In May, 2005, the late President George W. Bush signed a law requiring states to issue licenses and identification cards that would conform to new national standards. A de facto national identification card, the system was considered by many to be another "Big Brother" robbery of personal freedom and states' rights. Called "The Real ID Act", the new law was to take affect in 2008 as soon as Homeland Security created the "rules" by which states would be required to comply. As with everything else Bush's inane Homeland Security department did, the transition was bungled by incompetence, bureaucratic in-fighting, and sheer stupidity.
Backlash came from all corners as citizens' rights groups and many states vehemently opposed the new impositions. The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted, in 2006, to not participate in the program. One representative gave a rousing speech on the House floor, saying, "We care more for our liberties thn to meekly hand over to the federal government the potential to enumerate, track, identify, and eventually control." New Hampshire's Senate seemed to have less opposition, voting only to create a study group to analyze the "pros" and "cons" of the Real ID Act. Implementing the program became one of the biggest snafus, as the Department of Homeland Security once again showed its administrative impotence.
As usual, the new law gave the federal government more power and control. States refusing to conform could face severe consequences. There were approximately 245 million valid drivers' licenses and identification cards that were now subject to modification because the Bush administration's paranoia concluded that everyone in America was suspect and could not be allowed to live free. The United States of America, under the Bush administration, had slowly become a replica of the staid and bumbling former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (U.S.S.R.), which at one time America rigorously criticized for its rigid policies that took individual liberties and freedoms awy from citizns. Apparently communist states weren't allowed to hold such power over their constituencies, only a free and independence republic such as the U.S.A. could do that.
Critics also pointed out that a federal identification card could be forged as easily as a state I.D. In fact, forgers might have an easier time of it because they'd only have to deal with one standard format and one consistent set of graphics. Costs for the new program were attacked as unecessary, prohibitive, and extravagant. States would incur the costs of replacing or reworking mainframe computers and database systems to comply with federal regulations. Proponents, of course, argued that there was already a national ID program in place; the Real ID Act only standardized the program. As always, the enormous costs of revamping the program were ignored, as bureaucrats simply brushed it off as a cost that would have be passed on to consumers. As always, there was no consideration as to the people's wishes or needs; it was all about expanding the intrusive role of government in people's lives with very little actual benefit or purpose other than to turn over more control and power to the federal government.
Indiana's Director of Homeland Security said in 2006, "The time has come that need to be more aggressive," as he defended the Bush concept of a federal identification card. Since its inception right after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Homeland Security had proven itself to be a bungling bureaucracy without direction or focus. Like everything else, the Bush administration simply threw money at it, assuming that enough money can fix anything. O.U.T.R.A.G.E. members saw the dismal and expensive boondoggle Homeland Security had become. It was one of the primary targets of the 'Rebellion of '08' as most of its hierarchy and facilities around the nation were obliterated. Ironically, Homeland Security was as unprepared for an attack as was the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, proving that all the trumped-up bullshit the federal government had been spoon-feeding citizens over the years was nothing more than trumped-up bullshit.
George W. Bush had stressed the need for security and protection throughout his two presidential terms. As he and a defunct U.S. Congress fiddled with trying to execute insipid "security" measures, members of O.U.T.R.A.G.E. had effectively used the Bush trepidations to effectively change the course being dictated to Americans by a fear-filled collection of cowardly politicians. Now, as on December 7, 1941, Americans had "nothing to fear but fear itself". There was not enough security measures in the world to protect a nation of sniveling weaklings who were afraid of sacrificing their creature comforts in return for being truly free and liberated from the tyranny of an oppressive, sissified administration led by a weak, indecisive, incompetent President who believed more laws, guns, and ammo could rule the world.
Bush had grown up as a spoiled rich kid whose father could always bail him out of any trouble that attached itself to him. As with most spoiled rich kids whose parents are overprotective, it gave Bush a false sense of security and bravado, which he carried with him into the White House. Afraid of his own shadow, Bush nonetheless enjoyed swaggering around as some kind of "macho man" as long as he was surrounded by his protective bodyguards. It's easy to be brave when you don't have to face the horrors of war yourself. By instilling fear in others, the mentally deficient Bush created a self-image of one who was courageous, undaunted, and fearless. His entire life had been one of awesome insecurity and self-doubt. His cowboy tactics pumped up his ego and made him feel like a "real" man. Bush should have spend more time on a psychiatrist's couch; perhaps his outrageous actions would not have caused the country he supposedly "loved" such agony and heartache.
Love, compassion, diplomacy, tact, allotment, equality, and humility were not words George W. Bush understood.
Greed, power, money, and control were the elements that consumed George W. Bush and his demented band of merry thieves. The atrocities the Bush bandits had committed could not be undone easily, but they also could not go unchallenged in the unlikely hopes that the GOP and its evil Congressional helpmates (Democrats and Republicans alike) would be defeated in the elections of fall, 2008. Something had to be done to change America.
