People who know me will wonder briefly at my posting here of an opinion piece by Richard Clarke. I’m doing so to inject an opinion of my own; it’s interesting to watch how important issues get subtly shaded to support or refute other agendas. Here, the very real threat of a weakened national border is used as an argument for REAL ID. Obviously, these issues are not unrelated, but neither is the national ID, with all its troubling baggage, the airtight solution that its proponents often present it to be. 

I’ve often been in disagreement with Mr. Clarke, but I’m not implying he’s part of any overarching scheme here. We all do it; perceiving things through the lens of our own hopes and fears. That’s my point, and the reason that it takes a lot more reading than a single story to form the basis of an opinion.  

-jh

from RICHARD A. CLARKE, for the New York Times

Published: June 1, 2007

The Real ID Act of 2005, which among other things established standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and non-driver’s identification cards, has now been put off until at least 2009. And many states are in open revolt against its tough requirements for issuing driver’s licenses.

The result is that potential terrorists here illegally can easily use phony licenses or, in many states, get real ones issued to them, along with credit cards and all of the other papers needed to blend into our society.”

read more