|
Hickory NC Site Menu
|
|
|
|
|
Articles
|
| Liberty, Sir, Is the Primary Object |
|
BryanGreene2008 writes, "[The] REAL ID Act puts the citizens privacy in grave danger, usurps the constitutional authority of the states (therefore endangering the people of the United States), puts our biometrics and photo in to a database like a common criminal, then refuses those who believe it is wrong to have such ID the right to enter or use those facilities or events which they actually are paying for. Does this make sense to you? The only way I can see it, is that the government is taking advantage of the people and continuing to abridge the citizens rights to gain more and more power."
|
By Jordon M. Greene
January 4th, 2008
For years now Americans have lived in a nation with a Congress which does not respect the rights of the American people and has probably done more harm and injury to the American people than to truly help and protect us. They have passed bills such as the USA Patriot Act and Military Commissions Act which have already taken affect and sold the liberties of the American people for an alleged security, which will never be. Yet, what should now concern us is the coming implementation of a bill which was passed back in 2005 called the REAL ID Act.
The REAL ID Act was attached on to H.R. 1268 which provided for funds appropriations “for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief” and no mention is even given to the REAL ID Section of the bill until you reach the bottom of page 72 of the 93 page bill. In a way it was concealed, or just attached as a sort of unrelated rider to the end of the bill. So, how many of our warmongering and elitist politicians are going to vote against our neocon foreign policy; who wants to vote against funds for the wars we are fighting to “liberate” and spread democracy around the world; you might be labeled as not supporting the troops if you do not vote to pass the funding (which is wrong and unjustifiable). I believe that this is how they got the bill passed, and how they keep people from hearing much about it, I mean it is not a stand alone bill but simply an add-on that has no mention in the title or beginning of the bill. Yet, the question still remains; why should we be alarmed, and especially why now?
The REAL ID Act sets federal standards or mandates on state Driver’s Licenses and Identification Cards to supposedly curb illegal immigration. Therefore the problem that presents itself with this bill is actually, in my eyes, two-fold. First, we do not need more laws to stop the immigration crisis, or invasion however you like to put it. We simply need to enforce the laws we already have and to do so strictly. We have all the laws we need, the border fence should be finished as already provided by law and our border patrol agents should actually be allowed to defend it.
Secondly, the bill goes about solving the problem in a very sad and alarming manner which in ways reminds me of some scene out of Nazi-Germany or of some tyrannical government in general. Simply put, it is a national system overriding the state while allowing the government more control of and the ability to intrude into the individual’s privacy even more than they already have. By May of 2008, only months away, the states have been mandated by the federal government through this bill to meet certain standards of identification and to integrate their DMV systems with the federal government and in turn the other states.
This is a National ID Card, as much as the Congress or other individuals may swear it is not. What else can it be called when it requires the linkage of information systems related to the Driver’s License/Identification Card with every other state and the federal government and required information sharing through this system? It is a National ID Card! This itself is unconstitutional, and in May of 2008 the federal government will officially usurp state’s rights with this federally unfunded mandate and begin a grave threat to the privacy of the American people.
Yes, your privacy is going to be at great risk with this new ID. According to the REAL ID Act, each Driver’s License or personal Identification Card will be required to have the basic information such as Name, Date of Birth and Address, yet, it will also have common machine-readable technology (basically a bar code) on the back of the license/ID. On this bar code, the state will store information about you, anything from Library, Medical to Financial records and it will all be shared on the new interlinked system with the federal government and the other forty-nine states and other territories (such as Puerto Rico and Guam). I do not know about you, but this worries me. To put a little more emphasis and proof that the government is beginning to link its systems, a worker at the Social Security Administration in my area informed me recently that the State of North Carolina (the model state for the REAL ID system) has recently interlinked many, if not all of their government agencies, such as the Social Security Administration and Department of Motor Vehicles.
First, why does the government need to be able to have all this information about me, and then are they really going to be able to keep my information safe? I am sure you know what I mean, anytime we seem to give the federal government any power (whether we should or not), they either foul it up or they lose it. My worry, is that my information and privacy is not secure in government hands, especially when being so accessible to so many, and when the government has consistently been prone to leaving citizen’s information in machines they sell, or somehow misplace it. I cannot seem to gain any confidence in them having so much of my information.
As well as the fact, that the machine-readable technology that they are requiring on the card is very prone to theft without the card holder even knowing it. As tested, individuals can purchase pieces for a relatively cheap scanner and easily pass it by your back pocket (or for you ladies, your pocket book) from several feet away and in seconds gather all the information held on your card. It is not secure, and will, once mandatory, present a grave threat to the people’s privacy. In essence I believe it violates the individuals 4th Amendment right to be secure in the papers and persons as well. You would think, in a world that is so worried about identity theft, that the government would know better than to put the people at risk, but apparently all they see is power.
Last, is what many people jokingly say would not bother them, yet in reality would and will if something is not done quickly. Without this new ID, individuals will no longer be allowed to enter ANY federal facility (such as the Capitol Building), federally regulated commercial aircraft, federally funded event or institute, and any nuclear power plant. What I think is even more disturbing is that the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has complete authority to decide if citizens have to have this new ID to enter other places, and that the REAL ID Act explicitly states that even the above mentioned places are not the only places that will be limited by the REAL ID Act. Just think, anyone who decides for whatever reason that they do not want to have this new ID (which I cannot understand why anyone would really want it), they will be refused entrance to the premises of any of the above mentioned places which in all reality they at the same time are being forced to pay for through the taxes they pay to the federal government.
So in effect, the REAL ID Act puts the citizens privacy in grave danger, usurps the constitutional authority of the states (therefore endangering the people of the United States), puts our biometrics and photo in to a database like a common criminal, then refuses those who believe it is wrong to have such ID the right to enter or use those facilities or events which they actually are paying for. Does this make sense to you? The only way I can see it, is that the government is taking advantage of the people and continuing to abridge the citizens rights to gain more and more power.
The founders would be appalled by how much we have allowed and put up with in our government. I believe as Patrick Henry, mentor of Thomas Jefferson and the famous Christian lawyer who coined the legendary phrase “give me liberty, or give me death”, when he said to “… [guard] with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.” We should once again hold those we elect responsible, and I say lets take them out of the Congress and the Presidency and elect new people who will follow the Constitution, just like Ron Paul. Let’s fix the problem, and be able to rephrase Henry’s comment on what was then modern America when he said, “When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object.” Just as Ron Paul’s Revolution of freedom has captivated millions, let us join in and bring the American spirit back to its youth and tell those we elect what we believe. That liberty, sir, IS the primary object.
© Jordon M. Greene, 2008. Jordon M. Greene is the Caldwell County Director of the Constitution Party of North Carolina and Campaign Manager for the Bryan Greene 2008 Congressional Campaign Committee.
|
Posted on Feb 05, 2008 11:09am.
(Return)
|
|
|
|
|
Categories
|
|
|