Fortunately, before Homeland Security could finalize any kind of rational plan, the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. revolutionaries had rendered the bloated, over-rated department helpless. The idea of a federal identification card was no longer anything more than a pipedream. Social security cards would still be issued; states, however, could still issue their own drivers' licenses and I.D. cards without interference from the feds. Chalk one up for state's rights.
Backlash came from all corners as citizens' rights groups and many states vehemently opposed the new impositions. The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted, in 2006, to not participate in the program. One representative gave a rousing speech on the House floor, saying, "We care more for our liberties thn to meekly hand over to the federal government the potential to enumerate, track, identify, and eventually control." New Hampshire's Senate seemed to have less opposition, voting only to create a study group to analyze the "pros" and "cons" of the Real ID Act. Implementing the program became one of the biggest snafus, as the Department of Homeland Security once again showed its administrative impotence.
As usual, the new law gave the federal government more power and control. States refusing to conform could face severe consequences. There were approximately 245 million valid drivers' licenses and identification cards that were now subject to modification because the Bush administration's paranoia concluded that everyone in America was suspect and could not be allowed to live free. The United States of America, under the Bush administration, had slowly become a replica of the staid and bumbling former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (U.S.S.R.), which at one time America rigorously criticized for its rigid policies that took individual liberties and freedoms awy from citizns. Apparently communist states weren't allowed to hold such power over their constituencies, only a free and independence republic such as the U.S.A. could do that.
Critics also pointed out that a federal identification card could be forged as easily as a state I.D. In fact, forgers might have an easier time of it because they'd only have to deal with one standard format and one consistent set of graphics. Costs for the new program were attacked as unecessary, prohibitive, and extravagant. States would incur the costs of replacing or reworking mainframe computers and database systems to comply with federal regulations. Proponents, of course, argued that there was already a national ID program in place; the Real ID Act only standardized the program. As always, the enormous costs of revamping the program were ignored, as bureaucrats simply brushed it off as a cost that would have be passed on to consumers. As always, there was no consideration as to the people's wishes or needs; it was all about expanding the intrusive role of government in people's lives with very little actual benefit or purpose other than to turn over more control and power to the federal government.
Indiana's Director of Homeland Security said in 2006, "The time has come that need to be more aggressive," as he defended the Bush concept of a federal identification card. Since its inception right after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Homeland Security had proven itself to be a bungling bureaucracy without direction or focus. Like everything else, the Bush administration simply threw money at it, assuming that enough money can fix anything. O.U.T.R.A.G.E. members saw the dismal and expensive boondoggle Homeland Security had become. It was one of the primary targets of the 'Rebellion of '08' as most of its hierarchy and facilities around the nation were obliterated. Ironically, Homeland Security was as unprepared for an attack as was the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, proving that all the trumped-up bullshit the federal government had been spoon-feeding citizens over the years was nothing more than trumped-up bullshit.
George W. Bush had stressed the need for security and protection throughout his two presidential terms. As he and a defunct U.S. Congress fiddled with trying to execute insipid "security" measures, members of O.U.T.R.A.G.E. had effectively used the Bush trepidations to effectively change the course being dictated to Americans by a fear-filled collection of cowardly politicians. Now, as on December 7, 1941, Americans had "nothing to fear but fear itself". There was not enough security measures in the world to protect a nation of sniveling weaklings who were afraid of sacrificing their creature comforts in return for being truly free and liberated from the tyranny of an oppressive, sissified administration led by a weak, indecisive, incompetent President who believed more laws, guns, and ammo could rule the world.
Bush had grown up as a spoiled rich kid whose father could always bail him out of any trouble that attached itself to him. As with most spoiled rich kids whose parents are overprotective, it gave Bush a false sense of security and bravado, which he carried with him into the White House. Afraid of his own shadow, Bush nonetheless enjoyed swaggering around as some kind of "macho man" as long as he was surrounded by his protective bodyguards. It's easy to be brave when you don't have to face the horrors of war yourself. By instilling fear in others, the mentally deficient Bush created a self-image of one who was courageous, undaunted, and fearless. His entire life had been one of awesome insecurity and self-doubt. His cowboy tactics pumped up his ego and made him feel like a "real" man. Bush should have spend more time on a psychiatrist's couch; perhaps his outrageous actions would not have caused the country he supposedly "loved" such agony and heartache.
Love, compassion, diplomacy, tact, allotment, equality, and humility were not words George W. Bush understood.
Greed, power, money, and control were the elements that consumed George W. Bush and his demented band of merry thieves. The atrocities the Bush bandits had committed could not be undone easily, but they also could not go unchallenged in the unlikely hopes that the GOP and its evil Congressional helpmates (Democrats and Republicans alike) would be defeated in the elections of fall, 2008. Something had to be done to change America.
Fortunately, before Homeland Security could finalize any kind of rational plan, the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. revolutionaries had rendered the bloated, over-rated department helpless. The idea of a federal identification card was no longer anything more than a pipedream. Social security cards would still be issued; states, however, could still issue their own drivers' licenses and I.D. cards without interference from the feds. Chalk one up for state's rights.
posted by Bushwacker! at 5:57 AM
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