EDITORIAL: Daily Show cracks under "conspiracy fatigue"

At the end of every long weekday of fighting for what I believe in, I settle into my couch and punch in the DVR code for the Daily Show/Colbert Report on Comedy Central. I love this little defragging ritual very much, as it keeps me from completely going bananas over conventions in politics which already really bother me.

Monday night John Stewart invited our favorite former Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, onto the Daily Show for a little softball Q&A about the H1N1 Pig Flu vaccine. John glazed over questions about the flu vaccines with leading questions he already answered negatively to the effect of, "There aren't microchips in the vaccines headed towards your brain..?" He let the DHS Secretary off almost completely when asked about tracking systems for the vaccines. Napolitano answered with little more than a head shake and safety blanket answer.

It's pretty much established policy on this blog that we are harsh critics of DHS/FEMA. However, if Stewart cowed down and played softball with Napolitano, I have to ask myself one question: what the hell would I have done if I were in the same situation? The Daily Show has a reputation for hot-seating everyone from Barack Obama to the President of the Council on Foreign Relations. However, none of those guys hold the elevated levels of sheer death & crazy that CNP/Pentagon vets possess or the tangible creep factor that say a long time iron horse veteran of CIA has or one Cheney's circle of close intelligence friends.

As a long time watcher of the Daily Show, the closest I have seen Stewart come to that level of spook factor is probably Secretary Janet Napolitano. I'll take 3 Rod Blagojevich's and one Bill Clinton to 1 Ollie North or 1 Dick Cheney for spook tolerances.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND... he rather quickly brushed off any legitimate faults that one might find with the vaccines per his personal penchant for comedic hypochondria. He had an amazing opportunity to: delve into some of the problematic contents of the vaccines and the evolution of problems across the country with labor and employment policy, vaccination mandates, the fact that military personnel don't have the option to refuse the vaccines, or even cover what a real worst case scenario would look like in the event of a rediculously prolific spell of a seasonal flu, which is not especially deadly - just rediculously publicized.

My thought here though is that those questions could have easily been answered by someone from a National Center for Disease Control. So what was the point of having Napolitano on the show? Here's where it gets tricky, I think, for Stewart. Napolitano is not a medical expert. She's a National Security administrator. Homeland Security doesn't make anyone with civil liberties or medical reservations over the vaccines "feel safe". DHS is good, rather, at making US citizens feel surveilled and uncomfortable.

Even if no one asked me, I believe Napolitano's presence on the Daily Show was DHS spin to try to assure everyone of the "safety" of a medical shot which may not fundamentally be in their best interests. People are intuitive enough to understand that if you can't let medical doctors or practitioners perform their jobs without a strong American national security presence something is amiss.

So when given the opportunity to take the shot, we tell folks; don't take it. We do know it contains Thimerosal, a mercury derived product. We do know it can cause an incurable paralyzing neurological condition called Guillen Barre syndrome and the risk is listed as a potential side effect in current vaccines. We do know that medical staff are losing work over it. We do know that our leaders are more than a little panicked if we don't have an immunity for a little stomach flu. We do know that VeriChip worked dilligently on patenting internal microchips with a relationship to tracking & detecting flu viruses.We do knowtheir stock went up in close relationship for doing so.We know the H1N1 vaccines are administered via the nose to vaccinate for the flu.We also are aware of nanotechnology which performs that function.

So the hardball question Stewart didn't ask with extra-large gonads made from old cast iron skillets was: what's up with, among other things, the market for injectible microchips to track the flu viruses and who, if not CDC or FEMA, is buying?

Even if I could have asked for Stewart, he couldn't deal with the answers on National television. Even if Napolitano was the nicest, most truthful DHS Secretary in the whole wide world, it wouldn't remove the ensuing pantload that comes with getting that information out in front of millions of viewers on national television.

Nice try, John. I swear to God... I'll still watch the show.

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ANSWERS: 9-11 Commission Deadlines National Identity

BTC -  Amid other nagging questions, has been:  who sets Real ID compliance deadlines and what is their agenda, hidden or not?  What drives these guys to say we must have EDL technologies in every American ID card at the border by December 31,2009.  Who cracks the whip?

