If you're a lover of the Law of Unintended Consequences, then you have to be absolutely ecstatic with this turn of events:
Karl Rove appears in TV ad for Census
Yes, Karl Rove, the architect of so many rightwing lies devoted to stoking fear and loathing among his ignorant base, now has to try and reel in the craziness:
Author and former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove will appear in a new public service announcement from the U.S. Census Bureau designed to convince people to mail back their 2010 census forms by the end of the month.
...
His participation and subsequent comments come as some Republicans worry that anti-government sentiment will lead to lower census participation rates in conservative areas of the country, resulting in fewer Republican seats in Congress and state legislatures.
Oh, sweet irony!
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Meanwhile, rightwing nutcase and CNN "contributor" (what does he "contribute," exactly?) Erick Erickson threatens to "pull out my wife's shotgun" should a census worker come to his door asking why he didn't fill out a form.
And Michele Bachmann, the Queen Bee of the lunatic fringe, while changing her tune from "No census for me!" to "Okay, I'll do part of it," has already planted enough conspiracy theory seeds to generate a 1,000-acre flower patch among the Tea Party contingent.
Then we have the RNC further confusing the message by using a Census-like mailer to try and raise funds, and we end up where we are today: with Karl Rove pleading with the very idiots he helped create to participate in yet another socialist conspiracy, the Census.
There is so much to love about this predicament for the GOP -- so many delicious ironies and madcap consequences -- that we should all tip our hats, if not a pint or two, to Karl Rove and company for providing us with so much entertainment.
I used to think Dems were going to get hammered in November. But the more I watch events like this and the never-ending stream of inanity emanating from Michael Steele and the RNC, the more I think we may do much better than expected this year.
No matter what, you can't put a dollar value on the comedy. Laughter is good for the soul and watching Karl Rove plead with a bunch of ignorant jackasses not to believe his previous, dire warnings about the impending socialist takeover of the United States, provides far more belly laughs than even "Hot Tub Time Machine."
Thanks, Karl!
Update [2010-4-5 18:17:55 by Bob Johnson]:
Greg Sargent at The Plum Line notes that conservative counties are returning census forms at a high rate.
Some of the most conservative counties in the country — far from heeding the right’s census paranoia — are returing the census at a higher rate than the national average, a quick analysis reveals. Of the 20 most conservative counties, 14 have already returned their census at a higher rate or at the same rate as the rest of the country.
He uses this chart to show that these counties are above the national average. That said, they remain below the numbers they hit in 2000, although it's still early because final numbers will be trickling in by mail and door-to-door work will soon start.
One conclusion we might draw from this is one that we've known for quite some time: the Tea Party contingent is truly a fringe movement with little to know mainstream support, a point bolstered by today's Gallup poll results on Tea Party politics, as Sargent points out.
And all that tell us is that, once again, the media -- and not just Fox News --- has inflated the importance and relevance of the Tea Party movement for the media's own benefit and with absolutely no grounding in fact or numbers.