Joe Scarborough - Almost an Alabamian

One of the freshest funny faces I have seen on TV lately is Joe Scarborough of the new MSNBC "Morning Joe" which fills the 6am to 9pm morning time slot formerly held by the fallen Don Imus. I say Joe is almost an Alabamian because he is very proud of graduating from the University of Alabama in 1985. He will frequently and spontaneously erupt with a "Roll Tide" shout during the show.

On the show, the former Florida Congressman, shares the set with two co-hosts who not well known -for now - have a good amount of chemistry with Joe. While Mika Brzezenski and Willie Geist are not widely known,they are definitely breaking out of the shadow of their famous parents - Zbigniew Brzezenski, former National Security Advisor to Jimmy Carter and Bill Geist - regular commentator or CBS Sunday and Sixty Minutes.

Scarborough has another show on MSNBC called "Scarborough Country" which is very political in nature but not nearly as funny as "Morning Joe." While there is a lot of politics discussed on the show, Joe comes across more as a conservative free thinker than a lockstep Bush Republican - even though there is no doubt that he was there once.

Joe frequently appears on the show attired in a uniform someone from Lower Alabama or the Florida Panhandle can identify with - blue oxford shirt without tie and not tucked in, dark trousers and loafers without socks. He gives an easy going image of a party getting ready to happen.

I didn't think anyone could replace Imus for that time slot, but Joe is doing well with it. I think the reason for his success is because he's working at being "Joe" and not "Imus."

The National I.D. Card is here - But, did you know it?

Starting in May, 2008 you will need a federally approved ID card to travel by air, open a bank account, apply for your social security benefits, or use most government services. President Bush signed The Real ID Act in 2005 and states have until May 11, 2008 to be in compliance.

In Alabama, your national/real ID will take the form of your state driver's license which will not really be a state driver's license anymore. It will be a Homeland Security ID card. To get the new identification your old ID will have to be recertified. This means that you, your grandma, Uncle Charlie, and God knows who else will have to make a personal visit to a state office with certified birth certificates, current U.S. Passport, Social Security Card, and proof of address. The state will have to certify these certificates are real, digitize them, and store them permanently.

Once everyone's personal information is on file, then the Department of Homeland Security will require Alabama to set up an information database that will be shared by ALL states to allow information verification.

There will be a barcode on the back of the ID which will allow bars, banks, airlines, and so to swipe through card readers. Instantly upon implementation of the Real ID there will be a new kind of second class citizen - those who do not possess a card. The following is from a website that is devoted entirely to opposing the new ID card requirement:

If it's possible to create a scheme worse than a national ID card, this is it: a privatized National ID card. The citizens of every state will not only be at the mercy of a company like ChoicePoint or Acxiom to 'approve' their identity, but will have no privacy protections whatsoever on that data. Your sensitive drivers license data can be bought and sold along with everything else these companies sell, such as your credit information. The federal government can then gain access to this information without having to comply with any laws, such as the Privacy Act.

DHS is granting the right to control our identity to private industry. It will be Identity-Mart, Inc.: Always Low Privacy, Always.™ Congress needs to take immediate action to stop this travesty.

Do you remember those movies from the Cold War about Eastern Bloc Communist Countries that required a national ID? The cold eyed security agent would approach the hero and say the dreaded words, "Show me your identity documents!"

Alabama citizens, starting next year, will be in the same pickle.

Until next time...