Unfortunately, we have an answer. 

Among them, it is yet again, pride of authorship in the 9-11 Commission Report.   Apparently our "kicking the can down the road" editorial got underneath someone's skin. They now feel sufficiently challenged to insist in the first bullet point : In 2009 drivers licenses are STILL as lethal as terrorist weaponry. 

Nah.  They want you to buy the machine readable zone technologies. They need to retire.  It gooses the stock for the shareholders. 

Real ID as Immigration Reform

An educated guess, is that Senators like Akaka (HI) doesn't trust the pork brands they are dishing up on the backs of the American people. State governments are not that dumb.  They know what works and what doesn't in a strapped economy.

We are a bit too smart to accept the jump they want us to make between national identity and terrorism.  It's only a little smaller than the jump from the 9-11 attacks to the invasion of Iraq, and only slightly less conspicuous.  DHS needs a new 9-11 evaluation crew.  Longtime friend, Shane Geiger, 9-11 Truth and Architects, sent us the following report. 

9/11 Commission members act to finally wrap it up

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Key members of the original 9/11 Commission are banding together to rekindle the sense of urgency felt after the 2001 attacks and pressure the government to act on the commission's unfinished business.

The new group, headed by 9/11 Commission co-chairs Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, said Congress has adopted about 80 percent of the recommendations, made five years ago in the commission's landmark report, but has left troublesome security gaps.

"I'm worried that 20 percent [of the recommendations] haven't been addressed," Kean said. "I'm also worried that among the 80 percent, things aren't fully done."

Among what they described as unfinished business failings were:

• Failure to enforce national standards for state driver's licenses and other IDs, which the 9/11 Commission said are as important to terrorists as weapons.

• Lack of a system to determine if visitors to the United States leave the country.

• Lack of the ability of police, firefighters and others to communicate.

• No reform of a system that places oversight of the Department of Homeland Security in the hands of more than 80 congressional committees and subcommittes, sapping the department's time and energies.

"Some of our recommendations were just flatly turned down," Hamilton said, citing one designed to revamp congressional oversight. He called the current system "an absurdity." Watch new 9/11 group members talk about security gaps »

Congress mandated the original 9/11 Commission, but the new bipartisan National Security Preparedness Group has no official status and is relying on the prestige of its members to give it clout.

Members include former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, former U.S. Attorneys General Edwin Meese III and Richard Thornburgh, and former Energy Secretary E. Spencer Abraham.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano introduced the NSPG at an event at Homeland Security headquarters.

"I look forward to a very vigorous relationship with this group to provide advice, to provide thought and to help us as we continue to move forward," Napolitano said.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit organization formed in 2007 by former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell, brought the group together to address policy challenges.

The NSPG said it also will focus on the evolving threat of terrorism. Kean said that the threat of cyber attacks has increased since the 9/11 Commission issued its report.

ANALYSIS: A 1st Un-Real ID Hearing

Collins, Akaka say PASS Act to "fix" Real ID 

  >>WATCH CSPAN Coverage ::: 

"By Dec. 31, no state will have issued a Real ID compliant identification document. We cannot have national standards for driver's licenses when the states themselves refuse to participate," - DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano

WASHINGTON- The first Anti-Real ID hearing in U.S. history clearly illuminated the states need more time to absorb federal standards for identity. An optimistic vantage point included further consideration of the PASS Act.  Privacy considerations are still far from the goals of a clinical repeal of the federal Real ID Act mentioned in late April.

All parties with a stake in Real ID have 15 days to prepare a statement to enter public record for consideration .  The next markup, or opportunity for PASS Act revisions, takes place July 29th, 2009.

BTC Editorial Report 

by Sheila Dean

It was refreshing to hear Sen. Joe Lieberman say, "We are not surprised to see that we are here today." The Real ID Act passed without a debate, eluding due process. States were then asked to absorb the costs of inadequate technologies which would not protect them.  Consequently States resisted the costs and dangers of incorporating the legislation.  DHS is appropriately back to the drawing board.

Senator Collins' opening statments outed that the PASS Act does not repeal the Real ID Act but refines it. The 9-11 Commission recommendations continue to propell the PASS Act in lieu of the Real ID Act.  

