It's time to start paying some laser-like attention to still another issue ignored by our corporately controlled press: the Real ID Act. As described by the attorney from the New York Civil Liberties Union speaking last Saturday, October 27th, in Rhinebeck, the Real ID Act -- passed in 2005 by absolutely no one who read the Act and with less than no public debate -- should be seen on par with the Patriot Act. Huge thanks to County Legislator Joel Tyner for putting together this excellent panel, there to discuss the wisdom of Governor Spitzer's plan to humanely provide undocumented workers the opportunity to obtain drivers licenses, as they had been able to prior to 2003, when Pataki changed that- leaving hundreds of thousands without the means to drive their children to the doctor, school, etc. or drive themselves to work.
Many of us had applauded Governor Spitzer's courage in standing up to fear mongering and racism. But in what has been appropriately described as a "stunning betrayal" the same governor who earlier this month assured us that "No amount of hysterical rhetoric will prevent us from doing what is right" didn't just cave to hysteria- he sold his soul and ours to the criminal regime that stole the last two elections and has systematically destroyed the checks and balances that were to keep us a sovereign people.
At a press conference last Saturday morning in Washington, flanked by the incompetent Mr. Chertoff who brought us the disaster that remains Katrina, our courageous governor-- on our behalf-- embraced the implementation of the Real ID Act: national identification cards- to begin in New York next year! The Real ID Act has been widely criticized as one of the most anti-immigrant pieces of legislation to come out of Congress-- and that's saying a lot given the record of Congress in the past 6 years of steady destruction of all that is valuable about what was America. The Real ID Act is devastating to all Americans. It is beyond extraordinary that this Governor, on behalf of this State, would give this administration that which it has been unable to get from lesser governors. The Real ID Act was dying, opposed by over 600 national organizations, including the National Association of Governors. But this Saturday, our Governor breathed new life into the tyranny of federal national identity cards, which requires all of us to carry ID cards that would "classify" us and permit every action, every privacy, everything about us - to be known to the federal government.
And this from a Jewish governor who should know better that Never Again means nothing if history is so easily disregarded. In July 1938, only a few months before Kristallnacht, the infamous "J-stamp" was introduced in Nazi Germany on ID cards. The use of the specially marked "J-stamp" then led to the yellow Star of David badges. In Norway, where yellow cloth badges were not introduced, the stamped ID card was used in the identification of Jews for deportation to death camps. In Rwanda, national identity cards was instituted by the Belgian colonial government. "No other factor was more significant in facilitating the speed and magnitude of the 100 days of mass killing in Rwanda".
I know some of you complain about the length of emails, so I won't write more about this topic that I hope all of you will agree deserves your immediate attention, but will direct you to the special website set up by the ACLU, www.realnightmare.org, and implore you to educate yourselves and take action to prevent New York from the disgrace of becoming the first state to implement Bush's version of the hideous yellow arm bands that sent so millions to extermination in concentration camps. We in New York must join with the 33 states that have proposed legislation requesting Congress to repeal the act (we had) or better yet become the eighth state to actually pass a law opposing the implementation of Real ID. We must reverse what Governor Spitzer has done NOW.
Re-media will follow this as the coalition in New York grows and will keep you informed. Together American citizens and undocumented people working together can find justice for all of us. For more information see also http://realidrebellion.blogspot.com, http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2005/05/67471,
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060113-5974.html, the articles at the site http://www.411mania.com/user_profile.php?user_id=576, entitled Fast Track to Tyranny, which name I have borrowed since Governor Spitzer just put us on the fast track.
When the Nazis came for the communist,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
-Pastor Martin Niemöller
thank you for paying attention and taking action,
andi novick
Northeast Citizens for
Responsible Media (Re-Media)
www.re-media.org
American fascism will not be really dangerous until there is a purposeful coalition among the cartelists, the deliberate poisoners of public information... Vice President Henry Wallace
Northeast Citizens for
Responsible Media (Re-Media)
www.re-media.org
American fascism will not be really dangerous until there is a purposeful coalition among the cartelists, the deliberate poisoners of public information... Vice President Henry Wallace
