Skip to main content

ACLURSS
Daily Kos member

Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:55 AM PST

Your Papers Please

by ACLUFollow

By Shenna Bellows, executive director, Maine Civil Liberties Union

Maine was the first state to opt out of the REAL ID, a de facto national identification card.  We may be the last.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has thrown down the gauntlet, telling Mainers we won’t be able to fly or will be subjected to horrible screening beginning May 11 if we don’t cave to the Bush administration in accepting REAL ID.  

Part of their scaremongering includes letters like these, sent to governors around the country. Of course, the letter is rife with misstatements. Check out what the 9/11 Commission really said about standards for licenses on page 390 of their report. The REAL ID or any other national identification card wasn’t part of their recommendation.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) issued a letter to Governor John Baldacci (D) Friday urging him to comply. Congressman Tom Allen (D-ME) has pointed out that Maine’s congressional delegation would better serve Mainers by lobbying Michael Chertoff to back off his threat rather than lobbying Maine to back down in face of this federal encroachment.

The emperor has no clothes of course. It’s not as if any other state will be fully REAL ID-compliant by May. None of them will. DHS has publicly acknowledged that the target date for implementation is 2014 for people under 50 and 2017 for people over 50.  This is plain old politics.  If DHS can say that all of the states are compliant, then there will be no political will for Congress to repeal the REAL ID.  

Montana and South Carolina have joined Maine in telling the federal government "What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?" I’m sure elected officials in Montana and South Carolina are as desperate to hear from constituents as Maine’s elected officials, who are increasingly worried about the Department of Homeland Security’s threats. That’s why we are encouraging Mainers to contact Governor Balducci and urge him to stand up to bullying from the Department of Homeland Security.

Originally posted to ACLU on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:55 AM PST.

Tags

You must add at least one tag to this diary before publishing it.

Add keywords that describe this diary. Separate multiple keywords with commas.
Tagging tips - Search For Tags - Browse For Tags

?

More Tagging tips:

A tag is a way to search for this diary. If someone is searching for "Barack Obama," is this a diary they'd be trying to find?

Use a person's full name, without any title. Senator Obama may become President Obama, and Michelle Obama might run for office.

If your diary covers an election or elected official, use election tags, which are generally the state abbreviation followed by the office. CA-01 is the first district House seat. CA-Sen covers both senate races. NY-GOV covers the New York governor's race.

Tags do not compound: that is, "education reform" is a completely different tag from "education". A tag like "reform" alone is probably not meaningful.

Consider if one or more of these tags fits your diary: Civil Rights, community, Congress, Culture, Economy, Education, Elections, Energy, Environment, Health Care, International, Labor, Law, media, Meta, National Security, Science, Transportation, or White House. If your diary is specific to a state, consider adding the state (California, Texas, etc). Keep in mind, though, that there are many wonderful and important diaries that don't fit in any of these tags. Don't worry if yours doesn't.

You can add a private note to this diary when hotlisting it:
Are you sure you want to remove this diary from your hotlist?
Are you sure you want to remove your recommendation? You can only recommend a diary once, so you will not be able to re-recommend it afterwards.
Rescue this diary, and add a note:
Are you sure you want to remove this diary from Rescue?
Choose where to republish this diary. The diary will be added to the queue for that group. Publish it from the queue to make it appear.

You must be a member of a group to use this feature.

Add a quick update to your diary without changing the diary itself:
Are you sure you want to remove this diary?
(The diary will be removed from the site and returned to your drafts for further editing.)
(The diary will be removed.)
Are you sure you want to save these changes to the published diary?