The DHS hearing committee only recognized 13 states who have legally opposed the federal legislation.  Over 25 states found enough fault with the Real ID program to beat it back. The PASS Act unfortunately smacks of corporate shame, to the point of media labeling the legislation as a rebranding effort of Real ID.   As the corporate precedent persists,  the PASS Act is a way to legally override States laws into contending in a second round of stomaching expensive tech mandates.  States could not afford the build of the central databases. They might be able to afford the RFID and biometrics as part and parcel behind the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, propelled by the 9-11 Commission report.   

If the PASS Act prevails, States will be deadlined again to comply with federal mandates. 

Senator Joe Lieberman relished "rubbing it in"; as the Real ID Act's passage and subsequent failure also repealed his 9-11 Commissions identity work in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Lieberman observes, like many in Washington, to corporeal ignorance and detriment, the 9-11 Commission report's ability to grant legislators super powers. The report's role in 2009 has been reduced to a Reichstag fire poker for disaster capitalist beggars, filled with mysterious humanity driven omissions. The U.S. government expects Americans to swallow whole any agenda kicked down over the 9-11 Commission report, based in fact or fiction.  One such agenda is the acceptance of a national identity based on 9-11 hijackers lawfully present in the U.S. on temporary Visas.  

In today's Hollywood, Americans can't afford to sponsor Lieberman's tickets to Fantasy Island.  States will continue to fight The Corporation over the appropriations they are expected to spend to surveill identity. They simply need it for other things.

Senator Akaka made an amazing point of asking Stewart Baker, consultant for former DHS Secretary Chertoff's national security firm, about the top priority of order for expensing machine readable zone technologies [bar code, RFID, biometrics] over the stack of disaster preparedness needs. Even if no one asked us, we think the Senate should take the RFID & biometrics budget and reroute it to ready the Gulf Coast for the next hurricane season, instead of dragging out man-made disasters like the Real ID Act.

BTW...Chertoff has been known to have personal investment stock in the biometrics game.  He has much to lose if the PASS Act cuts both the RFID and biometrics tech bids.   

DHS Secretary Napolitano became an unlikely champion of pragmatism. It was so great to hear that Real ID was "D.O.A.", going nowhere as long as at least 13 states had passed laws against it. She was the first to reveal a very strong reccomendation that States needed more time and would be willing to find their own paths to securing their licenses from pilot programs included in the PASS Act.   Unfortunately, she too stays employed by sticking to the 9-11 Commisssion report as the rule book.

Senator Voinovich eagerly defended the PASS Act as the solution to ease the stand off between State governments and the federal design for identity.  Before excusing himself to attend to an amendment, he projected that the PASS Act creates an opportunity for federal legislators to "get it right the second time".  Not everyone in Washington D.C. insults public intelligence.  Happy Birthday,  Senator Voinovich.

Akaka, Lieberman & Voinovich stated,"Let the perfect, not be the enemy of the good."  

The literal translation is the Real/PASS ID Act has a long tough road ahead of it.  

What didn't make it into the hearing was a discussion of a repeal effort, dispatching rule making capability to suspend further implementations and costs of standards by States, and head-on dealings with the role Real ID has played in States' immigration games.  States like California, have put their Real ID bills on on the back burner until federal regulations over identity are settled.  California Senator Ed Cedillo has been pushing legal identity for undocumented workers for over 10 years.  For Cedillo's supporters the Real ID Act seems to be a tangible federal mandate able to escalate American identity for millions of immigrant workers in Southern California. Conversely, Texas who shares the largest border with mainland Mexico, projects demands for tighter immgration control onto the Real ID Act in hopes of weeding out unlawful identity.   As Real ID exists, neither state will see deliverance.

Case in point, Eliot Spitzer propelled his downward spiral by conceding to Enhanced Drivers License standards for New York State, granting issuance to undocumented alien drivers.  A very public backlash soon overwhelmed him. The historical debate now competes over what put Spitzer out of office faster: undocumented immigrant ID concessions, outing Federal banking bubble shennanigans, or his overinvestment in the NYSE [New York Sex Exchange].  While Washington state passed more privacy laws to cover their haste to incorporate RFID in licenses.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's [R-TX] office alluded to a separate hearing and discussion about Real ID, apart from yesterday's hearing addressing immigration regulation. This might include border fence legislation ; the crossroads of citizenship, U.S. identity and current U.S. labor demands.  

