People who know me can tell you that I am by no means a man of significance. The mailman has to think about whether I am worthy to receive mail addressed to 'occupant', for instance. So I should have known from the start that a letter addressed to me from the Republican National Committee would be something other than earth-shaking. But what I read was very unsettling.

The letter, of course, was basically a form letter. I noted that although it claimed I was part of a "select group of Republicans", it did not bother to greet me by name. It seems that I have been selected as "a representative of all Republicans in your voting district". Well, that sounds 'special', but wait and see.

Like everything from the RNC these days, it included the standard plea for money, making me think of all those charities that tell me that my "small donation" will make such a difference. The RNC informed me that money from me will somehow "rebuild and reunify our Republican Party". Just how they got me confused with Bill Gates I guess I will never know. But to the meat of the letter; the "census" included an urgent plea to let the leading Republicans know how we "grassroots" Republicans feel. You know, "grassroots" like something they feel they can wipe their feet on. I don't recall the RNC asking for my input when it mattered, but oh well. There were twenty-six questions on the "census", and few of them were worth the ink and paper. The RNC divided the questions into sections titled "Homeland Security Issues", "Economic Issues", "Domestic Issues", "Social Issues", and "Defense Issues". They also asked if I had voted in the last several elections, the only useful questions in the set.

Why am I so sure the questions were useless? Here are some of them:

"If Democrats try to gut the USA Patriot Act and other important laws that promote the safety and security of all Americans, should Republicans in Congress fight back?"

If there is a single Republican in the House or Senate who does not already know the answer to that one, things are far worse than I thought!

"Should President Bush's successful income and capital gains tax cuts be made permanent?"

Hmmm, 'should the taxpayers keep more of their own money'? Would the RNC kindly explain why this was not done during the years we had the majority in both chambers? Was this a tough decision, too?

"Do you agree that we must stop illegal immigration?"

Are you telling me that there are Republicans in favor of illegal immigration?

"Should we fight Democrat efforts to impose Clinton-era cuts in the Pentagon's budget?"

I'm afraid to ask why this is even a question.

Seriously, if those kinds of questions are what the RNC is wondering about, then our leadership is as stupid as Harry Reid is corrupt. And that is plain scary.