National Identity Card

[Zlatko Waterman]

Dear All:


What are your feelings about the National Identity Card ( with 'biometric identifiers") now being advocated for the US by members of Congress and many others in the National Security Biz?

These cards, mandatory for every US citizen, could then be demanded by various bureaus at "screening points" inside the US and elsewhere.

In the seventies, I had a close Russian friend. Her mother lived in Omsk, forty miles away from her. She had to show her internal passport six times simply to visit her own mother. The Soviets called their national I.D. cards "internal passports", and the cards were employed in the same way that is now being advocated for the US.

My feeling is that we all better go back and read Orwell, fast. Not to mention Kafka.

Here's Rep. Ron Paul's take:

(paste from "AntiWar.com below)



National ID Threatens Liberty

by Rep. Ron Paul
Washington politicians are once again seriously considering imposing a national identification card – and it may well become law before the end of the 108th Congress. The much-hailed 9/11 Commission report [pdf] released in July recommends a federal identification card and, worse, a "larger network of screening points" inside the United States. Does this mean we are to have "screening points" inside our country where American citizens will be required to "show their papers" to government officials? It certainly sounds that way!

As I have written recently, the 9/11 Commission is nothing more than ex-government officials and lobbyists advising current government officials that we need more government for America to be safe. Yet it was that same government that failed so miserably on Sept. 11, 2001.

Congress has embraced the 9/11 Commission report uncritically since its release in July. Now Congress is rushing to write each 9/11 Commission recommendation into law before the November election. In the same way Congress rushed to pass the PATRIOT Act after the Sept. 11 attacks to be seen "doing something," it looks like Congress is about to make the same mistake again of rushing to pass liberty-destroying legislation without stopping to consider the consequences. Because it is so controversial, we may see legislation mandating a national identification card with biometric identifiers hidden in bills implementing 9/11 Commission recommendations. We have seen this technique used in the past on controversial measures.

A national identification card, in whatever form it may take, will allow the federal government to inappropriately monitor the movements and transactions of every American. History shows that governments inevitably use the power to monitor the actions of people in harmful ways. Claims that the government will protect the privacy of Americans when implementing a national identification card ring hollow. We would do well to remember what happened with the Social Security number. It was introduced with solemn restrictions on how it could be used, but it has become a de facto national identifier.

Those who are willing to allow the government to establish a Soviet-style internal passport system because they think it will make us safer are terribly mistaken. Subjecting every citizen to surveillance and "screening points" will actually make us less safe, not in the least because it will divert resources away from tracking and apprehending terrorists and deploy them against innocent Americans!

The federal government has no constitutional authority to require law-abiding Americans to present any form of identification before they engage in private transactions. Instead of forcing all Americans to prove to law enforcement that they are not terrorists, we should be focusing our resources on measures that really will make us safer. For starters, we should take a look at our dangerously porous and unguarded borders. We have seen already this summer how easy it is for individuals possibly seeking to do us harm to sneak across the border into our country. In July, Pakistani citizen Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed, who is on the federal watch list, reportedly crossed illegally into Texas from Mexico. She was later arrested when she tried to board a plane in New York, but she should have never been able to cross our border in the first place!

We must take effective measures to protect ourselves from a terrorist attack. That does not mean rushing to embrace legislation that in the long run will do little to stop terrorism, but will do a great deal to undermine the very way of life we should be protecting. Just as we must not allow terrorists to threaten our lives, we must not allow government to threaten our liberties. We should reject the notion of a national identification card.


( Rep. Ron Paul:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-b ... 4&site=ctc)

note: I do suspect that Rep. Ron Paul's "Chief of Staff" may urge the adoption of a "serpentine" policy or two--check his name!)

[abcrystcats]

Good grief! I think you should have rephrased your question, Zlatko! I can't think, offhand, of anyone on this message board who would think National Identity cards are a great idea!

Don't we have too many identifiers in this country already? We have Social Security, we have Driver's Licenses, car registration and license plates, voter registration cards, and I can't think what else. That's just for the government ... Then privately, there are work ID badges, credit cards, debit cards and so on. If a federal agency wants to find out where you are and what you are doing at any time, it shouldn't be too difficult.

I read several other places that the microchip identifiers we use for pets are being set up to be used for people, by a private agency. Why bother with ID cards, when they can just implant a microchip and scan your hand as you walk into the airport?

For my part, I don't know how many more invasions of my privacy I can tolerate.

"and if my thought-dreams could be seen, they'd probably put my head in a guillotine" Bob Dylan

which is why I pay for everything in cash. No cards for me.

[Lightning Rod]

this chills me to the bone, Zlatko

I've always had a great deal of reapect for Ron Paul. I don't know how he keeps getting re-elected in Texas. Oftener than not, his libertarian views match mine.

If they institute a national ID, I will have no other choice but to leave the country, both for principle and practicality.

[Lightning Rod]

Z-ko

here is a poem I wrote in 1986. One of the few poems I wrote when I was locked up. Mostly I read.

-------

SECURITY


Oh, ain't it a polite police state!
The prison is the ultimate in civilization.
No focal point for righteous horror
but just outside the gates
we know the guns are waiting for us
oiled and grinning.
Like just outside the borders
we know the bombs are waiting for us.
Because we keep our missiles hidden and
our military behind neatly clipped hedges
our citizens accept the myth of liberty.
I tell you: before the end of this century
they'll have all our pictures on ID cards
and there will be a friendly officer on
every corner to check it for you.
And you'll feel safe as I do in this penitentiary.


---inmate #380000

[Zlatko Waterman]

"neatly clipped hedges . . ."

catches all the horror of the scene you've built in this poem, LR. Nicely done, and chilling to the bone, as you said.


By the way, your heroin piece was beautifully done; it had the mordant bite of the authentic about it, and the diction was direct, yet also dreamy.

Burroughs should have been able to score so well ( linguistically) in "Junkie . . ."

Bravo. Your prose fiction is quite strong.


--Z