Real (Stupid) ID
I've said that the TSA measures are "security," not meaningful security -- meaning anybody smart enough to make it in this comments section without tears could find a way to successfully smuggle something onto a plane. (I would imagine people would bypass the TSA and just, oh, bribe the Sbarro driver and maybe a baggage handler to get the drugs or whatever past "security" and onto a plane.)
To be fair, the TSA also functions as a jobs program to repurpose out of work mall food court employees, etc.
Importantly, it serves as training for Americans to be docile as our rights are yanked from us, like the bit in the Constitution about not being subjected to searches without probable cause. (The fact that you are visiting your grandma or your kid's stuffed animal is holding a stuffed gun do not count.)
Adding to the TSA is the latest in pretend security: "Real ID."
Peter C. Earle writes at the American Institute for Econ Research that government has forced a national ID card on us -- "internal passports," as he put it. He, at least, is thinking of the possible (and likely consequences):
Looking back, Social Security Numbers and the cards bearing them broke ground for the path to a national identification system -- thank you, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. For decades there have been pointed reminders that the cards were intended to be account numbers and not integrated into a government registry of American citizens....There are any number of reasons why the alleged tradeoff between liberty and security that a national ID card represents are being misrepresented. Any system designed, maintained, and run by human beings is ultimately flawed, and in any case corruptible. The existing documents from which the information fed into the Real ID program are eminently vulnerable to forgery. To provide just one example: tens (perhaps hundreds) of thousands of Americans don't have verifiable, "official" birth certificates.
And people can become radicalized after being issued their Real ID card.
The Real ID also represents the "last mile" in the ability of the state to track individuals in real time. With various electronic, social media, and cellphone tracking measures, there is always a delay; and one can choose not to use social media, not to own a cellphone, and opt into other methods of extricating oneself from the prying eyes of the NSA or other government agencies. But the Real ID -- in particular, coupled with biometrics -- fulfills Orwellian conceptions of the total surveillance state.
Expect it, over time, to be leveraged against individuals with outstanding traffic tickets, tax disputes, child or spousal support arrears, or behind on loan payments. Access to national parks and historic sites may be tied to it. Recent proposals pushing compulsory voting are a step closer to realization and enforcement with the establishment of a mandatory government ID card. Census data, drug prescriptions, and even library borrowing choices and habits are likely to eventually be linked with personal data associated with the new ID requirement. And if the Real ID is eventually accessible by the private sector, many individuals with innocuously-tainted personal histories may become effectively unemployable.
And I think he's right on his two wagers -- the first inspiring the "stupid" in the title of this post:
I will here make two wagers -- both of which I sincerely hope to lose.First, within five years of the establishment of the Real ID program (October 2020, or whenever it is ultimately established) either a forgery, an enforcement error, corruption, or some combination of those will lead to its sterility in preventing (or commission of) the very forms of terrorism or crime it portends to. Something awful will happen despite (or perhaps employing) the Real ID cards and program. At that point, revocation will not be an option: "reform," taking the form of increased funding, a larger bureaucracy, and quite possibly greater legal restrictions will instead be piled on.
Second, within ten years of the establishment of the Real ID program it will be required to purchase tickets for and/or board trains and buses that cross state lines. It may also be required at tolls and state crossings in personal vehicles.
I tried to get people to stand up about the TSA, as have others. Nobody cared. Or, to be fair, few cared.
I will make a wager that nobody will care about this national ID card until it's far too late.
And to give said out-of-work mall food court employees easy access to our valuables, such as jewelry and electronics. Hey, gotta supplement the income somehow.
Patrick at November 5, 2019 3:00 AM
Those driver’s licenses they give to illegals in California are not *real ID’s*
Thank God for small favors. It won’t be perfect, but eventually will catch quite a bit of identity theft.
I hope eventually you will need a real ID to vote, but that’s just crazy talk.
Passport control is already going to biometrics.
Most other countries think not having a national ID system is kind of insane.
I think they are probably right.
Isab at November 5, 2019 4:19 AM
Repurposing them into official thugs. They have unquestionable authority. They're unionized, trained at FLETC, and will, in all likelihood, someday be armed. Arguments for that have already been advanced. They're brownshirts in training.
Ernst Rohm was a long-time ally of Hitler and head of security force (SA) for the rising National Socialist German Workers' Party, the aforementioned brownshirts. Rohm was promised that once the second Nazi revolution happened (the plan was always for two), the capitalists would all be killed and the brownshirts would then morph into the new German army.
However, once the Nazis were in office (the first Nazi revolution), Hitler needed the continued support of the existing German Army, at least until Hindenburg finally died and he could take over. Until then, Rohm's loud and public proclamations of the coming second revolution made him inconvenient and undermined Hitler's fragile power base. So, Hitler had Rohm and other high-ranking SA officials murdered by the new SS and the SA disbanded in what has become known as "The Night of the Long Knives."
