Utter non-Census

Well, Florida, the fix is in for 2010.

I'm not talking about the election. I'm talking about the U.S. Census, on which so many political decisions, from the number of electoral votes to the drawing -- gerrymandering? -- of congressional districts, will be based.

Yesterday, Gov. Crist chose 45 Floridians to serve on the "2010 Sunshine Census Complete Count Committee," and it includes some very notorious names indeed.

Besides [committee chairman Orange County Mayor Rich] Crotty, the list also includes longtime Miami-Dade lobbyist Ron Book, former Ocala legislator and current Christian Coalition of Florida director Dennis Baxley, and Florida Association of Broadcasters President Pat Roberts.

“The diversity of Florida’s cultures, backgrounds and experiences is quite possibly our state’s greatest strength, and we must do all we can to ensure an accurate count of every Florida resident during the 2010 Census,” Crist said in a statement.

The release said the panel members "represent Florida’s diverse geography and population, as well as many organizations throughout the state."

First and foremost, why in the name of all that is good and decent hasn't Dennis Baxley been marginalized right out of any kind of authority whatsoever yet? He's the guy who sponsored "shoot first, ask questions later" legislation in the state House and who is a vehement opponent of academic freedom. Putting him on a committee to oversee accuracy of the Census is like asking Alex Rodriguez to test urine samples. And a millionaire lobbyist deserves to be on the committee exactly why? Oh, and don't even get me started about Pat Roberts, whose anti-tax, hyper-fundamentalist ways just ooze bipartisanship and accuracy in the Census ... (/sarcasm)

But wait ... there's more ...

One of the legislators who will serve as a delegate to this committee is none other than state Senator (and Blast Off! favorite*) Mike Haridopolos (R-Indialantic), who pretty much lives off of wingnut welfare ... and he's not even out of office yet!

Come on, Charlie! I mean, didn't you learn something about bipartisanship from supporting President Obama's stimulus? Even if half the committee members are Democrats (and, I admit, time prevents me from reviewing every name on the list), the batshit-crazy quotient still is off the charts when you include nutcases like Roberts, Haridopolos, and (blecch!) Baxley. Having folks like that in charge is the very definition of "the fox guarding the henhouse." It pretty well guarantees that the Census won't be fair or accurate in Florida next year, and that as a result Republicans likely will retain their undeserved hegemony in this evenly-divided state for another decade.

Sure, I know you're a Republican, Charlie, and that you want to stack the deck for your team, but at least don't claim this is an extraordinarily balanced or diverse group. To put it a bit more bluntly: you can't polish a turd.

Anyway, the whole list is here, if you have the notion -- or the strong stomach -- to go through it in greater detail.

---

* By "favorite," I mean "utter douchebag."