The Real ID

When I first heard about this, I sighed and said, “Can’t they leave well enough alone?” Once I did some research, and since I’ve followed the development since its introduction a few years back, my feelings did not change.

I do see terrorism as a problem, of course; the same with illegal immigration. But changing the laws for the driver’s license isn’t going to help.

I live in South Carolina; I was born here, and I’ve lived here all my life. The same is true for most of my family. Our Governor (Sanford) has fought the Real ID for a while now. For that, I applaud him.

For one thing, it would cost too much. But it’s an idiotic cost, really. In South Carolina, we (those who drive, at least) pay about $25 for a license that lasts ten years. Under the Real ID, we would pay around $60 for a license that lasts eight years. It would cost millions and millions to change to that system, and it’s estimated that our state would have to pay millions annually after that.

If the federal government wants to introduce something new, a national program like this that is mandatory, it should be paid for with the federal tax system, not the state system. Taxpayers’ money is more valuable than they seem to care, though, especially for those of us in low-income communities. And then, look at the shape the economy is in now. Need I say more?

As for terrorism, the war with Al-Qaeda sadly can’t be avoided. However, the 9-11 attack is another story. Countries around the world knew it would happen, and they warned us. Our leadership chose to ignore them. It might have meant a military strike on our part, but I honestly believe that the 9-11 attack could have been stopped somehow.

As for illegal immigration, we would cut down on this problem greatly if we had better border control. And I don’t mean building walls or whatever that run across farmers’ lands. It is a delicate situation, and I understand that papers and IDs can be faked. But in my research, I’ve seen nuclear plants, no less, near the border where anyone can walk in and there’s no one there to stop them.

Exactly how is the Real ID going to solve that?

Every state has the option to request an extension on the Real ID program. I believe it expires at the end of March. I wanted to write to South Carolina’s governor, but I didn’t have time to craft a letter of such importance to him.

I’ve heard that they did away with the radio-chip thing that they originally wanted to include as part of the new card. It makes it more palatable, but it doesn’t make things any better.

Many Christians believe that, in the end times, everyone will wear a mark. You will have to have that mark in order to go about your daily life.

It’s already happened.

In ancient Rome, everyone had to have the mark of Caesar in order to have access to a public building, to buy and sell, or whatever. Most of those nations did not know of the Americas, so in their minds (and in the minds of the writers of that period) Rome did in fact rule the world.

Rome was a police state, a republic that became an empire, a nation that glorified the military and saw war as its favorite pastime. Greed and ego powered ambition. They kept meticulous track of their citizens and those they ruled. If the Romans had been capable of implanting tracking devices in their subjects, or on their person, they certainly would have done it.

Am I the only one who sees alarming similarities between Old Rome and America?

Besides, America, as I understand it, is not a republic. It’s supposed to be a democracy, in which the people decide what happens or what doesn’t.

I believe our leadership has blinders on everyone. They preach about how this or that will ensure our freedom, when we’re really being asked to give up our freedoms in compliance with nonsensical laws.

Our freedoms, our rights, are granted us by the Constitution from the moment of our birth. I am a law-abiding citizen, and I am a proud American. As such, I’ll die before I have to give up my freedom.

If you want to narrow it down, you could say that Rome was a tried-and-true bureaucracy. I hate to say it, but it seems you could say that of my country.

I’ve heard them claim that the Real ID would solve the problem of fake IDs and papers. I doubt that. We have fake websites, fake programs that seem do to what they should when they’re really transmitting our information to a thief. They claimed that the new ten-dollar bill couldn’t be counterfeited; yet soon after its release, they had millions of dollars in counterfeits of the new bill.

When someone applies for a visa, we should investigate them BEFORE they arrive. We have laws in place that would cut down on the illegal immigration issue, which sometimes is connected with terrorism, but those laws aren’t being enforced.

I’ve also heard that Homeland Security was developed because the existing agencies wouldn’t talk to each other. Hello, this is one country, one nation, isn’t it? If our security agencies won’t talk to each other, find other people for the job who will.

In my mind, the Real ID is just one more step toward Big Brother. I mean, do we want George Orwell’s “1984” to come true? It seems that’s what we’re doing, anyway: allowing that dark future to unfold while the public at large remains blind to just how strongly the goings-on in Washington DC affect us all.