SamSaid!

PHOTO ID

IN THE HUGE HASSLE OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, THE QUESTION OF A NATIONAL PHOTO ID CARD HAS COME UP TIME AND AGAIN, BUT FOR REASONS HARD TO UNDERSTAND, IT JUST DOESN'T GET MUCH TRACTION AND MOMEMNTUM. CIVIL LIBERTARIANS AND VARIOUS OTHER INTEREST GROUPS ARE ADAMANTLY OPPOSED TO THE NOTION, BUT MOST OF MY FRIENDS SO NO PROBLEM WITH SUCH A CARD WHEN WE HAVE 12-20 MILLION PEOPLE HERE IN THE COUNTRY WHOSE NAMES, WHEREABOUTS AND IDENTITY ARE UNKNOWN TO US. THAT'S AN AWFUL LOT OF STRANGERS IN OUR MIDST. AND ADD TO THAT THE MANY SITUATIONS WHERE WE CITIZENS ALREADY ARE REQUIRED TO PRODUCE IDs WITH PHOTOS ATTACHED. WHEN WE THINK OF SOCIAL SECURITY, DRIVERS LICENSE, BOARDING AIRCRAFT, LIBRARY CARDS, LISTING A TELEPHONE,OPENING A BANK ACCOUNT ETC., ETC., THIS WHOLE NOTION OF SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFO ALMOST SEEMS SILLY. RIGHT NOW, I HAVE TO DISCLOSE THE MAIDEN NAME OF MY DECEASED MOTHER JUST TO DEPOSIT OR CASH A CHECK AT MY OWN BANK.

GRANTED, THERE WOULD BE PROBLEMS WITH A NATIONAL PHOTO ID CARD FOR EVERYONE. BUT WE ALSO HAVE PROBLEMS — BIG PROBLEMS — WITHOUT ONE. SO, IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH ACKNOWLEDGING UP FRONT THAT PROBLEMS WILL PLAGUE BOTH APPROAHES? AND THEN TRY TO SETTLE FOR THE LESSER OF 2 EVILS?? IF THERE IS NO FOOTPROOF SYSTEM, WHY NOT SETLE FOR THE BETTER OF THE TWO.

DO YOU THINK THAT OUR LEADERS CAN GRASP THIS SIMPLE APPROACH??

SOMEHOW, THE BASIC IDEA OF 12-20 MILLION UNIDENTIFIED STRANGERS IN OUR MIDST IS NOT COMFORTING. WHAT KIND OF A DISASTER WILL IT TAKE
TO REGISTER ON THE TERRORIST RICHTER SCALE??

IMMIGRATION AND KATRINA

This whole issue over illegal immigration is a very prickly problem. Tackling it is about like embracing a suguaro cactus, squeezing it hard and then trying to pick it up. Those familiar with these Arizona cacti would not recommend such a fond embrace. So now we have all of our Washington DC braintrust in a stalemate, mustering all of their political power to do nothing, presumably with the hope that the issue will go away. After all, the problem was not always 12 Million Illegals. It grew to be that big over 2-3 decades , and will no doubt get bigger. From this vantage point, it is my judgment that NOBODY in our leadership is qualified or capable of handling a problem this big. Think of it — a three generational socio-eco-politico problem of 12 Million people, headed for 20 Million. And this will fall to half baked politicians pandering for votes??

Maybe our politicios should look to the experience of Hurricane Katrina. It was a disaster for New Orleans for sure, with all kinds of problems vying for attention. In the last analysis, after the urgent life threatening matters were addressed, the main effort was to fixed the damaged dikes and stop the flood waters from pouring into the portions of New Orleans that are under sea level. With the dikes repaired, the process of pumping flood water out of the city and re-building the city could begin. Doesn't sound all that complicated to me. It makes sense that the problems couldn't be fixed until the flood was stopped.

Is that so different (conceptually) from the illegal immigration issue? Shouldn't we stop the in-flow to control the size of the problem(s)and then tackle the problems of how to handle 12 million people who are already here? Let's stop the flood and then pump out the city.

One thing at a time — in the right order.