The PASS Act's notion of States creating pilot programs to explore better performing identity security pursues a manageable direction for state governments.  Napolitano mentioned the Mississippi program available to 13 states to test certain technologies.   The prospective darkside for States is the predatory corporate prescription of surveillance products endorsed by the federal government; whether they actually perform or not. Smart states who rejected Real ID outright, like Idaho & Montana, may shop for better technologies on their own.  DHS consultant, Stewart Baker, stuck to regulated mandates that States pay their own way for secured licenses.   Napolitano pointed out States made recommendations for secured licenses on their own of what will work for them.

What didn't surprise was the fact that National Sherrif's Association leader, Leroy Baca, of  LA County Sherrif's Department supports whatever work is put in front of them to do. The PASS Act was no exception. The police will surveill whatever the government wants, as long as it's the law and they're ordered to protect it.  

What did surprise was the fact that there really wasn't a national standard to provide citizenship to attain a license prior to Real ID. Amid the echoing redundancy in Real ID regulations, it was miraculous that this fact managed to surface.   At least 10 states, mostly on the Canadian border, had not required proof of lawful residence in the U.S. in order to attain a license. Many police officers and citizens alike have taken for granted that in order to attain a State issued identification, a cardholder has jumped through necessary hoops to prove identity. If not, then  you don't complete the American rite of passage.  Again, Ari Schwartz exposed that internal fraud on the part of license administrators is one of the chief causes of identity theft. 

I think the word "immigration" was not mentioned once, with the exception Senator Akaka's questions to CDT's Ari Schwartz over the E-verify program.  The contrasts seemed an acceptable rabbit trail to explore during the hearing, according to on-site reps for CATO Institute and the ACLU.   

Things took a sharp turn with Senator Roland Burris' starkly strange and awkward questions about propelling National ID cards and the needs of TSA directed chummily at Secretary Napolitano.  Many were as unsure of Burris' questions as they were answers given by Napolitano.

A sure fire dissapointment was Vermont Governor, Jim Douglas, toadie convenience proponent,  who pulled his Enhanced Drivers License out of the pie, as the fabled little Jack Horner of Real ID compliance.   He gets no pat on the head from privacy advocates who are aware of arbitrary RFID scamming and ongoing data collection efforts in other EDL states, like Washington. 

CDT's, Ari Schwartz recovered and revealed much of the lost ark of privacy, carrying the silent concerns of privacy and civil liberties advocates in the hearing audience.  The "machine readable zones" on licenses were still played down, as no one was courageous enough to mention or even inquire about RFID tags, biometric or any other manifestly WHTI compliant technologies.   We believe that is the trade off absorbed in the PASS Act.

The PASS Act does not survive most privacy analysts tests against this compromise. It is not far enough away from Real ID.  In fact, it passes for Real ID and that is the problem. 

We can only assure publicans of one thing: everything will be okay if they repeal Real ID.  

Anti-Real ID Governors Targets for Corruption

A BTC Exclusive

Something is definitely amiss in the Anti-Real ID political community.

Amid chatter of neo-conservative infiltration in various Republican grassroots groups, 2 of the 5 original Governors in States opposed to the Real ID Act [Maine, Alaska, New Hampshire, South Carolina & Montana] seem to have been serially removed from effectiveness in public office. Anti-Real ID sources in Washington D.C. allege that State level leaders are being targeted, specifically Governors, for complicity in Real ID matters.  Governors, once celebrated for going against Real ID,  have been reeled in for larger offices in Washington.  They are now more formidable players in international political games and some have simply cut and run. 

Since the PASS Act was filed  June 15th, both Governor Mark Sanford[SC] and Governor Sarah Palin[AK] are facing pressures to resign from their posts.  

