Is Real ID a Real Danger?

What is easier for a government to control than citizens whose every move can be tracked and analyzed? If a population's moves can be restricted, then any restive or potentially dangerous elements can be tracked and subdued. Any gathering can be monitored and if necessary, subverted or shut down altogether.

Until now, American citizens had no need for a passport to move from one state to another. But now, with the implementation of the Real ID program in May of 2008, the Federal government has taken a step toward an interstate passport program. According Homeland Security Czar Michael Chertoff, as reported by CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/11/real.id.ap/index.html), all citizens must have this new "passport" before they can fly on an airplane, either inside or outside the United States. If they do not, he promises that they will be subjected to "a vigorous secondary screening at airport security." The threatening tone of his recent speech was only barely veiled.

Apparently, even Chertoff is aware of the harshness of his pronouncement against the citizens of the United States. "The last thing I want to do is punish the citizens of a state who would love to have a Real ID license but can't get one," he said. He was referring to the citizens of seventeen states whose own elected officials have either passed legislation or resolutions protesting the provisions of the Real ID Act (http://www.realnightmare.org/about/). And he is making the assumption that the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens want their information centered in a single database that would be vulnerable to hacker attacks and manipulation by a federal government that has not only been unable to protect information it already has gathered, but is facing increasing mistrust by its own citizens of its motives and honesty.

Unfortunately, airline travel will not be the only activity affected by the Real ID mandate. Citizens without the national ID will be denied entrance to federal buildings, and may lose the ability to open a bank account. It may even restrict an individual's ability to file for Social Security benefits. And it is conceivable that it can be used to deny a citizen's right to vote.

Congress passed the Real ID bill in 2005 as a rider to an emergency military funding bill. This method of ramrodding the legislation through Congress effectively circumvented any discussion of the bill and its ramifications, intentional or otherwise, from taking place in Congress. And enforcement of this law may in fact be illegal under the provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act, which forbids Federal interference in interstate transportation.

If there is a positive side to Chertoff's efforts to restrict the movement of America's citizens, it is that the airline crisis would be mitigated to a large degree. With the people of at least seventeen states unable to fly without proper ID or being forced to submit themselves to punitive security scrutiny, the passenger overloads currently experienced by the nation's airlines will be alleviated, and the air traffic controller crisis will be averted. And if those citizens are denied access to federal buildings, there will be less need for federal employees to assist them. Perhaps most importantly, if citizens cannot claim their Social Security benefits, that program will save enough money to avert that potential crisis as well.

The Federal government has a lot to gain, and the citizens have a lot to lose, if this program is permitted to go forward. It is fortunate that most of our current presidential candidates do not support the Real ID program http://www.realnightmare.org/about/). There is at least some hope that the program will either be killed or overhauled once the elections are over. The only problem with that is that the program is due to be implemented long before the election will be held. In the meantime, because of flight restrictions and the current high price of gasoline, more Americans will be just where the government thinks we should be - at home, keeping our mouths shut..