Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Three Republican Congressman have written a letter to Michelle Bachmann taking her to task for her false and idiotic statements about ACORN and the census, especially her refusal to answer questions. The letter was written by Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia and John Mica of Florida.
"We share Ms. Bachmann's concerns about ACORN's involvement in the 2010 Census and will continue pressuring the Bureau to follow their own guidelines for partnering organizations and dump ACORN. However, we can not emphasize enough how important it is for every individual to fill out their census forms."Every elected representative in this country should feel a responsibility to encourage full participation in the census. To do otherwise is to advocate for a smaller share of federal funding for our constituents. Boycotting the constitutionally-mandated census is illogical, illegal and not in the best interest of our country.
"The unfortunate irony is that Ms. Bachmann's boycott only increases the likelihood that ACORN-recruited census takers will be dispatched to her constituents' homes. Anyone who completes and returns their census form will remove any need for a census taker to visit their residence.
"Furthermore, a boycott opens the door for partisans to statistically adjust census results. The partisan manipulation of census data would irreparably transform the census from being the baseline of our entire statistical system into a tool used to wield political power in Washington."
When you've gone too far for Patrick McHenry, you can be pretty sure you've been transported to cloudcuckooland.
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"Ms. Bachmann's boycott only increases the likelihood that ACORN-recruited census takers will be dispatched to her constituents' homes"
". ..where, we are certain, they will rape, pillage and talk down to them, making them feel bad that they are republicans, and they won't vote for you no more.. that would be a bad thing."
they said.
Posted by: Kevin (NYC) | July 7, 2009 2:56 PM
Ed said it. To be upbraided by Patrick McHenry has got to hurt, since he's even an even stupider religious wing nut that Bachmann is.
Posted by: Dean Austin | July 7, 2009 3:42 PM
Well, at first I thought "if there's one thing they stand up for it's the ultimate authority of the Government. She dasn't suggest any sort of uppityness."
Then I recalled all of the Faithful and their continuing determination to keep the shelves of every gunshop devoid of ammunition in anticipation of the day (RSN) when the Obama BATF Brownshirts come to raid their homes in search of contraband .22 long cartridges, at which point they're prepared to shoot it out in defense of liberty.
So that idea didn't fly.
The only alternative I could see is that there's some dawning awareness that they're going to have to draw some sort of line before the Republican National Convention is held in the Fellowship Hall of the Huntsville Foursquare Baptist Church. Not just the delegates, the whole Party.
Posted by: Yagotta B. Kidding | July 7, 2009 3:44 PM
I am so *$&@#^#(*# sick of this insane fear mongering of freakin' ACORN. It is quite possibly the dumbest non-issue in decades.
Posted by: dogmeatIB | July 7, 2009 3:47 PM
Math has an objective liberal bias.
Posted by: Shygetz | July 7, 2009 3:54 PM
Ignoring statistical adjustment, given that redistricting is a major purpose of the census, liberal groups have little motivation to send census-takers into conservative districts (and vice versa), so she doesn't really have to worry about ACORN popping up on her doorstep.
Posted by: Anthony | July 7, 2009 4:17 PM
That may help account for it's effectiveness. It appears to be a very reliable crowd-juicer among the Faithful.
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | July 7, 2009 4:24 PM
Its almost like he hasn't heard of Gerrymandering?
But I digress, I mean we are talking about the Party of Intelligent Design, that tries to sell this idea that the planet is only about as old as the written word, i.e., 6000 years. I think I would be more likely to listen {and feign interest} at Mufon meetings than at what passes for GOP pronouncements as of late. The Mufon meetings would be less paranoid and make more sense.
Posted by: Seeing Eye Chick | July 7, 2009 4:26 PM
My understanding is that the fraudulent voter registrations that ACORN got were spotted by ACORN auditors. And the bad employees were turned over to prosecutors by ACORN itself.
Maybe the real reason conservatives hate ACORN is that ACORN does a better job of policing itself than all the groups conservatives think can police themselves, but really cannot, like Wall Street or Christian fundamentalists.
A new slogan: ACORN: Self-control without God OR Mammon.
Posted by: Blue Nine | July 7, 2009 4:27 PM
Ya mean, she can read?
Posted by: Bill from Dover | July 7, 2009 5:39 PM
Bill from Dover: That's why they have staff.
And when John Mica and Patrick McHenry call you nuts, you've broken the Stupid-O-Meter.
Posted by: kehrsam | July 7, 2009 6:14 PM
It's true, of course, but it's sad that this is one of the arguments he has no qualms about making publicly.
Posted by: James Hanley | July 7, 2009 8:14 PM
Note: Voter Registration fraud. Not vote fraud. And it was in only a few of their recruits, and likely only to boost the individual's numbers for pay reasons, and ACORN themselves turned them in. Also all ACORN can do for the census is let their community know there are jobs going. No deeper involvement in the census than that.
Posted by: Gray Gaffer | July 7, 2009 8:15 PM
Gray Gaffer,
No point in letting facts get in the way of a good
rantplea for moneyargument.Posted by: Shawn Smith | July 7, 2009 8:20 PM
Shawn: yeah, I know, and I even have some understanding of how and why their non-examination of their axiomatic beliefs leads to pathological lying (or at least story telling). Doesn't make it easier to watch though.
Posted by: Gray Gaffer | July 7, 2009 8:23 PM
Mr. Kehrsam:
The Stupid-O-Meter, as you suggest is inadequate to the task at hand. It is being replaced by the new and improved, DumfuQometer, Mark I.
Posted by: democommie | July 7, 2009 9:36 PM
democommie - I want to remind you that every time you make a smart-ass remark, I'm in the background in stitches.
Posted by: Michael Heath | July 7, 2009 10:04 PM
McHenry, Westmoreland, and Mica are three of the four Republicans on the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. So at a bare minimum it their job to pretend to care about the Census. Not that the other motivations suggested do not also apply.
For those people keeping score at home Jason Chaffetz, UT is the fourth Republican on that subcomittee.
Posted by: anon | July 8, 2009 3:16 AM
Posted by: Herod the Freemason | July 8, 2009 9:46 AM
Herod, if I'm not mistaken didn't God command him to take up that census?
2 Samuel 24:1
And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them, saying: 'Go, number Israel and Judah.'
Though I'm a bit confused as to why the later verses say this was a bad thing, and why God punished David for doing it. But the Bible's like that.
Posted by: Sivi Volk | July 8, 2009 11:53 AM
The deal with ACORN is they had a poorly-thought out compensation policy for their voter registration people. They quickly figured it out and fixed the problem with no harm done. This isn't really a strike against them. It's not like they were going to pay census takers by the form They wouldn't pay them at all. This would fall under the Census Bureau.
Posted by: Ace of Sevens | July 8, 2009 8:13 PM