Governor Mark Sanford, whose detailed Argentinian exploits persist in headlines, had been a stalwart defender of South Carolina's rights against Real ID.  Sanford has lost footing since attending the Bilderberg conference in 2008.  Bilderberg, a semi-annual gathering renown for it's elite puppeteering of the politically ambitious,  sets the standards for New World Order policy.  Many of its members steer the United Nations.   The Council on Foreign Relations and the U.N. have prescribed international biometric identity in the European Union's standard and for a North American Community.  Sanford's concession on biometric identifiers in his "letter of defiance" to DHS over Real ID compliance left room for approbation from Bilderberg's upper echelons.  

Governor Sarah Palin gathered political steam as she included wishes of Alaskans to go against Real ID.  This move is most similar to the concessions of Arizona Governor Napolitano, who is now DHS Secretary.   This added instant popularity with a base of small government Republicans. Palin, chosen as Republican Vice Presidential candidate, later created waves during the 2008 election when she disagreed with Senator McCain's stance on "immigration".  

"Immigration" became the mainstream media's careful binding over the costly and humiliating requirements of State's compliance with the Real ID Act.   Every U.S. Senator running on the 2008 Presidential bid had voted unanimously in favor of an appropriations bill for Tsunami relief and supplemental funding for U.S. troops in Iraq.  The Real ID Act, attached as a rider to the bill, became an embarrassing afterthought to any Senators voting record, due to a  floor debate which never took place. 

The 2008 election itself created a massive distraction over matters concerning Immigration policy. Republicans, Democrats, and corresponding media players obscured Real ID coverage. Third party presidential hopefuls, like Rep. Ron Paul(R-TX),  Rep. Cynthia McKinney (Gr-GA) and Rep. Bob Barr(L-GA), became heralds against the Real ID Act in their stump platforms carrying forward a marginalized national discourse. Governors, such as Mike Huckabee squarely seated, continued to facilitate discussions during the election cycle while dealing with practical demands for compliance.

State Governors are now gatekeepers for an international identity agenda. States opposition to Real ID manifested from a pragmatic place.  A combined consensus of over 25 states inaction towards a centralized data aggregate forced the federal government to reconsider the limits of their demands on identity from State governments. 

 

DHS has moved to repeal the more costly ventures of a centralized identity database in the PASS Act, which may be a slight relief to states.  A compromise was to keep some of the more controversial regulations intact:  RFID tags and the one-to-many uses of biometrics [DNA laminates, 3D facial prints] in ID.   State run and operated fusion centers could reasonably perform  database aggregation for local Intelligence ventures without systemic redundancy. However, some states are still ill equipped to manage, finance and operate a state networked fusion center.  Others States flatly refuse to cooperate with the new demands on identity.  

BIOMETRICS & DEADLINES IN LIGHT OF THE PASS ACT

At the end of 2009, States face a 2nd DHS extension deadline to comply with federal Real ID regulations. Since June 1, 2009,  DHS has been aggressively pushing biometric identifiers in State ID cards, commercial worker cards, and any form of travel ID cards to conform with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.  The use of biometrics in ID cards has been a historic sticking point with privacy and identity security advocates on both sides of the "immigration” debate.

Government technology vendors, like Digimarc and L-1 Biometrics subsidiaries, aggressively clamor to fulfill contracts on the basis of federal law in a stretched economy.  Some vendors have gone as far a threat of legal suit over States non-compliance to fulfill Real ID Act regulations.

Biometrics is one of the most heavily argued matters in State legislatures. Considering the whopping price tag of itemized Real ID regulations, biometric incorporation seem to be within reach with some federal grant funding available.  DHS continues to push for biometrics on the auspices of the Real ID Act and 9-11 Commission recommendations.  State governments have been torn between those who seek out the benefits of a secured drivers license and those who raise issues of privacy and the 4th Amendment.  

OP/ED: Repealing Real ID IS the right thing to do.

ATTN: Those opposed to the Real ID

The Washington Times:

"Even though more than 30 states are moving to satisfy those requirements and even though she has the authority to give the remaining states additional time to do so, the former governor of Arizona apparently is OK with once again giving terrorists a pass to gain access to our airplanes, government facilities, banks, etc."  - Frank Gaffeney

Bar none, repealing Real ID is the right thing to do. 

by Sheila Dean 

The Department of Homeland Security, by reputation is no friend of We The People and our Constitutional entitlements, but they did finally get something right.  They threw up their hands when 30+ U.S. states said NO to the Real ID Act of 2005's regulations and were corralled into a repeal of this terrible legislation. 

