Real ID and Hurricane Katrina aftermath


A national ID card won't prevent crime
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, there were stories of carjackings, robberies, and sex crimes. Some were anecdotal, some weren't. That didn't stop some rumblings demanding that the Real ID program be sped up.

I think these people miss the point.

Even if Real ID had already been implemented, it wouldn't have prevented these crimes. Short of tattooing someone's criminal record on their forehead, there is no way to tell just by looking if you can trust someone or not. I think this follows the standard government procedure, the regulations failed so more regulations are created.

Case in point, even the 9-11 Commission with all it's flaws found that if existing law had been enforced, at least eleven of the hijackers would have been deported long before that September. Government's response was to pass the Patriot Act, arguably one of the greatest threats to individual liberty since the Civil War when Abraham Lincoln suspended the Constitution to save the Union.

Let's assume for a moment that my previous objections are totally without merit. Let's focus solely on what could have happened after Katrina. Say someone was stopped at the border of Mississippi and their OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTATION™ had them labeled as a sex offender.

Now that could mean a pedophile or a rapist. But in some states that could also mean someone who bought an unauthorized sex toy. It could also mean someone who sunbathes in the nude.

Exactly how are those things all the same?

Say their OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTATION™ had them labeled has a drug offender. Now that could mean a major drug dealer. It could also mean a doctor who the government thought prescribed too much pain medication. Or a plastics manufacturer who made little jars originally intended for florists. Or a teenager who brought cough drops to school.

No matter, they are all now irrevocably defined as criminal by their OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTATION™.

And of course other criminals, the violent type, wouldn't think about getting forged papers so they could pass unnoticed among the helpless population.

That same population that has been disarmed by government edict.

Aren't you glad that the government is protecting you?

— NeoWayland

Posted: Fri - September 23, 2005 at 07:29 PM  Tag


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