Letter to the Senators

We don't usually pulpit around here, but if my government tells me I can't go outside and walk down to the corner bodega without a national identity card in my pocket I'm buying a vineyard in Argentina and keeping my income tax payments in a cigar box.

Here's the issue, courtesy of boing-boing and here's where you have a last chance to do something about it.

Here's what I wrote to Hil and Shoe:

My Dear Senators
The waves of noxious legislation encroaching on the personal freedoms of the American people and the grand traditions of their great nation, which began immediately after the horrors of September 11th, need to stop now. While there can be no doubt that there are those out in the world who wish to harm us, the instituting of a national-identity card requirement flies in the face of everything that this country has traditionally stood for. The forces of international terrorism will have won a great victory on the day that Americans are required to carry identity papers on their person, at all times. Should you believe that this proposed program "is not about that," you must consider its insidious potential rather than its proposed use. History tell us plainly that identity cards will inevitably be used as a tool to punish, to segregate, to intimidate and to arrest those who are already marginalized in our society.

I can imagine little that is more un-American than a national identity card. In my lifetime I have been a great traveler, and have visited more than 60 countries. In any country I have been where there was a national identity card this "required" document was used as a tool of oppression and control and considered a great nuisance and expense. Are we so arrogant as to believe that we would do it any differently?

Please support the Baucus-Tester and Grassley-Baucus amendments to the immigration bill and suppress this vile proposal.

Many Thanks