Liberty Maven

There is some beauty in the world as a result of the REAL ID Act. The beauty is in its ugliness for the Constitutional rule of law. We’ll get to the beauty in a moment. First lets check out the ugly. At this point I could go into a litany of “your momma is so ugly…” jokes, replacing “momma” with “REAL ID”. The truth is the ugliness of it is so awful that humor is entirely inappropriate.

Ron Paul, as usual, pulled the mask off of the REAL ID Act back in 2005 during the debate prior to passage. He railed against the violations of privacy, the first amendment, and the tenth amendment within the law.

This REAL ID Act establishes a massive, centrally-coordinated database of highly personal information about American citizens: at a minimum their name, date of birth, place of residence, Social Security number, and physical characteristics. The legislation also grants open-ended authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to require biometric information on IDs in the future. This means your harmless looking driver’s license could contain a retina scan, fingerprints, DNA information, or radio frequency technology. - Ron Paul, May 2005.

The excuse for the REAL ID or more aptly titled National ID card is to combat terrorism and illegal immigration. Like the PATRIOT Act, once again we are being forced to give up our liberties for the illusion of safety. Naturally, the likely GOP Presidential nominee John McCain loves the idea. McCain’s only remaining opponent for the GOP nod disagrees.

Terrorism is the excuse given for virtually every new power grab by the federal government, and the national ID is no exception. But federal agencies have tried to create a national ID for years, long before the 9-11 attacks. In fact, a 1996 bill sought to do exactly what the REAL ID Act does: transform state drivers’ licenses into de facto national ID cards. At the time, Congress was flooded with calls by angry constituents and the bill ultimately died.

Proponents of the REAL ID Act continue to make the preposterous claim that the bill does not establish a national ID card. This is dangerous and insulting nonsense. Let’s get the facts straight: The REAL ID Act transforms state motor vehicle departments into agents of the federal government. Nationalizing standards for driver’s licenses and birth certificates in a federal bill creates a national ID system, pure and simple. Having the name of your particular state on the ID is meaningless window dressing. - Ron Paul, May 2005

This is the ugly truth of the REAL ID. Most Americans drooling through their day jobs have no idea their way of life is being threatened. Patriots like Ron Paul try to wipe up the drool and shake people into reality. Unfortunately, few are listening now, but those that are listening are slowly spreading the word. The goal of terrorism is to change behavior due to the fear it breeds. Going down the list of liberty sacrificing legislation passed after 9/11 in the name of patriotism, more aptly termed nationalism, demonstrates which side is really winning the war on terror.

That is enough of the ugly. There is some beauty that comes along with REAL ID. The beauty lies in the opposition. More than the other liberty eroding laws the REAL ID could be the one that goes too far. So far 17 states have passed statutes or resolutions against the federal law. Many others are in the deliberation process of similar laws.

These state opposition efforts give one hope. The tenth amendment is back. In 1798 President John Adams signed into law the Alien and Sedition acts. These acts demonstrated a massive expansion of federal authority over the states. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison worked to denounce these laws citing the tenth amendment of the Constitution. When the federal government exceeds the bounds of its authority, the laws are, “unauthoritative, void, and of no force”, Jefferson said. He certainly would have said the same of the REAL ID today. Ron Paul truly is the Thomas Jefferson of our day.

There is more beauty. Due to the state opposition, enforcement of REAL ID has been postponed twice. Currently, the deadline for states is May 11th, 2011. The beauty is only skin deep though. On January 11th, 2008, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that if states want their licenses to remain valid for air travel after May 2008, those states must seek a waiver indicating they want more time to comply with the legislation. Residents of states that have not sought waivers will have to use a passport or a newly created federal passport card if they want to avoid a vigorous secondary screening at airport security. Goodbye sweet liberty.

Ron Paul may be polarizing on foreign policy for Republicans and on domestic policy for Democrats. However, judging by the massive opposition efforts across the country he has the support of the majority on this issue. Perhaps the REAL ID will be the trigger for those apathetic summer soldiers to transform their apathy into action. That is the beauty of the freedoms we still own, and that kind of beauty is not skin deep. It goes right down to the bone.

TAKE ACTION: Contact your legislators at every level and make it known that you are against the REAL ID Act.