National ID Cards/ ACLU's Timothy Edgar on "Democracy Now" [View All]

Amy Goodman interviewed Timothy Edgar, legislative counsel for the ACLU, about effects of the newly passed monster intelligence bill.

He points out that "one problem with the bill is that it creates what amounts to, in effect, a national ID, and it does this by taking existing state drivers' licenses and federalizing them. It basically puts the federal government in charge of the standards for issuing and designing drivers' licenses."

Edgar goes on to talk about possible use of the new, federalized drivers' licenses to track people. RFID chips could be implanted in the licenses. Congress wasn't willing to go as far as the 9/11 commission recommended, to make licenses like "internal passports," but they've laid the groundwork for that kind of "checkpoint society" in the future.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

(This was just shown on LINK TV and I transcribed from TiVo; the program was broadcast earlier today on LINK and on radio so some of you may have already heard it.)

What about this national ID card thing? Maybe I've missed it, but there doesn't seem to be any talk about it here. Nobody's concerned? Or nobody knows about it?