Wednesday - August 03, 2005

Are You Who You Say You Are?

Unlike the internet and the blogosphere, your local Department of Motor Vehicles expects you from now on to be able to prove you are who you say you are. A few years ago, liberal states like California and New York were handing out drivers licenses to anyone who walked into their offices, even illegal aliens. This has now come to a screeching halt with the REAL ID Act, even if you live in a small town in Kansas where everybody knows everybody ....

ELLSWORTH, Kan. (AP)—Federal law will make county treasurer Paula Schneider do something that would be plain rude on the streets of this little town: treat friends as strangers. Never mind that she knows practically everyone who walks into her office and wants a driver’s license. Under the REAL ID Act meant to deter terrorists, Schneider will have to make neighbors prove who they are. Homeland security is taking a toll on the homespun way of doing things at government offices like hers.

The law will require people to come up with more papers attesting to their identity and citizenship status before they get a driver’s license. States say this will drive up costs and lengthen lines at motor vehicle offices. Schneider anticipates headaches and hard feelings. “We’ll have unhappy people,” she said. “They’ll say, ‘You know me.’”

People in bigger places are accustomed to impersonal take-a-number processing and Soviet bread-line waits at their driver’s license office. Not so in Ellsworth, a central Kansas town of 2,100 residents and some 800 inmates at the big state prison on the outskirts. Government business is done with a breezy informality.

“Right now if somebody comes in who lost their license, we’ll write down their name and their birthday and go back there and see what we can find on the computer,” said Schneider, gesturing behind the counter of her office in the old stone courthouse. A high-school yearbook may suffice to establish someone’s identity. But because neighbors are serving neighbors, even that much is usually unnecessary now. Under the changes, though, people will have to prove themselves several times over.

All I can say is, it’s about time. I have my birth certificate in my desk drawer and I carry my passport with me at all times, just in case. I know who I am and can prove it, which I usually have to do several times a week. But will this stop terrorists or illegal aliens? Of course not. The jerk from Guatemala who crashed into me last December and totalled my vehicle was drunk, had no license, no insurance, no verifiable address and apparently no place of employment. He was in the country illegally, working for strictly cash and had used same to buy a piece of crap car to go out and get drunk in. He has since disappeared and the police and my insurance company can’t find him. The place to stop these asshats is at the border, not at the DMV. That’s kinda like shutting the barn door after all the horses have escaped or in my case .... the jackass from Guatemala.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/03/2005 at 03:42 AM   
Filed Under: • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner