Montana Governor Refuses Real ID, DHS Threatens Citizens

We knew that the state of Montana was resisting the REAL ID Act, but we just learned some of the details of that resistance. The story is so good we had to share it, in case you hadn’t heard . . .

Brian Schweitzer, the governor of Montana, wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The letter informed Chertoff that Montana would not be complying with the REAL ID Act. Our quote of the day supplies one of the reasons for Governor Schweitzer’s rebellion. In response to the letter . . .

Secretary Chertoff called Governor Schweitzer and threatened him. Chertoff told Schweitzer that Montana residents would be banned from airplanes, or subjected to severe, time-consuming inspections at airports.

The Governor countered with his own threat, “How about we both go on 60 Minutes a few days after the DHS starts patting down Montana driver’s license-holders who are trying to get on the planes and both of us can tell our side of the story.”

Chertoff didn’t like that suggestion. He said, “I see the problem. We need to get this fixed.”

Liberty Maven

Well I say good for Governor Schweitzer, he sure knows how to stand up to the overbearing DHS. It is also less commonly known that a great many states have outright refused to have anything to do with Real ID. I believe in the end, the whole concept will have been a complete failure and billions of dollars worth of waste.

In the past I studied the content and decided it was not that big a deal. At present, I just feel that is a waste of tax money due to the resistance to the program and the probability of it being killed by either of the next Presidents. Speaking of Presidential candidates, do we know what any of their stances on Real ID is?

More Information on the Real Idea Act of 2005

New Hampshire passed legislation in the state banning them from submitting to the Real ID Act.

The battle continues on I suppose.

Hooray for Governor Schweitzer and Montana!

I'm glad there's at least one state that believes in freedom and liberty.

What I liked best about this story is that it is a victory for States sovereignty and the 10th amendment. States have to stand up to the federal government at some point and on some issues. This story gets me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Headlines in the coming weeks:

Brian Schweitzer, the governor of Montana, died in an apparent suicide act early this morning.

reply to post by Misfit


My thoughts exactly, except I`m thinking it`s gonna be a staged car accident. They`ve been overplaying the suicide card for too long with the scientists.

[edit on 9-8-2008 by ben420]

Come on guys the Feds are not that confident in their hold on the citizens. That would be too obvious.

Fact is Montana is not the only state to deny it. The DHS tried to play it off by simply "giving them an unrequested extension to meet the deadline" . I believe New Hampshire also was given this same line. Their state legislatures banned compliance with Real Id altogether, but I am quite satisfied with Governor Schweitzer's comments moreso.

I really wish Chertoff would have had the guts to take him up on the 60 minutes discussion offer lol.

You know what is crazy, last night I had a dream (I hadn't read this thread yet) that I pack up my stuff and moved to Montana. I had to get a job as a blackjack dealer at an Indian Casino to make ends meet. The weird thing was I couldn't understand why I was there in the dream. I think I know now.

God bless and protect State's Rights.

I will always adhere to the paradigm that the Federal government's role in the Union is that of SERVANT. There is NO reason that they should be empowered to force a 'national ID' that is not desired by the citizens.

The system that forms the foundation of the Real-ID is cloaked in secrecy and in no-way controlled by the people of this country. The threats are just MORE proof of the ideological mindset of the currently installed apparatus of transnational corporate influence.

I would be surprised if there weren't 'special' channels for 'privileged' citizens in addition to the 'special' one's we know must exist for those who are to be 'watched.'

This tool can have no benefit other than to reinforce fear by it's very existence. States that 'go along to play along' are surrendering their own citizens to a tracking system who's primary functionality is oppressive restriction.

Looks like I might be headed to Montana for my retirement. I will not comply with this edict. Just because they can't secure our borders, they think all of us should play silly games to insure our security. The ID's will be counterfitted within one week of they're inception. Its more money that should be put to border patrol and port security. Foolish and unworkable.

Zindo

reply to post by DYepes


While I salute Governor Schweitzer's stance on this, I understand that the Department of Homeland Security will in the end ram this down his state's throat as well as the other state's who are outright refusing it. It won't be through physical violence however where one might think, it will be through events like I outline in this thread about the economy collapsing.

Political Collusion of a President and Congress in Collapsing America, The Fall of the New Rome

By President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, and Congress causing the economy to collapse through driving us to the current position of being $900 Trillion in debt because of a war we did not need, as well as other events that led to the current state of mismanagement of our nation, the "almighty dollar" will collapse altogether soon enough, ushering in the Amero, making one step closer to the biochip, Verichip/Digital Angel, which will connect later to the Real I.D. Act by the Neural Implant Chipat the latest in 2020.

Also as well is the thread here I speak about where the Bilderberg Group is acting behind the scenes through controlling the Council on Foreign Relations, to effect the foreign policies which drives us into war to begin with.

Bilderberger : The Global Agenda, Eugenics, Global Warming, And Biochiping Sheeple

These are the events that will connect to the Real I.D. Act later on through issues arising like the collapse of the economy, the drive toward unifying a national identification through the necessity of streamlining all Drivers Licenses, and through the intent towards implanting the citizens with a tracking device like the biochip. This will enable the your Drivers License, Social Security Number, Credit Cards, Medical Records to all be utilized simultaneously within the same device through reverse Divide and Conquer, or Conquering through Division by casting the bits and pieces of the technology and laws to the four corners of our nation as well as the world, and driving them back together through the subtle shift and manipulation of enacting them by agencies like Homeland Security.

