The Curious Case of the Silent Watchdog
To borrow from the great Sherlock Holmes, it is the curious case of a watchdog that should have barked, but for some reason hasn’t.
As many of you know, on July 1 the process of renewing your Georgia driver’s license became much more complicated and time-consuming, requiring among other things an official copy of your birth certificate, an official Social Security card and, if you’re a married woman, a copy of your marriage license to justify use of your married name rather than your birth name.
Digging up all that material can be a real chore — personally, I haven’t seen my Social Security card in years if not decades. And once you’ve gathered it all, you then have to run the gauntlet at the overwhelmed Department of Driver Services, where waits of four or five hours have become common. People are getting angry about the situation, and for good reason.
But here’s the thing: The changes aren’t Georgia’s idea, and in fact have been forced upon the state by new federal regulations. So why haven’t we heard state elected officials blaming the feds for “shoving this change down Georgia’s throat”? Why aren’t they deflecting public anger over long lines by redirecting it at Washington, which in truth is causing the problem in the first place?
It would be so easy, even a liberal could do it. You mention the Tenth Amendment, states’ rights and federal overregulation, then close with the fact that dictating how states issue driver’s licenses is not a power enumerated by the Constitution. Voila! Instant poutrage!
As it turns out, however, Gov. Nathan Deal has a very good reason for staying silent on the matter. Back in 2005, when the federal legislation in question was being passed into law, then U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal co-sponsored the measure.
And Republicans in general are muting their usual complaints because the REAL ID bill was a GOP initiative, part of their effort to prove that no measure was too extreme or intrusive if it could be excused as a counter-terror measure. In the House, for example, Republicans voted 219-8 in favor of the requirement, while Democrats voted 42-152 against it.
In other words, as Holmes so wisely surmised, the dog doesn’t bark at its own master.
– Jay Bookman
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518 comments Add your comment
TaxPayer
July 12th, 2012
7:08 am
“The wife was…”
MiltonMan obviously does not get out much. I recently tried to set up an appointment with a doctor and there were no openings for several months out. So I called another and another and got the same answer. The fourth doctor was able to work me in maybe at the end of the day in two weeks. I live in North Georgia.
stands for decibels (YL)
July 12th, 2012
7:08 am
mornin’.
Enjoy some a’ them Republican family values in W. Virginny.
Know yer place, wimminz.
TaxPayer
July 12th, 2012
7:12 am
He told them what they didn’t want to hear
He told them what, madmax. That all their years of paying into social security and medicare meant nothing. That they’re considered a bunch of freeloading moochers by the Republican party and they need to have their entitlements taken away so that money can be given to the one percenters… refreshing indeed.
Madmax
July 12th, 2012
7:13 am
Taxpayer – Funny, I didn’t hear those words. You must have used a democratic translator.
TaxPayer
July 12th, 2012
7:17 am
Madmax-Funny, I didn’t hear your words either. Did you have a point.
stands for decibels (YL)
July 12th, 2012
7:22 am
Sometimes Nancy needs to get outa my brain.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is hinting that all those boos toward Mitt Romney on Wednesday at the NAACP convention may have been exactly what the former governor was counting on.
“I think it was a calculated move on his part to get booed at the NAACP convention,” Pelosi said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. She did not elaborate further during the three-minute interview clip provided by Bloomberg.
Madmax
July 12th, 2012
7:24 am
Taxpayer – yeah, I think Romney will be a formidable challenge to the the great orator. You may have seen him turn a corner in the campaign where we can start to see the differences and I like what I saw. I’ve been waiting for Mitt to stand up and let us see the man and I think he started that yesterday. It’s a long way to November, but it’s a good first step.
stands for decibels (YL)
July 12th, 2012
7:25 am
It’s been awhile since I’ve published “Like Atrios Said.” So without further ado:
Like Atrios said.
It is one of my personal pet peeves, but old people who call for drafting teenagers really really enrage me. For millions of reasons.
Though here I’ll just limit my rage to the proposed non-military option of “teaching in low-income areas.” Because what low-income areas need more than anything is untrained 18-year-olds being paid slave wages to teach their kids. Genius.
