Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Holy Crap! Red Alert!

The Senate snuck in a National ID Card scheme (called Real ID) into the war appropriations bill and it passed!

This should piss off civil libertarians (hell, ANY libertarians), traditional conservatives, and free-range Democrats. This is BAD BAD.

http://www.unrealid.com/

I can see the cops now..."Your papers. Now". Sheesh.

1 comment:

Gonzo said...

Sensenbrenner is definitely *not* my buddy.

Hmmm. Read the article and then read the actual Bill and all related legislation (the article has a link to the Bill).

David Cole, the author, is looking at this very pessimistically and - in one case - stretches the trust and in another omits a very important clause.

First off, mentioning that supporters of the Israeli Army could get deported. A predecessor to the Israeli Army was indeed a terrorist organization but it disbanded in 1947. So it's highly unlikely that this law would apply.

Secondly, he omits that people prosecuted under this bill have full judicial review rights, without restriction or prejudice, before being deported.

Third, he doesn't mention that the groups named as terrorist groups under this law are subject to approval and review by 2 different Congresional committees as well as two or three Cabinet members.

So...could this law be abused? Surely. But there are checks and balances and due process to mitigate that possibility.

Good link and article.