"Papers please, Citizen."
This phrase recalls WWII Films, thoughts of Soviet Russia, and other
closed societies. However, this could be our street corners before too
long.
In 2005 The REAL ID Act (now retitled PASS Act) was passed, in
which the Federal Government mandated certain changes and the
implementation of new licensing protocols in the States. Not only are
these changes mandated, but the Several States have to pay for them
themselves, and it creates a de facto National ID Card, which is
against the very idea of a free and open society.
It will not say "National ID" across the top, but when the Feds take over the protocols of the States' Driver's Licenses, put "security enhancements" and biometric data, and want us to use it for plane tickets, going to Canada, or purchasing of goods: then that is exactly what it is.
Privacy is
important, so too is the right to remain secure in your person and
papers at all times. If that sounds familiar it comes from the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution. We need to take steps to protect ourselves, and each other from violations of our rights.
I do not support
a National ID card, which is a clear infringement of the above, and we should thank our current legislature for
taking some preliminary action against REAL ID (aka PASS ID). However, what
they did is not enough, that battle is not won. We need to use the doctrines of interposition and nullification to stop the Federal government from infringing on our rights.
In addition, it is now legal for the military to act as police, and 20,000 US troops being deployed within the US to act against "civil unrest." Clearly this is not a situtation the Founders would have allowed to pass.
On top of all that, the States are also required by this legislation to collect biometric information on its citizens, including, but not limited to, hand geometry, retinal scans, finger prints, and DNA information. If this sounds like the newest Crime Thriller, I wish it were. However, this is your government at work, and you're paying for it.
I
call on the State Legislature to take a firm stands against REAL ID,
and any other implementation of a National ID Card. Although the State
passed a resolution to this effect, it has no teeth. There is no
language about enforcement, and an unenforceable statement is just so many words in the wind. It's time the several States take a stand, and say, "Enough is Enough. We will not allow this to happen."
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither and will lose both."
--- Benjamin Franklin
If we start down the path of giving up our freedom
for the illusion of safety, then this great American Experiment will
have failed. National ID Cards only restrict the Citizens, and will do
next to nothing to stop terrorism. In McCarthy's day it was "Communism"
that was used to scare and control the people, and in the post-Sept.
11th World it is "Terrorism." The real people who are trying to take
our Liberty are sitting in the Halls of Washington, not men living in
caves in a desert far away.
CA already gives
driver's licenses to potentially illegal immigrants, and even if this
would halt that immediately (which I doubt), it is still not worth the
loss of Liberty we would sustain. This is a country built on
immigration, and we should welcome those who want to come here; and
they should respect us and themselves enough to follow our laws and
come here legally.
Americans have been living in a "Liberty-free" environment for a
long time, most of us have no idea what it would be like to be free
again. Many can not even imagine another way of life, but once in this
great place, men and women were free, and embraced Liberty, and the
responsibility that went with it.
If we do not remember what it was like, and long for it again, then the battle is already lost. Montani Semper Liberi. Let's prove it.
---'Fields of Athenry' Irish Traditional.
