The link may be a little stale, at this point, but no local mainstream sources that I’ve seen have reported the suspicious revisions of the U.S. Census count, despite the obvious interest to Rhode Island, so it’s worth a mention.  Here’s Stephen Moore, writing in Rasmussen Reports:

There is something very fishy about the new 2020 Census Bureau data determining which states picked up seats and which states lost seats.

Most all of the revisions to the original estimates have moved in one direction: Population gains were added to blue states, and population losses were subtracted from red states. The December revisions in population estimates under the Biden Census Bureau added some 2.5 million blue-state residents and subtracted more than 500,000 red-state residents. These population estimates determine how many electoral votes each state receives for presidential elections and the number of congressional seats in each state.

Is this a mere coincidence?

There are a lot of ways to game these numbers, especially because they include illegal immigrants, and one should assume that people in government attempt to put their thumbs on every scale they can and always have.  This matters even more now because of our current situation.

Most notably, political margins are razor thin.  A little bit of apportionment magic here and there can flip the entire governance of our country from one party to the other.

This fact is exacerbated by the reality that the parties are becoming less ideologically diverse internally, especially among Democrats.  Thus, manipulation of the system in favor of one party isn’t merely a way to partisan advantage.  Partisans can be increasingly confident in conformity from those who are elected as a result.

While the cause and effect aren’t clear, this trend coincides with the persistent ideological divide among the people.  The parties are aligning more precisely with ideology, which again means that all of the boring technical details of governance become avenues to culture war victory.

Finally, government is just so big and pervasive.  Handing out checks.  Making and breaking entire industries.  Banning language.  Redefining bedrock cultural institutions.

Disguising the population losses of New York and California, as well as the population gains of Texas and Florida, isn’t just the difference of which party gets the upper hand in Congressional negotiations (with a field of diverse members who force compromise even before the aisle is crossed).  It’s the difference between imposing an ideological program on the country and preserving citizens’ liberties… for a decade.

Whether or not this makes the argument that the Census was manipulated, it certainly makes the case that we must keep in mind that it very well may have been.

Featured image by ElevenPhotographs on Unsplash.