Spin Dry

That was how the Senate voted in passing the so-called Real ID act. If this doesn't scare the shit out of you, you're not paying attention. Go read the article at C|Net for info on exactly how far this will intrude into our lives. Like Smedley I can imagine that the millenialist fundies are just about shitting themselves in glee right now, muttering, "Mark of the beast. Mark of the beast..."

He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

As C|Net points out, the reason that every single senator voted for this travesty is because it was tied to a military appropriation bill, and all of them -- all of them, all of them, even the good ones -- were too chickenshit to vote No, lest they be accused of hating the military.

All of them, all of them deserve to be voted out of office if not run out of office immediately. The Senate has failed us, not even realizing the implications of what they have done. But, of course, being Senators, they probably won't have any difficulty in getting their shiny new ID cards in three years. (For a longer look at all the Big Brother tricks this administration has pulled off since 9/11, go read Seven Generational Ruminations.

The rest of us... who knows. I don't have a passport, and the main reason is because it's such a pain in the ass to get the documents together to apply for one. I keep meaning to, but when it comes to getting the birth certificate and going to the post office and getting the photos and going back to the post office and all that, I just keep putting it off. Sure, it's kept me within the confines of the US, Canada and Mexico -- although that would seem to be changing as well. And the ridiculous part is, I've had the same drivers license with the same number since I was sixteen. I suddenly have to prove who I've been all these years in order to keep the ID I've had?

Of course, California might just be one of the states ballsy enough to tell the Federal Government to go get fucked on this issue. That's the one back-door escape in the whole system. The states don't have to do it. But, then again, that would mean the citizens of those pesky rebellious states can't get on airplanes or Amtrak trains or go into Federal facilities...

The biggest joke in this whole fiasco is that the Real ID Act will do nothing to combat terrorism. What, you think that terrorists with serious intent don't have myriad ways to get legitimate fake ID? Or hadn't you heard that Australian tourists were being kidnapped and killed in Indonesia by terrorists who were stealing their passports and recycling them?

So, once again, the vast majority of law-abiding citizens get screwed over by a cowardly, weak, ass-kissing bunch of legislators who have become worthless. Despite the criticism of the Real ID Act, despite the warnings, despite the calls from their constituents, every single one of them -- all of them -- said yes. That includes Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Ted Kennedy, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama. All of them. Not one of them had the guts to say no.

So, it's time for us, the citizens of this country, the supposed real power, to say No. It is time to sweep the bad legislators out of office. It is time for a change, time for elected officials who don't buy into the manufactured scare tactic called "Homeland Security." Time to take back our country, time to try to return America to what she once was -- the land of the free and the home of the brave.

We have become the land of the oppressed, governed by cowards.