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James Childers -
mail@ethosofliberty.com
February 07, 2005
Fact - The United States is
not a "Democracy" in the truest sense of the word.
We are at best a Democratic Representative
Constitutional Republic.
Individuals within the
States elect their representatives to govern them at
the local and state level. Each state within this
republic has representation in our national assembly
- both in the upper house (Senate) and lower house
(House of Representatives). Up until the XVII
Amendment to the constitution in 1912 Senators were
appointed by the states to their seats. The XVII
Amendment allows for state-wide direct election of
senators by the people.
The United States is a tight confederation of
independent "states"...Thus the term "United"
States. One is not a resident of "The United
States", but a resident in which state they reside
and since the states are unified under a common
national constitution, thus a resident or citizen of
the "United" States.
By design the central authority of the Federal
Government by our constitution was purposefully
limited to few centralized powers in the Federal
Government with all other powers being relegated to
"the states and the people respectively" (X
Amendment).
Even the power of the
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT is split into three distinctive
and separate entities - The Legislative Branch
(Congress) - The Executive Branch (The Presidency
and day-to-day working branch of the government) and
the oversight of the Judicial Branch (Courts).
Congress makes the laws -
The Executive Branch enforces these laws and the
Judicial branch determines if these laws are just
and in line with the original intent of the founding
principles of the constitution.
These centralized powers are designed to be limited
to guaranteeing ALL citizens of the several states
certain rights, freedoms and responsibilities and to
have a central federal government oversee the
interaction of the states particularly in regard to
"interstate commerce", national defense and
international treaties that would be binding upon
the several states. Each of the laws passed by our
national assembly(ies) both state and federal must
pass these constitutional tests.
An example of a power that is held by the states and
not the Federal Government is the issuance of
Drivers Licenses and Identification Cards. The
power of the local governments to regulate the use
of a motor vehicle and to issue Drivers Licenses is
not a power that was prohibited under the national
constitution nor was driving a motor vehicle a right
enumerated in the Constitution. Freedom of movement
and travel is guaranteed by the US Constitution
although driving is not an enumerated right and thus
can be considered a privilege and thus subject to
licensing and other restrictions by the local state
authorities.
Since the operation of a motor vehicle involves
skill, training and a working knowledge of the rules
of the road, local states began "licensing"
individuals the right to operate a motor vehicle
during the early part of the last century.
Eventually they added a photograph and personal
information to better identify "authorized"
individuals. Since then the "license" or
identification has been used for many additional
programs not originally intended.
The Drivers License has become our de facto national
standard ID because it is a common standard among
the states (i.e. something that every state issues).
We could have used hunting or fishing licenses or
any other form of statement of individual identity.
The Drivers License just happened to be convenient
and something that most people possess. There are
many people in the US that do not have a drivers
license or a local government ID card.
Additionally it must be noted that you are NOT
REQUIRED to produce identification or a license if
an officer stops you on the street UNLESS you are
operating a motor vehicle. The right to "privacy" is
not specifically mentioned in the constitution
although it is inferred by the IV, V and IX
Amendments - The enumeration in the Constitution, of
certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or
disparage others retained by the people.
The crux of the argument involving airline passenger
identification in the US is the question of the
guaranteed right to freedom of movement and travel
vs. the "privilege" of traveling on a private
aircraft and the ability of the airline to grant or
deny this privilege based upon a verifiable
statement of identity against a known list of
"denied persons". There is no requirement for ID for
traveling on a Bus or Train. So why an airplane ( I
ask this rhetorically of course )?
We in the US are coming to grips with some very
tough issues. Nationally there is a consensus that
we need a single form of verifiable ID. The real
question is how will our government(s) both local
and national use this information and how will it
infringe upon our rights and freedoms guaranteed
through the bloodshed of our forefathers and
enumerated in our national constitution?
We KNOW that we need to positively identify threats
to our republic, but how do we do this within the
framework of our existing constitutional
limitations? Maybe (and I say this with great
trepidation) it will involve another constitutional
convention. These laws, limitations, rights,
freedoms and responsibilities have kept our republic
strong throughout the last 200+ years and they are
not lightly discarded nor trampled upon.
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