Saturday, February 2, 2008

Real ID is a real solution

We should be doing more, not less, in the Real ID program.
While I am apprehensive about the government having more information about me, I do feel that Real ID is a security program long past due. And, while government abuse in the past has occurred, it has been rare. Further, civil liberties groups always seem to find the right avenue to correct the abuses; that’s the beauty of our system.
Conversely, let’s consider the effects of not having a reliable Real ID system; the ability of illegals, and terrorists, to penetrate our society, with stated goals that are to the detriment of us all.
Does the writer think that journalists, or housewives, or executives, would be singled out?
Get real!
I don’t like my movements being tracked, like which nightclubs I visit, or my library book selections, or the web sites I visit, or…or….
But, I love the idea that people who may have bad purposes in mind can’t get on the plane I’m on, as in Israel; or on trains, as in Spain.
Here’s what really bothers me; we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars to secure ourselves against terrorism.
Terrorists are driving us broke and potentially out of existence with the leverage of threats that cost untold Billions to strategize against, plan for, develop remedial programs “in case,” and much more. Osama Bin Laden and his ilk must laugh several times a day at the chaos, real and imagined, that they have, and will cause.

Unfortunately, the modern world and all it’s threats, are a symptomatic reaction to the hopes of people tantalized by democracy and capitalism.
Read ID may be considered overkill in a Constitutionally-driven society which values privacy, but allowing our enemies to penetrate our society at will, and execute plans that harm thousands is not a solution.
It might help to consider that Real ID would have prevented most, if not all, of the 9/11 hijackers from taking flying lessons, boarding planes, or many other activities.
We should be able to build safeguards into the compilation of a Real ID system that will minimize the potential for misuse by the government or anyone else.
More importantly, it has to start right now. We have been lucky the last few years. How long can luck last?
Americans may be finally starting to take Citizenship seriously; attaching real value to citizenship by Americans should point the way towards making Real ID a necessity, and right away.
If everyone in this country had to provide proof of their legal status to be present, we would be even more amazed at our loss of control of our borders, and the threats we face.
We should consider Real ID the opportunity that it is; a way to establish a national ID system for US Citizens that is foolproof, biometrically attached and verifiable to the holder, with multiple ID points, including finger/hand print verifications, retinal verification, and in the future DNA verification.
We could start with DNA Real ID for children of US citizens that becomes part of their Real ID issued at birth.

Posted by Mediaman at 18:57:58 | Permalink | No Comments »

Monday, January 14, 2008

Voting without ID is the real scam

 My response to Cynthia Tucker, the Editorial Page Editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Cynthia Tucker’s column of Monday, January 14, 2008 shows that a liberal rant can always serve in place of informed opinion.

    Ms. Tucker is exercised by the Supreme Court’s decision to review an Indiana law requiring verifiable Voter ID at the polls in exchange for the right to vote. She calls the law un-American, likens it to a right-wing conspiracy, suggests that it is targeted at people of color, when it is in actuality race and color neutral, requiring ID of ALL those who want to vote.
    Let’s deal with the basic issue.
    Voting is a privilege and a right of citizenship. Since that citizenship is a basically guaranteed right generated by our Constitution, conferring a responsibility for confirming citizenship seems eminently reasonable.As to it being unreasonable and an “ inconvenience,” let me have the temerity to suggest, “So what?”
    Is it an inconvenience so intolerable as to justify the widespread voter fraud that occurs every election in the highly democratic wards of major cities, in which people vote two, three and ever more times without ID in different polling places, using bogus addresses, even empty lots, for the purpose? Where dead people vote not once, but also two, three or more times?
    Republicans and Independents don’t vote multiple times, even using absentee ballots. They don’t think that way. They value their vote; it isn’t a prize for sale to the highest political bidder.
    It is not a “highly partisan” law as she claims, it is voter neutral, attempting only to place value on a Citizen’s right to vote by having the affirm that right through identification. The Constitution says throughout that CITIZEN’ S rights to vote shall note be abridged by race, religion, sex or other means. The emphasis is on Citizens, and that is as it should be.
    Congress should pass a national counterfeit-proof ID law forthwith, requiring proof of citizenship to be obtained.
    Our modern society is well past the point where citizenship can be so taken for granted so as to allow the fraudulent conveyance of one of the most sacred rights of a democratic society. The right to vote carries with it the attendant responsibility to vote: every time, in every election.
    Those too lazy to participate in the process show how little they value their rights.
    For rights to have meaning they must be exercised openly, not just when convenient; demonstrated often, not just in favorable weather; conveyed with vigor, assiduously, to representatives; and felt wholeheartedly.
    If the voice of the people is to have value, it must be heard.
    It seems little trouble to require that the voice be a real, legitimate voice, not an illegal immigrant, or someone who is slightly inconvenienced by the registration process, and is required to present proof of the right to vote.
    Ms. Tucker’s plaintive calls notwithstanding, voting is the touchstone of our society; we should value it more, not less.
    And establish value by requiring any necessary proof to exercise our right to vote.
    Many Americans do value their voting rights, and I, for one, resist any attempts to dilute my vote’s value.
    I have voted continuously, openly and without fear for forty three years in every local, state and national election.
    While I can’t say I’m always pleased with the results, I do feel that by voting I have exercised my citizenship rights, responsibly.
Posted by Mediaman at 22:54:04 | Permalink | No Comments »