The 2010 Census & Outer Wingnuttia

Another week and the right-wing implosion -- which is to say the heart of what passes for the Republican Party these days -- continues apace with the latest spasm from Outer Wingnuttia the millions of people who are refusing to fill out their 2010 Census forms.

Although exact figures are difficult to come by at this relatively early date, the returns of the 10-question short form appear to be the highest in the Midwest and lowest in Texas. That is to say that while roughly 52 percent of Americans have participated to date, the returns are 20 to 30 percent lower in the Lone Star State's most conservative counties.

The anti-Census fervor is being stoked by wingnuts like Congresswoman Michael Bachmann of Minnesota, who claims that the government could use Census information to make mass arrests and put people in internment camps, and the ever reliable talkmeister Glenn Beck. Both claim that the Census is unconstitutional, whereas it is enumerated for all to see in Article 1, Section 2.

The big irony here is that right-wingnuts foam at the mouth to be heard but not counted, which will have the effect of suppressing numbers in ways that Democrats will love come the next round of congressional redistricting.