Be on your toes, the Heritage Foundation and Frank "Gaffe"ney, news parrot of the Center of Security Policy, are twisting the facts for a fearmongering knock against hard won progress by The People over Real ID's tyrannical posture. 

Gaffney alludes to the same number of states [30] who have flatly denied Real ID to move forward in their state, regardless of extension deadline or DHS grant status. U.S. State governments and citizens alike went out of their way to push back against this.

In this Washington Post account, Mark Gaffney is abusing his objective stance as a major news contributor to further agendas set by the Heritage Foundation, a funded foundry for GLOBALISTS, whose ballpark future for all of us include an eventual subcutaneous microchip for their convenience.

Gaffney's complete quote is as follows:

Ms. Napolitano has her way, the Uigars will be able to get Virginia driver's licenses - like 13 of the 21 Sept. 11 terrorists - as she says she intends to repeal the Real ID Act. That statute, which requires (among other things) that the 50 states meet a high standard for issuing driver's licenses, was adopted belatedly on the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. The commissioners emphasized that fraudulently obtained identity documents are "weapons" in the hands of our enemies 

 

The secretary's helpmate in repealing the Real ID Act is Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii Democrat. He is expected shortly to introduce a substitute dubbed the Pass ID Act. That title certainly is appropriate insofar as the draft bill seemingly would allow virtually anyone - including Guantanamo detainees, illegal alien employees of international organizations and a class called "other nonimmigrant aliens who are authorized to remain in the United States for an indefinite period" - to be eligible for temporary driver's licenses or other IDs.

 

Ms. Napolitano seems to want political cover for eviscerating the statute's eminently sensible and much-needed requirements with respect to driver's licenses. Even though more than 30 states are moving to satisfy those requirements and even though she has the authority to give the remaining states additional time to do so, the former governor of Arizona apparently is OK with once again giving terrorists a pass to gain access to our airplanes, government facilities, banks, etc.

You can clearly see how twisted this is.  Someone needs to call the Washington Times and complain about Gaffney's fact errors.  30+ states are moving AGAINST the Real ID Act regardless of the pretense of extension status. The State of Arizona is not "OK" with terrorists boarding airplanes, entering federal facilities, or any other random official purpose that would have been determined by DHS in the Real ID Act.  Furthermore, former Arizona Senator Karen Johnson can confirm why Arizona hates the Real ID Act and how they had to struggle with Napolitano, just like we did, to get it to stopped in our states.  The Washington Times is irresponsible as a press outlet to allow this NSA whiner to print this in their paper. 

GAFFNEY's OTHER TWISTED PERSPECTIVES

The Uigurs he cites in this article are Chinese muslims, some of whom federal judges determined were wrongfully detained at Guantanamo Bay and tortured. While it has been determined they are innocent, they have not yet been released into U.S. mainland custody.  The 9-11 terrorist attackers all had legal work visa granted by U.S. immigration.  They went through legal due process to obtain licenses to drive here in this country.  They were LEGAL immigrants here on temporary work visas.

The general direction of this piece is a slam at Rep. Akaka's PASS Act, which, in our community, the jury remains out on because The Real ID Act has not yet been repealed.  Although, it may be time to give it expeditious research, examination and consideration based on their push against it.  It could also be reverse psychology dumped into the press.  The PASS Act needs a careful second look after all we have been through to stop Real ID.

As unsavory as it may sound initially, we should extend some terms of affirmation to DHS and Secretary Napolitano for "doing the right thing" when it came time to repeal the federal Real ID Act.   We don't want them to go back on this and start this whole nightmare all over again.

Additionally, we need to continue to expose people like Gaffney and the Heritage Foundation for their role in globalized identity gridding and its close relationship to eugenics.

Real ID may be officially on it's way out, but we have a longer road to travel to make sure it will not continue as TWIC cards, Enhanced Drivers Licenses, Border Speed pass cards and in the centralization of our sensitive personal information into one vulnerable place for all of us.

Please respond to Gaffney, The Heritage Foundation,  the Washington Times on how they have vastly miscalculated public opposition as Real IDs cause of demise and thank Secretary Napolitano for agreeing to repeal this dangerous form of identity.

