A recent article about a segment of American citizens distrustful of the U.S. census originated in Texas, so it’s hard to know if it’s an actual trend, or just another reflection of the variety of Lone Star anti-government nuts.

The distrustful say the census asks too many questions and intrudes on their privacy.

Intrudes on their privacy? Where were these people during the creation and subsequent renewals of the USA Patriot Act? (Most recently in February without debate and by a voice vote, uniting Obama with Bush on this one.)

Earlier this month, the Justice Department clarified that provisions of the Patriot Act that pertain to the gathering and sharing of information do not override federal confidentiality laws when it comes to the census.

This is where the large disconnect of the distrustful resides.

If federal investigators are interested in someone, the roving wiretap provision of the Patriot Act allows them to obtain warrants to intercept a suspect’s phone conversations or Internet traffic without limiting it to a specific phone or identifying the suspect. The records provision authorizes them to obtain “tangible items,” such as business, library and medical records.

So with the phone listening, GPS and Web tracking, and business, consumer, bank, credit and medical records all readily at their disposal, government investigators laugh at the idea that they need census data to spy on you. (So do tech-savvy 12-year-olds.)

The census critics have misplaced their distrust.

The Constitution does mandate a census every 10 years, but lets Congress decide how to conduct it, as reaffirmed by the Supreme Court.

So when the distrustful say the only thing they need to answer is how many people are in the household, they are wrong. (Regarding race, this will be the first time people can mark more than one category, allowing for those who identify themselves as more than one race. Agencies use racial information to monitor compliance with anti-discrimination laws, fair employment practices and affirmative action mandates.)

If the distrustful are really concerned about privacy invasions, they would do well focus on real examples, which do exist.

(Do Patriot Act supporters still believe that “if you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about?” Innocent tourists, lawyers and others sought, stopped or charged under this law in this state alone may beg to differ.)

If nothing else, the distrustful must reconcile their beliefs with the fact that if they don’t complete their census form, or ignore it, they will force a visit from census workers, costing taxpayers additional millions to enforce what is, in fact, federal law in the United States.