Any doctrinal purity the Nazis had up to that point was washed away in a sea of blood. It was only about gaining and holding power from then on.
Hopefully , we won't someday need a night of mass murder to someday get our own (T)SA under control.
Conan the Grammarian at November 5, 2019 4:27 AM
Most other countries think the foundational underpinnings of the United States are kind of insane. Free speech, no official religion, the right for individual citizens to bear arms. What kind of freak show are those guys running over there?
Conan the Grammarian at November 5, 2019 4:32 AM
Most other countries think the foundational underpinnings of the United States are kind of insane. Free speech, no official religion, the right for individual citizens to bear arms. What kind of freak show are those guys running over there?
Conan the Grammarian at November 5, 2019 4:32 AM
Your arguments are usually better than this.
The most fundamental right of being an American citizen is to not have those rights diluted or erased by fraud and identity theft.
The association of the real ID requirement with the TSA has apparently rung the Pavlovian bat shit crazy libertarian bell.
Isab at November 5, 2019 5:08 AM
Unfortunately, the sorta-kinda-but-not-really distributed architecture of the implementation pretty much guarantees that fraud and identity theft will occur. And once your Real ID is used for identity theft, your losses will be greater and cleaning up the mess will be a lot more work. Biometrics is a frightening thought to me -- if your biometric data is stolen, how are you going to replace it? Get surgery to alter your fingerprints?
Maybe the best outcome is that the system becomes so porous that it has to be loaded up with additional checks, procedures, passcodes, and additional forms of identification, until it becomes so unwieldy that everyone eventually just gives up.
Cousin Dave at November 5, 2019 6:48 AM
I would imagine people would bypass the TSA and just, oh, bribe the Sbarro driver and maybe a baggage handler to get the drugs or whatever past "security" and onto a plane.
That's just doing it the hard way. A more fruitful approach would be to observe the TSA check lines, and watch for an "agent" pilfering stuff out of luggage. Film that, and then approach them and show them the footage, and then you have a nice job, be a shame if you lose it.
Now you have leverage. Have them escort a kilo of drugs past the check point. Record that as well. After that, most of them will dance to any tune you choose to call.
They're unionized, trained at FLETC, and will, in all likelihood, someday be armed.
That is at once terrifying and comforting. Terrifying in that they're probably going to shoot someone and get away with it. Comforting, because if the shit hits the fan at the airport, I know where I can acquire weapons and ammunition.
I R A Darth Aggie at November 5, 2019 7:12 AM
I hope eventually you will need a real ID to vote, but that’s just crazy talk.
I'm assured that voting is a trivial amount, and that requiring any ID is raaaaaacisst!
I R A Darth Aggie at November 5, 2019 7:13 AM
voting FRAUD is a trivial amount
I really should hire an editor.
I R A Darth Aggie at November 5, 2019 7:14 AM
You are taking this the wrong way Cousin Dave. A fully secure system flat isn't possible. The system needs to be flexible enough to deal with identity theft. It will happen. Bimetrics and fancy pin numbers won't stop it. The bigger issue is a government who pretends identity theft isn't possible so they aren't the ones who have to deal with it.
Isab, I agree with you that an official and organized national ID is probably a good idea. We already have several different ones already. Bureaucratic inertia is the main thing stopping this from getting cleaned up.
Ben at November 5, 2019 7:17 AM
I will make a wager that nobody will care about this national ID card until it's far too late.
I'll wager that a lot of people will neglect/forget to obtain the new ID and get a rude surprise when they try to board their flight a year from now. I'll further wager that protests from these people, combined with lobbying efforts from the airlines which will lose business, will create enormous pressure to do away with the new IDs.
Perhaps this is more wishful thinking than prediction, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Rex Little at November 5, 2019 8:53 AM
“I will make a wager that nobody will care about this national ID card until it's far too late.”
https://www.dhs.gov/real-id
Wow, what a tempest in a teapot.
Isab at November 5, 2019 9:36 AM
OK, I'm confused. The page Isab linked to seems to say that if s state is shown on the map as "compliant", a driver's license issued by that state will be accepted by TSA. If that's true, then it is indeed a tempest in a teapot, since all but two states are compliant according to the map.
However, my state (Arizona) is one of the compliant ones, yet I see signs all over the place warning us to get our Federal IDs by next October. So what's going on? Will my Arizona driver's license be accepted for air travel, or not? Isab, can you clear this up?
Rex Little at November 5, 2019 10:57 AM
Rex, it means the current ID you get today is compliant; not necessarily the older one you got two years ago.
Conan the Grammerian at November 5, 2019 11:03 AM
Look at your license. Mine is up for renewal this month, but was issued four years ago in the state of Wyoming.
If you see a little yellow star with USA under it, on the top right corner of your license, it is real ID. If it doesn’t have that, it isn’t, as I understand it.
