Stacy McCain, who took the time to go to Kentucky, sums it up best in quoting a journalist he met on his road trip, "We don't know anything. Hell, we don't even know what we don't know." Neither does Newsweek but they know what they hope turns out to be true.
Newsweek is on the bandwagon and like everyone else on the Left, they are in such a rush to get their point across their reporting is at best, sloppy. Jimmie Bise at The Sundries Shack:
Well, here’s something I didn’t notice until I was reviewing my post just
now. Conant writes that the conservative blogosphere has been questioning the
census, but she doesn’t bother to cite any conservative bloggers. Surely, a
crack reporter (that is to say, a good one, not one whose writing makes it seem
like she’s on crack) could Google up a few wild blogger quotes. It’s not like
notable violent maniac Michelle Malkin hasn’t written a column about the census. And here’s a *gasp* black conservative with reservations, too! And even the Simian-American population was ready to grab their…whatever
monkeys grab…to combat the monstrous census threat! Heck, we all know those Newsbusters bloggers are all about the head-cracking. Why
the word “bust” is built right into the site’s name!
I would suggest that Conant go to Kentucky to investigate but I guess that isn't necessary if you've already made up your mind.
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