Respectfully,

Sheila Dean 

Blog Editor, for BeatTheChip 

President of The 5-11 Campaign

Sensenbrenner is Still an Idiot

Let's see: DHS says no more Real ID; and then Rep. Sensenbrenner calls for Napolitano's resignation.

For plausible reason close to mental duress or estrangement from his false achievement in Real ID, Wisconsin cheeseball, Congressman James Sensenbrenner has demanded Janet Napolitano's resignation.

He's just an idiot.

It's not Napolitano that Sensenbrenner wants to fire. It's me. It's Katherine Albrecht. It's Mark Lerner. It's Donna Holt, Aaron Bollenger and JP of ALIPAC. It's the BORDC, the CCR, the ACLU and the AFL-CIO!! It's a ton of citizen bloggers and every person who wrote their congressional leaders in their legislature and begged not to be chipped and ripped off by biometrics manufacturers, only to have their identity scalped later. We are the people responsible for killing his evil plan.

Look, DHS is not a popular agency. Never has been. Chertoff was a tool. Napolitano can also be a tool, especially to those in the gun registry. DHS sucks. However, we don't have the authority to fire this agency when it's not going our way. Unless the US government decides to dismantle the agency and all the fascist agendas it stands for; it will be in Maryland being eschewed by the American people. The decison to rid our lives of DHS is above our paygrade.

BUT for once in our lives, DHS cuts us all a break, is reasonable and understanding over not wanting the Real ID and they move to repeal!! When over half the states in this nation pass legislation banning the federal Real ID mandate to visit their homestead, it's not getting anywhere.

Fusion Centers, Identity & Texas

But first a witness....

On Monday during a testimony hearing of HB 4036 before the Public Safety Committee, DPS Chief Judy Brown was called as a neutral witness by Rep. Tommy Merritt, who filed the legislation. HB 4036 is a state legisation that would provide Texas with one Real ID as intended in accordance with the federal regulations.

Rep. Merritt asked if there was any RFID chips in this version of the bill, if it had any biometrics and if there was in fact a DHS database. Chief Judy Brown replied no on all three accounts.

Later, I was called to testify as opposed to the federal-to-state legislation, in which I pointed out that Section 2.14 of HB 4036 called for "facial comparison technology and digital fingerprints" - which is biometrics and verified that there was in fact no RFID chips called for in the licenses.

However, I did add a correction to the notion of the non-existence of a database saying, "There is no DHS database. However there is a database maintained by State Agencies called an Information Analysis Center which stores and shares all kinds of sensitive voter information, license and identity information such as {...} in which the DHS has oversight."

SO WHAT IS DHS DOING RIGHT NOW?!!


Janet Napolitano and Texas Governor Rick Perry's danced a 2-step to preserve continuity of government with some immigration posturing. This trifling of the American identity through the sieve of political documentation came out in this murky account, in the San Antonio Express News.

So to make a point expressly clear to conventional mainstream media, the 5-11 Campaign released this statement to editors and to news outlets.
_____________

Dear Editors,

The federal call to complicity with a national ID card is an inappropriate approach to identifying the “bad actors” in our society.

America is a strong nation. Texas is a great part of that nation. Commercial confidence is not the only priority we have. We are maintaining ourselves well in the face of prospective dangers while persevering in financial crisis. We are strong and capable of answering for ourselves and living above fear.

This is our identity and our heritage.

While I can’t speak for everyone, I do speak for those who have watched the terrible erosion of freedoms taken for granted over the last several years. These error’s apparent, began with what the Austin Chronicle called “the legislative blitz of 2005” : The Patriot Act, The Military Tribunals Act, and the former suspension of Posse Comitatus and the Real ID Act of 2005. This later led to Homeland Security waiving 36 essential state and federal laws to forge eminent domain claims against objections of Texas property owners.

