The Girl Scouts turned 97 yesterday, but "there is not much to celebrate," says columnist Jane Chastain. "Membership is down. Cookie sales have dwindled, and they are floundering around trying to be relevant."

"Trying to be relevant," as in:

Yes, the GSUSA is dumping the "dorky" vests and "singalongs" around the campfire (the words of others, not my own) in an effort to be "cool" and "edgy." It's sad, really, like a senior citizen shopping for a bikini and getting a tattoo in an effort to be noticed.

Individual achievement and earning badges are out. Political correctness and self-esteem are in. Girls still will have an opportunity to earn badges -- for now -- but the emphasis is on the new Journeys programs, which focus on broad themes and encourage "groupthink."

Mothers, who "have traditionally been the backbone of scouting," are also on the outs:

Moms . . . have served as mentors and troop leaders, chauffeurs, fundraisers and organizers. Today, moms are being told to take a hike when their daughters become teenagers. Yes, moms are to be replaced at the most critical time in a girl's life with young adults or others judged to be suitably "hip" and trained by groups like the Ashland Institute who will lead their daughters down the garden path toward the New Age.

And "God" gets the "asterisk" treatment:

In 1993, God was reduced to an asterisk in the Girl Scout Promise. Sure, the Creator can still come along on these Journeys if a scout so desires, providing the great I AM can tolerate the moral relativism that permeates these programs.

What does this mean?

It means: Someone is celebrating.

The secularist. The socialist. The relativist. The feminist. And maybe a president.

A decline in membership and cookie sales is small price to pay to convert and thereby neutralize an organization that might stand in the way of radically redefined "hope" and "change." Some might think it's just the price of doing business. The community organizing business.

And well worth the price, I might add. The last thing radicals want is a free-thinking group that encourages strong girls to develop into strong women. They might question authority, and that could throw a monkey wrench into the ever-expanding Patriarchy on the Potomac.

"It is necessary to begin where the world is if we are going to change it to what we think it should be. That means working in the system," says Saul Alinksy in Rules for Radicals. 

You may recall that Barack Obama was mentored in the "Alinsky method." He knows how to work the system. So when radicals rule a group in decline, don't be surprized if Obama celebrates.