What could possibly get the ACLU and fundamentalist, end-time-is-nigh Christians fighting on the same side? How about a national ID card?
Americans choosing not to carry a national ID, the site warns, will be prohibited from driving a car, boarding a plane, train or bus, entering any federal building, opening a bank account, or possibly from holding a job.
Supporters of the Real ID card, which by law must go into effect by May 2008, say it's not really a national ID card, because each state will issue its own card, in the form of information encoded on driver's licenses. But the information must be shared in a national database, so it will be de facto national ID card.
A lot of governors and state legislatures are also against Real ID, but more because it's an unfunded mandate than because it will fundamentally alter the relationship between government and citizen in this country. We've never had to deal with what has always been a fact of life in Europe, hardly able to travel more than a day without having to show papers. "Fighing terrorism and illegal immigration" does not require us to change what our country is. If it does, what's the point?
