Forget the relatively
insignificant probability that the move of the Census Bureau into Rahm
Emanuel's White
House office will enable the gerrymandering of our nation into Congressional
districting that will be even more favorable to the ruling party.
Consider instead what a
vast corps of census canvassers -- meter readers or investigators if
you prefer -- could accomplish for an
administration with an even more sinister agenda.
Thankfully, your letter
carrier is a dedicated civil servant. Nonetheless, think of
what he or she knows, by the osmosis process of just by being there
day after day, about you and nearly every aspect of your life -- without ever opening a single envelope addressed
to you.
Bank statements, credit
card bills, religious publications, organization memberships, checks
from the government and every other type of correspondence pass
through your letter carrier's hands just before they get into yours.
Would you
be able to compose a fairly accurate profile of the occupant of an
address given observational access to the contents of his mailbox?
How much more accurate
would that growing dossier be if you came face to face with the
occupant, got a peek through his front door and were able to observe
some of his possessions in the process. How much clearer would
your ultimate picture be if you got invited in to conduct an
interview?
This is certainly not to suggest that a postal worker would ever sell you out. But just being
forewarned that any breach of
your privacy will lead to dismissal, the loss of excellent benefits
and a good pension is more than enough to prevent Postal Service employees
from engaging in extra-curricular activities on their appointed rounds.
Census takers, on the
other hand, have little or no vested interest in their jobs beyond
holding them for the duration of the temporary term for which they were hired.
However, in an
ever-shrinking employment market, fairly long-term temporary
Stimulus Program jobs like that of census
canvasser could be offered to a very grateful
bunch of overqualified supporters as political plums -- kind of like the way
community organizer jobs and non-profit organization board
directorships are dealt out and readily accepted by Ivy League grads
in hyper-political places such as Chicago.
Other than the actual
deployment of troops to the theatres of the Global War on Terror,
the single biggest criticism of the previous administration was the
incorporation of foreign telephone and e-mail monitoring into its
homeland security program. The hue and cry from the left regarding
privacy rights was not only deafening but profane, as well.
Indictment of White House officials remains a hot topic.
But imagine the reaction
had Karl Rove
been put in charge of the Census.
Having a more socialistic
administration that speaks their hypocritical feelings-driven language has numbed
liberals' senses and their advocacy of citizens' rights to the point
that they will readily condone any action suggested by the Obama
administration regardless of cost, loss or Constitutionality.