DYepes, I submitted your thread to DIGG as well, so it can gain some outside attention and will bring in other people researching it outside ATS, so maybe we can cross-reference people looking into this between the ATS Community as well as the regular internet areas.


[edit on 10-8-2008 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

Flagged.

Its important to keep an eye on these issues as when the federal Gov starts getting arsey with the states, trouble is brewing for sure.

Pay for border security and port security, not treating all the states citizens as cattle.

I think the governor should go on 60 minutes himself, and openly state his position and the Federal threats so the genera public can gleam a bit of understanding on the issue. This entire topic is never even mentioned in the mainstream ever.

Originally posted by DYepes
I think the governor should go on 60 minutes himself, and openly state his position and the Federal threats so the genera public can gleam a bit of understanding on the issue. This entire topic is never even mentioned in the mainstream ever.

That's a great idea for this controversial topic to get dragged into the spotlight.

This of course leaves several questions open for discussion.

Would "60 Minutes" be allowed to broadcast it?

Would it be something the nation would watch rather than the upcoming election?

Would it be something the nation would watch verses the Super Bowl?

And last but not least...

Would Schweitzer be found dead by "accident" or "overdose" of medication, thereby having been suicided?

I'm torn between saying 'Come on up, there's plenty of room!' and 'Stay away, theres plenty of room and we want it to stay that way!'

This is one of the few things our governor has gotten right lately. Although I will say he has gotten MUCH less wrong then our usual buffoons. (Racicot)

The REAL ID is definitely not something anyone should be supporting in my opinion. The Fed will use even the smallest advantage they can find to take more and more power from individuals. This shouldn't surprise any of us since that is the end goal of any central government. It is up to the individual to hold the Fed in check, and this is what we are trying to do by resisting the REAL ID.

Watch, there is going to be a REALLY BIG terrorist attack soon, and that will scare all the governors into accepting it. The US Government will do anything to make sure they get what they want.

Please excuse my ignorance, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but isn't a passport "The" official federal ID. What is wrong with passports?

If the federal government wanted to give prefferential handling at airports to people who volunteer to carry their passports within the US. I would see the reason. If they wished to issue all citizens passports I could see the reason of that. Why can't the federal government live within the rules?

Citizens don't get to change the rules to suit their whims and convenience, why should government agencies get to?

Do the people exist to satisfy the needs of the government, or does the government exist to satisfy the needs of the people?

If the answer is the former than we live in a state of servitude, and once we get that fact straight, I have no doubt that the people will simply choose to cease their service. There is no government which can withstand that eventuality.

Originally posted by Cyberbian
Please excuse my ignorance, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but isn't a passport "The" official federal ID. What is wrong with passports?

You are correct there to a point, but not every American, or even international citizen has a Passport. For Cherthoff to threaten longer waiting at the airport is in essence a threat of slowing everyone down with the prosepct of standing around even longer, and even the possibility of forced strip searches.

The Department of Homeland Security in conjunction with President George W. Bush and Congress are trying to force all states to comply with the same Drivers License, with a microchip in it no less, along with the "credit card swipe" device already on the backside of a lot of them, calling it a means to "streamline the system" but these measures were set in motion a long time ago to have everyone's licenses different, then change them over time to make a sublte shift and change no one would notice.

This is utilizing Divide and Conquer through a reverse means of splitting the tiny pieces of a 250,000 piece puzzle and shifting them closer together through decades of subtle shifts and changes that most people would not see.

What's wrong with REAL ID? It doesn't seem that bad at first glance. I support the governor because any assertion of states' rights is positive, but what's with this specific act?

Can you (namely Spartan and whoever else said it) show me where in the REAL ID Act it requires drivers licenses to have RFID chips of any kind? I'll dig through it some time later but I'm not familiar with the act.

And FYI this act is by Congress, not the President or one of his departments. Though Bush did sign it into law.

[edit on 10-8-2008 by Johnmike]

So, you think having this ID card is nothing. Well what if you are traveling and some super dink practicing his/her new found federal power to screw with you decides your a threat and they confiscate your card which allows you to only go about your way, as long as you have that ID card in hand.

And you say screw this and think this is BS and you will just head out for home anyway without your ID card because they put a 72 hour hold on your card. Than you get stopped up the way without it and now you have real trouble because they can't lawfully ID you and its law you have an ID card and now they detain you with questions and than incarceration for no ID card.

It's best we don't have and allow this scaled down version of, papers, your papers. Neo/nazi cons want your freedoms.

Let me tell you a story about how the system works.

I used to drive long haul back in the 80s. I came across Ohio's I80 and was called into a weigh station. The cop wrote me up for something I don't remember anymore.

This cop decided he had the authority to yank my cdl and hold it till I paid the fine. Now theres a court date one has to show for and this super trooper made his own law as to how I was going to be sure to appear in court.

I told him he can't take my cdl and he laughed and said yes he could. I told him I need that if I get stopped in another state or by a another cop. He than writes a receipt for my cdl and tells me how many days I have to pay the fine or appear in court.

This is what you can expect from a system flawed by attitude if theres a law or ID to restrict you as you move about. They have every reason to screw with you and you can do little about it.

You do donot want to be in a position where they can throw you away by simply making stuff up because they have the fed power and will.