A##holes.
Madmax
July 12th, 2012
7:26 am
Stands – on that we can agree.
stands for decibels (YL)
July 12th, 2012
7:35 am
I don’t normally follow celebrity news unless it concerns some well known creative genius I actually care about (you know, like Justin Bieber?)
But I’m starting to think there could be a useful national discussion about the bright line we Americans draw between child abuse and “raising your children to be good [fill-in-the-name-of-your-religious-affiliation-here]” in the Holmes-Cruise bustup.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tom-cruise-katie-holmes-divorce-scientology-344687?page=show
A number of former Scientology members say Holmes must know that as Suri gets older, the church might start exerting more of an influence on her.
“She’s at the age where the kids get indoctrinated,” says Headley. “It’s like, playtime over. You’re a Scientologist now. And they really de-emphasize the family. Katie becomes a lot less important as a mother. It’s all about the organization over the individual.”
Soter compared the religious training of children to the practice in Catholicism of beginning to receive Holy Communion at age 7. “Parents may choose to begin educating their children about religion at any time, much as in any other religion,” his statement said. “There is nothing unusual here.”
Headley, who began working 100-hour weeks at the Sea Org base in Hemet when he was 16, often for no pay, was shunned by his Scientologist mother when he left in 2005.
“You’re either in or out when it comes to Scientology,” says Headley. “That’s why Katie is making custody such an issue in the divorce petition. If you’re out, the way she seems to be, they want to cut you off from everyone, including your kids.”
TaxPayer
July 12th, 2012
7:42 am
Last month, Mitt Romney’s campaign got into a dustup with the Washington Post after the newspaper reported that Bain Capital, the private equity firm the GOP presidential candidate founded, invested in several US companies that outsourced jobs to China and India. The campaign indignantly demanded a retraction, claiming that these businesses did not send jobs overseas while Romney was running Bain, and the Post stood by its investigation. Yet there is another aspect to the Romney-as-outsourcer controversy. According to government documents reviewed by Mother Jones, Romney, when he was in charge of Bain, invested heavily in a Chinese manufacturing company that depended on US outsourcing for its profits—and that explicitly stated that such outsourcing was crucial to its success.
That’s our Mitt. As refreshing as yellow snow.
kayaker 71
July 12th, 2012
7:44 am
std, 7:35,
Although Scientology is classified as a religion by the govt,, it comes about as close to a cult as one could imagine. When anything takes away your ability to think for yourself and make your own decisions, it’s time to step back and take a look.
Paul
July 12th, 2012
7:46 am
Morning, USinUK!
Didn’t think anything could top Lemon Mousse Pie first thing in the morning, but thinking of Mitt doing Bulworth……LOL!
Paul
July 12th, 2012
7:47 am
“When anything takes away your ability to think for yourself and make your own decisions, it’s time to step back and take a look.”
Talk radio’s a cult?
Who knew?
Jay
July 12th, 2012
7:50 am
sheets
barking frog
July 12th, 2012
7:53 am
Scientology is the new
Mormonism.
A lot to ask
July 12th, 2012
7:54 am
Is it too much to ask to have original (real) documents to prove who you are? If the driver’s license is the de facto ID in this country (it probably should not be as one drive on the roads tells you a large percentage of the people are not even qualified-much less insured, I’m sure-to drive).
Perhaps it will make people actually save these documents, rather than continue our lax ways about ID (and border defense) in this country.
And don’t you only have to do it every 10 years?
Francia Lindon
July 12th, 2012
9:12 am
It took me 4 trips to the Cumming Dept. of Driver Services and a final 5 hour 40 minute wait at which time I was told that my recent Jury Summons from Fulton County did NOT qualify as one of the 2 required proofs of address. Neither did my expired drivers license with a 17-year history at the same address, nor a blank check with my address, nor my voter registration card issued by the state within the last week. Fortunately I had my car registration with me and after making it very very clear I was not going to leave without a license, they accepted the car registration.
This will have consequences beyond just being able to drive. It will impact GA voting rights. There are other states following the same Federal law that aren’t making renewing a license a perfect Kafkaesque nightmare.