On August 5, for example, WorldNutDaily, the once-reputable website that now positions itself as the last line of defense against all-powerful plots against our sovereignty, even managed to connect fears of a North American Union to the tragic bridge disaster in Minneapolis. “NAFTA Superhighway Traffic Tied to Bridge Collapse,” proclaimed the headline---without informing readers that the dreaded Superhighway doesn’t exist in Minnesota, or anywhere else beyond the feverish fantasies of conspiracists.

In the face of such heavy-breathing scare stories, legislators in several dozen states and even some members of Congress (including the benighted Virgil Goode of Virginia) have already introduced resolutions to derail the North American Union before it’s too late--- just as some of the same valiant defenders of sanity and decency fought off the horrible menace of internet hunting.

Actually, I support such resolutions, as should even the most skeptical critics of the alarmist, NAU frenzy-- as should, for that matter, the President of the United States. We all back American sovereignty, don’t we? Anyone honestly desire to replace the greenback dollars with a sketchy (and presumably tan-colored) invention known (to paranoid loon-dogs) as “the Amero”? When legislatures and Congress vote unanimously, or by margins exceeding 100 to 1, against melding the USA with our Mexican and Canadian neighbors, then perhaps some of our terrified fellow citizens will be able to sleep soundly again – and focus on the nation’s persistent problems and present threats.

Democrats, for instance, want to socialize medicine, raise taxes, weaken our military, restructure the family, and create vast new cradle-to-grave entitlements. Conservatives and patriots ought to concentrate on defeating these open and ongoing efforts rather than shadow-boxing against phantoms like the North American Union and the Monster Superhighway.

Like the Humane Society with its shameless exploitation of the non-issue of internet-hunting, the demagogues will no doubt claim victory for their tireless grandstanding when, after several years, their apocalyptic warnings about North American Union and vast NAFTA roadways fail to materialize. Like the franticly barking dog who manages to chase away the postman every single day (after that letter carrier suspiciously drops something in the mail slot but before he manages to break into the house), the sovereignty saviors may well feel a sense of relief and accomplishment when no unrecognizable, blended nation emerges from the ashes of the USA. As the NRA spokesman said about the web-cam/big game scam, “it’s pretty easy to outlaw something that doesn’t exist.”

Then, after celebrating this heroic triumph, perhaps our agitated activists can let go of their nightmares about internet hunters and NAU plotters and refocus their efforts (and ours) on real problems, real perils, and the real world.