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Immigration, National Security…"Blah Blah Blah" |
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Montanans have themselves a fine Governor.
The Department of Homeland Security is trying to force states to issues "Real ID-compliant" drivers licenses. The Real ID Act of 2005 requires licenses to hold electronically encoded information, along with more complicated background checks for license applicants.
Background from the NY Times:
The federal government issued national standards on Friday that states would have to meet in order for driver’s licenses they issue to qualify as identification at airports and federal buildings, setting the stage for a confrontation with states that have voted not to cooperate….In Washington and elsewhere, state lawmakers have complained that the requirements add up to a national identification card, that it is too costly, puts privacy at risk and poses severe technical challenges.
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (a Democrat), for one, staunchly opposes the law. In a recent interview with NPR, he was positively flippant about Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's threat to make state licenses invalid for commercial flights if they don't comply, or apply for an extension, by May. Enjoy his interview with Melissa Block:
Block: Governor Schweitzer, why are you against Real ID?
Schweitzer: Well we're putting up with the federal government on so many fronts, and nearly every month they come out with another hair-brained scheme — an unfunded mandate that tells us our life will be better if we just buckle under on some other kind of rule or regulation. We usually just play along for a while. We ignore 'em for as long as we can. We try not to bring it to a head, but if it comes to a head we find that it's best to just tell 'em to go to hell, and it's best to run the state like you want to run your state. And unfortunately this time around they really got a hair-brained scheme.
…
Block: Do you understand the national security concerns here?…
Schweitzer: …This is the only thing that I know of that has united the farthest left to the farthest right in Montana politics. There was not one dissenting vote out of a 150 legislators. They simply said "we're fed up with the federal government comin' up with these cooky IDs that do not make us more secure." This is the federal government telling a state "you must do something and you must pay for it." Well, thanks for playing. Montana's not in.
Block: Well, Governor Schweitzer, what happens in May if somebody from your state wants to get on a commercial flight?
Schweitzer: There gonna show 'em their Montana driver's license they're gonna get on that commercial flight and nothings gonna happen.
Block: But that's supposed to be the deadline
Schweitzer: Blah blah blah…."supposed to be a deadline!"…This is another bluff by some bureaucrats in Washington, DC. And thank God we live a long way from Washington, DC.
Well done, Montana.
Clinton and Obama could both learn from Schweitzer — along with most of the Dems in Washington and around the country. If you explain your position to people in terms that make sense, they will respond. Don't be afraid to stand up to the Bush regime.
Thanks for posting this.
Agreed. Let the lawsuits roll. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if Chertoff does indeed play hardball. He has in the past.
Schweitzer does cowboy diplomacy right!
Hmmm. Obama does need a running mate…
I like the way you think, fellow Jason.
What makes this guy any more sane than Ron Paul? They both seem to be very anti-D.C.-in-your-business.
In the past, Montana has also:
-put forth a bill to allow citizens to manufacture firearm silencers in their garage and not register them or pay the federal tax as long as they are only used inside Montana.
-Put out a statement that if the Supreme Court rules this month that the 2nd Amendment does not protect an individual right to own a gun, it will invalidate the statehood contract between Montana and the federal government.
Go Montana!
I live in Montana, have supported Schweitzer in the past, and know several people who've worked closely with him (it's a small state, after all). He's incredibly political, taking whatever position he thinks will benefit him most with voters, and devotes more energy to showmanship and media games than your average politician. Republicans dubbed him "Showboat" for his media antics habit. His support is broad but shallow. He's a grade 'B' governor and not in the same class as Daschle or Baucus when it comes to substance. He will easily win reelection this year, but he's nowhere near the political messiah that some folks leaving comments around the net lately believe him to be.
Chertoff commented a few months ago that States who ingore the Real ID Act will find thier citizens needing a passport to board a domestic flight, go to court, or "picnic in a National Forest".
The Police State continues to rise and we just sit here and comment. Do you know what are forefathers did to supposed Gov't agents trying to tell American's how to live? They poured hot tar and feathers on them. I repeat our patriotic forefathers violently engaged these agents of the State. 200+ years later we sit around terrified to stand up to this Tyranny. I guess the average American feels they have to much to lose to stand up and fight. Well, soon enough people will not have anything left to fear losing and 'We The People' will finally wake up and start shooting some mother f*ckers.
Here is a case in point. In 1810, a massive amount of money was authorized by our Congress to pay to Britain for an unstated reason. And the corrupted Congress almost got away with it except that the grandson of Ben Franklin happened to be on the hill that day reporting for a local paper. He wrote about what Congress was doing and a few days later thousands of Americans showed up in DC with ropes ready to hang half of congress from the trees right there on Penn. Avenue. I am serious. This was no quiet protest, they started pulling Congressmen off the hill and started putting ropes around their necks. Only the direct intervention of the president himself stopped 'We The People' from hanging those traitors right there and then. No one died that day but you know what happened in the next election cycle. About half of the Congress did not run again for election. Why? Because in 1810 the gov't feared 'The People' god damn it. And today 'We The People' are a bunch of spineless, politically correct pussies who fear the gov't. We should be ashamed of ourselves because you know our forefathers would be.
I applaud those individuals brave enough to risk life, limb, wealth, and potentially 'freedom' to put the Federal gov't in its place. H-I-S-T-O-R-Y has never recorded a Tyrrant who has given up power because of a peacful revolution. They ALWAYS force the people into a violent one.
