It was inevitable.  I’m only surprised that it took as long as it did.  But courtesy of Congress and Homeland Security Czar (and New Jersey’s snappiest dresser) Michael Chertoff, the REAL ID is now . . .real.

The point of the REAL ID is to link the various databases available state by state, across the nation, and provide all information to the feds.  This has long been a goal, to know everything there is to know about anyone at the push of a button.  And here it is.

It’s impossible to think about the REAL ID without hearing the words, “show me your papers” from some old WWII movie, in your head.   Jonathon Turley goes into this pretty deeply, so there’s no reason for me to do it again.  Suffice it to say that those of us old enough to have sat at our father’s knee to hear about the Nazis would never have believed that those words would be spoken in our very own country.

But it’s been coming for a while.  Even before 9/11, which simply provided the excuse to do all the things that DOJ had been pining for in the decades that preceded.  It was just too tempting, know that all this great information was being collected and there was no way they could get their hands on all of it.  Oh, the power in all the information.  Power that could be harnessed for good, since whatever they did was, by definition, for good. 

Of course, there was once a time when you could travel anywhere in the United States without ever having to show identification to anyone.  When I started as a lawyer, there was no such thing in New York as a bar card, like other jurisdictions adopted, or the secure pass, as we now have.  Eventually, there was an attorney ID, but it was so cheesy that Times Square hucksters used to laugh at it.

The feds have an ingenuous scheme to force this down the throats of the States who might otherwise be inclined to listen to Publius and flex their anti-federalist muscle.  You see, the feds can’t force states to turn over their databases, but the feds can make life for residents of states that refuse so unbearably miserable that the pressure will be overwhelming.  As Chertoff explained, “in instances where a particular state doesn’t seek a waiver, its residents will have to use a passport or a newly created federal passport card if they want to avoid a vigorous secondary screening at airport security.”  Vigorous, as in cavity searches perhaps?  But Chertoff is truly a populist. 

The last thing I want to do is punish citizens of a state who would love to have a REAL ID license but can’t get one,” Chertoff said.

Chertoff doesn’t want to disappoint the cheering throngs, desperate to get a REAL ID of their very own.  Is this a man of the people or what?

The notion of someone asking me to identify myself to get on a plane to go to California was ridiculous.  I’m an American.  I can go any darn place I want without having to answer to anyone.  That’s my birthright.  That’s what it means to be American.

We used to be taught that in school.  I gather it hasn’t been taught in quite some time, as it’s no longer in vogue.  And no longer true.  Today, real American’s proudly show identification.  Real American’s empty their pockets and walk barefooted through the magnetometer.  Real Americans have nothing to hide.

The question posed, of course, is how this is happening when our President, and his high public officials, no longer have total control over the government.  There’s that crazy Dem woman, Nancy Pelosi, in charge of the House.  Why didn’t she put a stop to this madness?

Welcome to the nightmare of politics.  This is what I’ve been saying all along, that while our fears and concerns about what Karl Rove and Dick Cheney think is best for the country may be overwhelming, we’ve failed to notice that the Democrats are merely Republican Light.  They’ve been trying to out-tough the Reps on crime for almost two decades, even since Michael Dukakis got Willie Horton’s face shoved down his throat.

Our friendly Democrats smell a fragrant victory in the air, and when they have their people in place, they want as much power, if not more, than our overly-paternalistic Republicans.  Remember the line item veto, dangerous in their hands but wonderful in ours?  Our House Dems consider this a parting gift from the Republicans, who will take the heat while they get the juice. 

And so, we note the passing of another of our American birthrights, the right to go anywhere in these great United States without anyone having the right to demand that you show them your papers.   We would also mourn the death of personal privacy, but we’ve been on death watch for so long that we can no longer muster the tears.