For decades conservatives have worked to see that blacks and latinos are undercounted in the Census. Now they are voluntarily disenfranchising themselves by refusing to send in the forms. Should we be happy about that? After all, it could cost them seats in Congress and votes in the Electoral College, and it will mean more federal dollars are available for blue and purple areas of the country. But, the thing is, the Census is supposed to accurately count the population of the country, and political power is supposed to be divvied up on the basis of a real assessment of the country’s demography. So, no, I am not happy that the most conservative areas are the least responsive to the Census, even though it serves my narrow political interests. You can’t cure stupid, and I will weep no tears for these folks, but I am not happy to see a new strain of irrational paranoia taking root in the reddest areas of this country.
It’s dangerous.