I would suggest that if you need to travel but your state ID of what ever kind is non compliant, take your passport. . Passports are always real ID.
Isab at November 5, 2019 11:16 AM
1993: Everything will be fine. Relax!
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at November 5, 2019 3:12 PM
The funny thing is that on 10/01/2020, the TSA is going to be the least of your worries if you have to fly that day. I guarantee that at least 20 people are going to stop you and ask you if you have Real ID. You're going to be asked by the taxi driver, the skycap, the ticket counter. There are going to be police stationed at the airports and they're going to ask you if you have Real ID. They're also going to have special dogs who sniff for non-compliant IDs. In addition, the news media will be there and they'll be asking you if you're certain you have Real ID. And there will probably be a lot of people who have no business at the airport who come to see passengers throw fits when they're not allowed on their flights. By the time you get up to the TSA checkpoint, it should be a breeze after that. Just know that I don't plan on doing any flying next October.
Fayd at November 5, 2019 3:14 PM
Passports are always real ID.
Sure, if they're current. My most recent one expired seven years ago, and I have no intention of renewing it. I checked my license, and it actually says "Not for federal identification", so I guess I won't be doing any flying starting next October. You need a current passport or your birth certificate to get the Real ID, and I lost my birth certificate years ago.
Rex Little at November 5, 2019 4:02 PM
Conan the Grammarian:
Most other countries think the foundational underpinnings of the United States are kind of insane...
True, but we have people busy gnawing away at all those pesky "rights" thing.
Cousin Dave:
Maybe the best outcome is that the system becomes so porous that it has to be loaded up with additional checks, procedures, passcodes, and additional forms of identification, until it becomes so unwieldy that everyone eventually just gives up.
Giving up in the face of absurdity is not federal policy.
Ken McE at November 5, 2019 4:37 PM
At least part of that second prediction would require constitutional change. Crossing state lines is a well established constitutional right.
On the other hand, once every citizen is required to have a Real ID, the bogus argument that demanding ID at the polls is exclusionary will no longer have any traction. And it's about time. Everyone on the right knows that there is a huge amount of voter fraud, with many districts counting more ballots than the number of registered voters.
jdgalt at November 5, 2019 6:24 PM
I got the starred Real ID version of my license when I renewed it in 2017. Now, in the spirit of this article's author, I will wager that I will grumble constantly while making the appointment to present the documents about who I am to the people at the MVA (deadline is Dec. 12), as well as during my trip to the MVA and back to my house.
mpetrie98 at November 5, 2019 7:49 PM
Rex Little: I have NEVER seen my birth certificate. So, when I got the notice to renew my license and get Real ID, I thought getting a copy of my birth certificate was going to be a hassle. However, I was able to order it online and got it in less than a week! And the DMV accepted it for Real ID.
Fayd at November 5, 2019 9:44 PM
If you can be positively identified, AND it is a requirement that you be positively identified, you may be more positively controlled. As it is, police departments all over the nation made detain you until you are identified. They call it, “detained“ because the handcuffs are much softer that way.
Also: the only way to prevent identity theft is to not be identified. If your “real ID” is cracked, you will really be screwed. What’s that old joke? “Robust” is a measure of how much work it takes to restore the system after it crashes…
More than 25 years ago, investigators interviewed everyone I knew in order to give me a clearance to work where I do now. Several years ago, that ID card was converted to one where two documents were the only reference. Because the program made money for a government official or two, this new card was touted as being “more secure“. Nope.
Radwaste at November 6, 2019 5:47 AM
"Giving up in the face of absurdity is not federal policy."
True. But it is very often government reality.
Cousin Dave at November 6, 2019 6:31 AM
More than 25 years ago, investigators interviewed everyone I knew in order to give me a clearance to work where I do now. Several years ago, that ID card was converted to one where two documents were the only reference. Because the program made money for a government official or two, this new card was touted as being “more secure“. Nope.
Radwaste at November 6, 2019 5:47 AM
The Chinese stole all your data a long time ago Rad. Mine too.
I don’t really care what the airlines require. I will jump thru their hoops if I want to fly badly enough.
I am in favor of a real I.D, and crossing your name off the list at the ballot box of the state you want to vote in, and I do believe most of the screaming by the opponents of real ID. Is from the Democratic Party activists that know, a real I.D requirement tied to a physical address (and only one address) is going to make it much harder to stuff the ballot boxes in the big democratic strongholds. It is also going to put an end to snowbirds voting in two states.
Isab at November 6, 2019 6:55 AM
Why are you picking on Sbarro drivers?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sbarro_(automobile)
Jay J. Hector at November 7, 2019 6:07 PM
"I am in favor of a real I.D, and crossing your name off the list at the ballot box of the state you want to vote in, and I do believe most of the screaming by the opponents of real ID."
Well, here you go.
Radwaste at November 8, 2019 4:59 AM
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