Comment Preferences

216 comments | Permalink

Permalink

Meteor Blades, N in Seattle, Mike S, clio, wozzle, Thumb, skiddie, zzyzx, DeminNewJ, DavidW in SF, tmo, Marek, kid oakland, northsylvania, Ray Radlein, Jonathan, radish, GP, nu, Sally in SF, murphy, ogre, Rayne, dalemac, teacherken, Bendygirl, Ivan, Hornito, Liberal Thinking, native, DelRPCV, TaraIst, 2pt5cats, Gooserock, esherard8, Powered Grace, theboz, emal, Knut Wicksell, DebtorsPrison, bosdcla14, Sprinkles, tommurphy, Shockwave, trevzb, LynChi, maracucho, tacet, Troutfishing, eeff, Mnemosyne, ThirstyGator, willyr, Pompatus, xynz, polecat, freelunch, caliberal, Hal C, Matilda, mataliandy, givmeliberty, redtravelmaster, silence, RubDMC, Scott in NAZ, eyeswideopen, jackspace, smintheus, bronte17, Slacker Gal, conchita, cskendrick, ashleyGA, Shadan7, SamSinister, nyceve, SecondComing, OCD, vjlaqem, dicta, grrtigger, HippyWitch, peace voter, highacidity, Rupert, KMc, wanderindiana, PBnJ, Scoopster, shanikka, mkfarkus, aimeeinkc, vmibran, chimpy, roses, Frederick Clarkson, CanisMaximus, Ignacio Magaloni, sgilman, LondonYank, luku, Spud1, Swordsmith, chrisfreel, Nate Roberts, librarianman, fumie, Jesterfox, bustacap, DoctorScience, dmsilev, antirove, sele, Eddie C, wader, LawStudent, Janet Strange, IM, byebyeblinkie, JimDev, Oke, webweaver, kharma, bjornmmcc, Moody Loner, annan, sockpuppet, marko, TexDem, oldjohnbrown, Miss Jones, Tracker, StuartZ, roseeriter, TiaRachel, cometman, klayman, mcshemp, Kidspeak, churchylafemme, niteskolar, Penny Century, Sychotic1, betson08, The Termite, AbsurdEyes, Timbuk3, Eddie Haskell, lcrp, welshvalleymaid, Dood Abides, The Peanut Gallery, Pohjola, Rxtr2, mainefem, horatio in il, AllisonInSeattle, ybruti, Hillbilly Dem, OrangeClouds115, NapaJulie, CanYouBeAngryAndStillDream, Marcus L Salyer, Michiganliberal, Mike Erwin, jcrit, poemworld, bablhous, kd texan, homogenius, Nova Land, solesse413, Daddy Bartholomew, The Gryffin, boran2, guyermo, wolverinethad, sawgrass727, Gowrie Gal, rapala, nehark, davidincleveland, Tarindel, marina, radarlady, ZZZzzz, BluejayRN, Elise, docangel, stormcoming, ek hornbeck, Alice Marshall, OpherGopher, PBen, Jashugan, sap, offred, JoMo DemKim, Flint, Webster, Osiris, panicbean, truong son traveler, Valtin, basquebob, RequestedUsername, sigmarthebad, ChemBob, Brooke In Seattle, anonymousredvest18, YucatanMan, EJP in Maine, Gary Norton, reflectionsv37, ratzo, eru, Jules Beaujolais, dansk47, SaraBeth, Mr X, Jaime Frontero, GreyHawk, lotlizard, most peculiar mama, brenda, Joy Busey, SheriffBart, illyia, lasky57, Yamara, Isara, Cyber Kat, Arctor, wulidancer, nanobubble, Jay Elias, FightTheFuture, neroden, wiscmass, Lisa Lockwood, sbdenmon, word is bond, deepsouthdoug, Cory Bantic, nymosyn, Hannibal, proudprogressiveCA, empathy, Arsenic, Erevann, Snud, danger durden, kathny, Paper Cup, fhcec, xaxnar, maryru, begone, debedb, lgmcp, mariva, forbodyandmind, salvador dalai llama, Cletus