September 05, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

SHOW ME YOUR PAPERS

In old movies depicting Nazi Germany you'll frequently see some guy in a uniform stopping someone in a car or on the street and in German-accented English demanding, "Show me your papers." I've noticed a disturbing trend in this country of having to constantly identify yourself. Last year I was laid off and applied for unemployment. A week or so later I got a letter from the Employment Development Department requesting a mass of paperwork to prove my identity.

I had to send them a copy of my driver's license, a copy of a check stub, a copy of a utility bill, a copy of the annual statement from the Social Security Administration, and I forget what else. I've never been asked to jump through such major hoops before just to get a few unemployment checks.

Private industry has gotten into the act. At my bank I was asked to show a photo ID when I was making a deposit! The teller said it was because I was taking out some money. I was taking a whole $10.00. It was for "security," he said. They already have video cameras trained on you, they have your checking account number and all the other information that goes with getting a checking account, and that's not enough.

We know that the Bush administration wants to force a national ID card down our throats. There are a multitude of privacy and other issues associated with a national ID card. I want my personal autonomy back and I don't want government and corporations compiling information on me and demanding that I show my papers every time I turn around.