Moreover, The Real ID Act calls for a nationalized ID card [containing biometrics or facial comparison technology and fingerprints, along with your Social Security Number] to be added to a highly insecure national to international database. Your personal data then takes a journey as it joins an Information Analysis Center operated by a State agency. From there it is joined to a network of 57 other fusion centers cross country and then shared with customs in Canada and Mexico, mostly as unprotected data. Contrary to a popular belief, a National ID card doesn’t weed out those undocumented or criminal aliens who have long since figured out how to work around a system where their black market work force identity sustains itself. A National ID card causes Americans to declare their citizenship within their borders as an internal passport.

I do not need an internal passport in the country I was born in and have travelled in all of my life. A driver’s license is for operating a vehicle. It is only one form of acceptable identity in this country. For those so compelled to declare their citizenship as a priority, get a passport.

The Real ID as a National ID plan has been around before the September 11th attacks.

I ask Texans to take their identity personally and to not allow the federal government to slip this leash around your neck. From here law enforcement may conveniently forget who you are and no matter how much identity you materialize it will never be enough to satisfy their demand to arbitrarily detain Texans on the whims of unelected officials.

Don’t get suckered with a nationalized ID.

Best,

Sheila Dean
511Campaign.org

EDL's "More Insidious" according to Privacy Experts

OPINION :Eleanor Duckwall on Incrementalism & Purpose of Real ID

BTC -Continued news from privacy expert, Katherine Albrecht about Napolitano's re-branding of Real ID.

LIFE WITH BIG BROTHER
Radio chip coming soon to your driver's license?
Homeland Security seeks next-generation REAL ID
By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Washington state's enhanced driver's license

Privacy advocates are issuing warnings about a new radio chip plan that ultimately could provide electronic identification for every adult in the U.S. and allow agents to compile attendance lists at anti-government rallies simply by walking through the assembly.

The proposal, which has earned the support of Janet Napolitano, the newly chosen chief of the Department of Homeland Security, would embed radio chips in driver's licenses, or "enhanced driver's licenses." [MORE]

Flowers for Janet

BTC Commentary 

Immigration fatigue. 

 

That is one way to describe anyone who has observed the annual death counts of those who chose the treacherous treck across Arizona's deserts and expired due to dehydration and exhaustion.

The ones who made it through only to endure human trafficking Coyotes- criminal people enslaving those seeking a better life far from Mexicos destitution- often meet unfortunate ends, no better off for their sacrifices. Are lives and living illegal?   The contingencies of immigration reform are enough to make anyone hang their heads and weep.   

In the past, Janet Napolitano has sided with her constituents as a leader on immigration and come out the other side alive politically.  

Janet Napolitano has her critics and her supporters, but she has accepted a tough position where she has to enforce excruciatingly difficult policy. The Secretary of Homeland Security has been an inherently unlikable and unpopular office.   Unfortunately, after being responsible for excessive force set against civil liberties, illegal wiretapping, and TSA giving fliers en transit the stink eye for 8$ an hour; they've earned it.

On many occasions, I have said that whomever is in that seat is going to end up being "the bad guy".   However, for the first time in history immigration reform might actually get some badly needed attention.   For those desperate for closure, any decision would be better than the procrastination of indecisive, panicky officials seeking re-election.  Appointed officials can do things that elected ones cannot for fear of alienating contributors and voters.

Many are holding fast to hope of extracting emergency management and federal immigration enforcement.  The two being squashed together in the same agency has brought an unnecessary tone of mass hysteria.  To the relief of many, FEMA may be walking away from a marriage from DHS so that the wasteful and unreasonable elements of current enforcement can be dealt with.

People are tapping their watches, shifting from foot-to-foot: it's time.

For the sake of a New Year, flowers for Janet Napolitano might look like the space to do her job differently from predecessor, Michael Chertoff.     

When it comes to Real ID,  the legislation has been found out and is dying from exposure to American outrage.  Those who are endeared to it's design and benefits are very few in number. It can only survive like a creeping vine, growing in secrecy, underneath the knowledge and consent of the people.  

NATIONAL COMPLICATION

S.717  is  Real ID up for re-election.  It's Real ID remixed for a new administration.  It's the same garbage in a new white suit.  It's time the people communicate with our leaders: don't get attached to Real ID, it's on its way out.  

Until then, we stick to our original plan,  standing on the 10th Amendment - state's rights to a sovereign governance and passing on  the volunteer offer to move ahead with Real ID for individual states.