from Canuckistan, martini, mspicata, LeftOverAmerica, FrankFrink, Showman, SoniaS, Sanuk, hlee1169, gwilson, BachFan, MissInformation, methodishca, steve nelson, tarheelblue, Keone Michaels, rcbowman, vigilant meerkat, sherlyle, BlueInARedState, emeraldmaiden, Naranjadia, whitewidow, ActivistGuy, Ellicatt, awkawk, cookseytalbott, borkitekt, seefleur, kestrel9000, Samwoman, buhdydharma, KenBee, rsquire, The Wizard, belly, poichick, greenearth, CSI Bentonville, Irishkorean, LokiMom, tecampbell, MJ via Chicago, OffTheHill, StrayCat, jasonbl, merryberry, gooderservice, gatorcog, imabluemerkin, condoleaser, real world chick, FireCrow, Caoimhin Laochdha, armadillo, CTLiberal, bleeding heart, mhw, AndyS In Colorado, doinaheckuvanutjob, ChapiNation386, 5x5, Clive all hat no horse Rodeo, Dianna, va dare, fiddlingnero, thecoolmacdude, means are the ends, kurt, lamdat, YippieAgain, Exile, Statusquomustgo, Bernie68, CharlieHipHop, Snarcalita, Picot verde, Land Use Watch, Intercaust, Temmoku, slksfca, kml, markthshark, Aaa T Tudeattack, AntKat, DrMicro, ammasdarling, AmericanRiverCanyon, sephius1, pgm 01, YoyogiBear, Polacolor, ibonewits, Ken in MN, khereva, Cronesense, hockeyrules, Wanda517, Loudoun County Dem, Cottagerose, possum, moodyinsavannah, jazminecat, suburi, vets74, Outrider, Marcus Graly, FishOutofWater, la urracca, voix de raison, HeartlandLiberal, terabytes, greenchiledem, mommyof3, londubh, Democrat, Uwaine, Strabo, Kyle the Mainer, Kentucky Kid, jayden, brentmack, jedennis, vbdietz, mauro7inf, netguyct, FOS, thursdays child, jnhobbs, millwood, Moderation, Poom, Got a Grip, Dar Nirron, madgranny, JML9999, Biologist, Zydekos, mrbubs, Captain Nimrod, keikekaze, feelingsickinMN, eyesoars, Vinnie Vegas, Neon Mama, mall teacher, TomP, cville townie, gizmo59, Winter Rabbit, MKinTN, wondering if, discocarp, Devsd, Justus, swampus, Mr SeeMore, Port City Moon, RickMassimo, Atheinostic, A Simple Man, Phil N DeBlanc, RSA TX, Johnny Nucleo, Abby Kelleyite, indyada, kitkatkos, Felix Culpa, Lamil, okamichan13, wagdog, Sharon Wraight, Randgrithr, EducationforAll, fatbyjhnsn, Mardish, kN3eLb4Z0d, toddpw, dewley notid, Wek, saildude, SaMx, ShempLugosi, mofembot, evilkewpie, noddem, Rachel Griffiths, royalscam, change the Be, LaFajita, o the umanity, tsqd, Victory Coffee, media whores, valsagem, CA Libertarian, rickyscorpio, DixieDishrag, Uncle Bob, MantisOahu, Executive Odor, Oxy, Scubaval, rhutcheson, papicek, ggwoman55, oldliberal, JGBfan, NetRootsDaily, bhagamu, Bule Betawi, jjackso1, cybrestrike, smellybeast, Mr Tentacle, No Coast Nate, Neon Vincent, boatgeek, Madeleine Crowd, An Affirming Flame, leftneck, DemocraticOz, Stranded Wind, funemployed, davisnn, Partisan Progressive, h bridges, a girl in MI, SciVo, Patch Adam, Kazmarov, Meng Bomin, Fawkes, Daily Activist, John Shade, motbob, klizard, Virginian in Spain, MsConstrues, sarashina nikki, rdxtion, Mom in Maine

Subscribe or Donate to support Daily Kos.