What's so scary about a national ID?

The Village Voice ^ | May 6, 2005 | Jarrett Murphy

[Mr. K]

"...If the commandments are only bound in one's tefillin (phylacteries), then one hasn't followed Torah at all. [...] So, with laws like this, a substantial portion of the camel is under the tent!"

um....HUH?

[infidel29]

19 Arab terrorists crashed commercial airliners into our buildings, yet we're the ones that have to prove we live here? No thanks.

[Vineyard]

As Oldbrowser observes, the Social Security card is easy to fake, and the SSN should be kept privileged so limit ID theft.

But I do have a very secure form of ID that I think people should be given the option of obtaining an equivalent form ...
I have a DoD military ID, and it has fingerprint ID information, plus other information on a small chip in the ID.

Travelers who would LIKE to clear TSA security faster should be given some accelerated screening if they have an ID card like the DoD ID.

Having secure ID that is hard to counterfit, and is hard to obtain fraudulantly is an excellent step forward. There is nothing that suggests once these type IDs are available that the government then will start asking "your papers, please" (with sarcasm dripping when "please" is said).

There is a big difference between having secure IDs that mean something, and requiring "internal passports". The first I want to see, the second ... I don't. But then again, if the INS agents sweep through a factory looking for illegals to deport .... why should we make it easier for the illegals to hide?

Mike

[Da Bilge Troll]

The Nazis said, "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" -- and they were right! The trouble is knowing, in advance, what it is you need to hide! The Jews did not realize, until it was too late, that they needed to hide the fact that they were Jews, for instance.

Fearing government is not paranoia, it is the only safe course. The question to ask, when government wants more power, is not "Why not?"

[FreeAtlanta]

I don't like the idea of a national id, but I think it is the only way to reasonably reduce voter fraud. Other than that, I don't think there is any real merit.

[Flashman_at_the_charge]

He had applied for asylum and was released after illegally entering the U.S. in April 1997.

Big game hunting is no time to be playing catch-and-release.

[yatros from flatwater]

Your reference to the "mark" only being a concern when you physically "implant" it prompted me to caution you that Deuteronomy 6:4-8 seems to bear strongly upon the issue. It doesn't matter only what is in the phylactery or chip but what is in your head (thoughts) and hand (actions).

If a future evil government demands (and receives) your obedience and requires you to carry an ID chip in your wallet or under your skin as testimony, it's your evil actions in response that condemn you far more than the chip.

[Spok]

Let me get this straight:
We let essentially everyone into our country; we give them visas, drivers' licenses, food stamps, medical care, educations, flight training and Social Security. Even after they fly jets into skyscrapers, we renew their right to stay here legally. But this will all end with national id cards? I must be missing something.

[Mr. K]

so you can still go to heaven even with the 'mark' - I didnt thik that was possible.

[oldbrowser]

There is a big difference between having secure IDs that mean something, and requiring "internal passports".

Once the technology is available someone will find a way to use it against us "for our own good". (I think you know who I am talking about.)

[yatros from flatwater]

so you can still go to heaven even with the 'mark' - I didnt thik that was possible.

You'll have to take that one up with the Judge who knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. I am certain that avoiding the "mark" does not guarantee eternal life.

[yatros from flatwater]

I have every confidence that the REAL ID program will be as effective in preventing the plague of false ID's as:
the War to End all Wars,
as effective as the War on Poverty,
as effective as the War on Cancer,
as effective as the War on Drugs
and as effective as all other government programs in history...
effective in expanding the size and scope of government

[Mr. K]

I certainly do not think that avoiding the mark guarantees heaven- I am asking if HAVING the mark guarantees hell.

I got children to worry about - what if they are too small to fight it and I die trying?

[yatros from flatwater]

I certainly do not think that avoiding the mark guarantees heaven- I am asking if HAVING the mark guarantees hell. I got children to worry about - what if they are too small to fight it and I die trying?

If you have the faith of Abraham, and trust as he did that the LORD Himself will provide the Lamb... then salvation comes.

If your children are of age to decide for themselves, then the decision is theirs. If they are too young to do so, then I don't think a Righteous Judge will hold them responsible for other's impositions upon them.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Ping my friend.

[stylin19a]

What's rarely stated is why a national ID would be such a bad thing.

I don't cotton to the idea that a NID would probably be mandatory.

SS cards are "optional". ( I know, I know..but they ARE optional )

[sergeantdave]

If all it's used for is flying a TSA governed government gestapo airplane, checking an Abrams out of the armory or visiting the NSA, I have no problem with it.

[cosine]

If everyone relies on one database and credential for all ID purposes what happens when a mole gets in and starts giving them to his buddies? And he will. Just had a nice ring going in my state at the DMV. Have had the same thing in several other states recently.

What we have now is a layered system. Drivers license look funny, where's your SS card? Credit cards, birth certificate and so on. We've got plenty of systems now. What we need is a government that pays attention.

Is a lot harder to monkey with 50 different state systems than one federal one. And God help you if the feds make a mistake as anyone who has had problems with his SSN can tell you.

[LibertarianInExile]

BUMP CITY.

When people act like Americans should trust government, the question I always have to ask is, "What has government ever done for us that voluntary, private enterprise hasn't done better?"

I can't think of anything that government does now that would be excluded.

[amosmoses]

Uhh. Raise an Army? Perhaps Coca Cola could do that. Coca Cola patches instead of U.S. flags? Of course, Corporations that want to do biz in Communist China might not be the best guardians of our national interest.