The Time is quickly approaching when those of us who still desire to be free and want our children's children to inherent freedom instead of tyranny will have to Log Off and start locking and loading. Ball up mother f*ckers it is almost time to take our Country back and it won't be by marching on Washington waving signs and singing kum ba yah.
Mr. Moore, your attitude is certainly interesting but it might interest you to note that up here in Canada, we have been able to secure personal freedom and political independence (admittedly on a slightly different time scale than the USA) without resorting to "tar and feathers" or "nooses around necks". Our loyalty to the Crown continues to this day, and yet we are a fully sovereign independent nation.
While it's certainly true that violent revolution is how YOUR great nation was created, it is not the ONLY path. Canadians have achieved similar ends with much less blood spilled. In my opinion, that makes our achievement even more glorious.
'yet we are a fully soverign independent nation' … oh my that is wishful thinking. I guess the Security and Prosperity Partnership your 'independent' gov't has signed onto with our criminal President and Mexico's is just a friendly trade deal, huh?
It is much more likely that the crown was a little concerned with the precedent the American's set when considering how to treat Canada after the revolutionary war. I believe your 'peacful independence' may have been influenced greatly by the actions of your neighbors to the south. Don't get me wrong I don't want violence. I have been peacfully assembling/protesting for years and pray everyday that what needs to happen unfolds in a non-violent Enlightenment. But know this… when the 1st Amendment fails, the 2nd Amendment shall not!
how does the 2nd amendment protect u against bombers and tanks and gas and rockets? the scale of death machines is now beyond insane.
RealID wouldn't have become a reality without IllegalImmigration. If you don't like the former, stop supporting the latter. [silence follows]
Real ID is rationalized by politicians by saying it is aimed at immigration. The reality is, this is about control, something the Bush administration is pursuing with zeal over all corners of the legislative map. Don't fall for the excuse.
Brian Schweitzer for president!!!
Please do not take my governor for VP. The guy who wants to take his place, Roy Brown, makes Bush, Chaney, and the Grinch look like teddy bears. This matter is not "showboating". Do you not get how DC uses highway funds to manipulate us into doing things that they otherwise could not do CONSTITUTIONALLY? The real ID is just another way to manipulate us individually to abide by their unconstitutional musings. If you don't believe me, go back to the top of the page and read the manipulation tactics again.
WAKE UP SHEEPLE! /rolleyes
Vietnam and now Iraq seem to prove that small arms and a determined population may not "win" but they can make the winner bleed and bleed and bleed till its "winning" is a losing proposition. Unless a nation is willing to use nukes, or resort to genocide and salting the earth it is no longer possible to conquerer an armed population.
The end of this NPR interview included a statement that Montanan's showing up to the airport with their driver's license will not be allowed on the flight and might as well show up with nothing. Governor Schweitzer can grandstand all he wants, but it is completely ridiculous. Unfortunately, he seems to have a hair-brained scheme himself that he can stop his feet like a child and say "no, make me."
While the feds do pass ridiculous unfunded mandates, this is a pathetic way to handle the situation and unbecoming of a governor.
Good thing you left Montana. We do not want your candy ass type here. Try standing up for your rights for once.
I don't know if some people missed the part of "not one dissenting vote",but we are serious about this. Montanans would rather go through the hastle of getting a passport, than allow the Feds something else to hang over our heads. If the rest of the country had the foggiest clue what real patriotism was, they would do the same. So, bend over or grow a pair. Freedom isn't just doing whatever someone else tells you because it is easier.
Thank you Real Montanan, thank you! America has become a country of lazy, greedy people who only do what is best for themselves instead of what is best for everyone. We are polarized because the media tells us we are polarized; we are more fearful than we have ever been because the media tells us to be scared; we dress the way the people on TV do; buy what they want us to; and ignore that nagging voice inside of ourselves every day that tells us, maybe, just maybe, things aren't supposed to be this way. Maybe we are supposed to be a happy, affluent and independent democracy; but that requires people to stand up and right for what is right, and unfortunately the media doesn't tell us to do that.
Come on people, wake up!
Great job getting this up to the top of Popurls! We need to at least let people know that Real Id won't keep you safe. A terrorist or any regular criminal could still take your life.
http://www.undertheradarmedia.blogspot.com
Right F'ing on Montana! Nice to see a governor with some gonads.
I was just wondering today if the US was going to take "land of the free" out of the lyrics of their national anthem when the Real ID came into effect
There has been a delightful precedent, I think last year. What if 'We, The People' went to Washington, in BIG numbers.
And, they wore a nice suit. No shouting, no throwing things, no breaking things, no insulting anybody. Just a couple of million dignified people in business dress converging on Capitol Hill. The part of 'no violence' is very important. Disruptive behavior is a trigger for the police to charge in and 'restore order'. The message of the people is lost, the police state rationale is re-inforced.
But not if the people, sharply dressed, go to Capitol Hill and remind the representatives who they are working for, who they are representing. And demanding that it is the will of the people that is to be done.
Government control is nicely exerted by forcing people to work from the moment they open their eyes until they fall into a coma at night, without having a moment to stop and think how things got to be this way. One paycheck used to be enough to keep a roof over the head of a family with 6 children. Now employees have to run just to stay in the same place, a doctor is unaffordable, women don't get time off to be with their baby after they gave birth, young people fresh out of college are saddled with a stupendous debt that they will pay off when they're in middle age. What's wrong with this picture?
Millions of people.
Nicely dressed.
Politely but firmly standing up for their rights.
It's a good idea [NOT mine]
It can be done
Now is the time to do it
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing " [Edmund Burke]
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