Letters from North America
by Peary Perry
Wonderful,
wonderful…..this column
should be the one this
week to warm the cockles
of your heart. After you
read it, let me know if
you can think of any
other country in the
world that we could pack
up and move to….I want
to go with you.
Here in our wonderful
state of Texas, the
current legislature has
proposed and voted on a
bill to allow twenty
(20)…that’s twenty
different forms of
identification to be
used for proof of
citizenship in order to
vote in our beautiful
state.
Obviously, your photo
drivers license or
passport is accepted as
well as a military
identification card. So
is a certified copy of a
birth certificate. But
how about these?
Valid employee
identification card with
the person’s photograph?
I’ve owned companies
where we made such cards
for our employees, you
can buy the camera and
lamination machine at
any large office supply
store. So, what’s to
prevent Acme Widget
Manufacturing Co. Inc
from making these up at
a flea market and
selling them for $5.00
to any bozo who walks in
off the street? Who
checks to see if Acme is
a real company and if
this guy is an actual,
real, living, breathing
United States citizen?
No one, that’s who.
How about ‘Official mail
from a government
entity’? Does a letter
from the IRS show who
you are? Does it
identify you as a
citizen? If you write to
the Food and Drug
Administration about
some health concerns
over a food product and
they write you a letter
back, does that qualify
you to be a United
States citizen? I don’t
think so.
Copy of a current
utility bill, bank
statement, paycheck
showing the voters name
and address. I wonder if
the terrorists who took
over the planes on
September 11th 2001 ever
had any of these? Seems
to me they lived here
for some months, so they
could have had some
utility bills and if
they worked at any job,
they could produce a
payroll check or check
stub. So, Mr.
Legislature Person,
please explain to me how
the production of any of
these documents will
prove that I am a United
States citizen? Looks to
me like there is room
for another booth at the
flea market to crank out
payroll stubs.
A current drivers
license- now here is
where we get sticky…in
our state you need a
social security card in
order to apply for a
drivers license. But
here is the rule for
getting a social
security card if you are
not a United States
citizen: (from the
Social Security
office)…..
“To prove your U.S.
immigration status, you
must show us the current
U.S. immigration
document, I-94,
Arrival/Departure
Record, issued to you
when you arrived in the
United States. If you
are an F-1 or M-1
student, you also must
show us your I-20,
Certificate of
Eligibility for
Nonimmigrant Student
Status. If you are a J-1
or J-2 exchange visitor,
you must show us your
DS-2019, Certificate of
Eligibility for Exchange
Visitor Status.”
So, if you give the
government the above
requested documentation,
then you can get a
social security card
issued to you, then you
can get a drivers
license and then guess
what? You can vote.
Simple.
So, how many total
non-citizens do we have
in this country at this
time? I mean those who
could vote if they
wanted to do so?…Twenty
million…? Thirty
million? Well it might
interest you to know
that in the 2004
Presidential election,
there were 126 million
votes cast. If we took
the lower figure of
twenty million and made
the supposition that
they might be able to
vote and since we can’t
tell if they are
eligible or not…then
they can or could
potentially control 15%
of the total votes cast.
Trust me; they would be
a force to be reckoned
with.
Oh, I almost forgot….the
one that really got
under my skin….You can
obtain a voter
registration certificate
if you have a current
library card. A LIBRARY
CARD…those are so secure
and not just anyone can
get one can they? Have
you ever had a librarian
ask you to prove you are
a US citizen before
checking out “Bambi” or
“Alice In Wonderland”?
The Mad Hatter is alive
and well in this
country. What in the
world are we thinking?
Now I feel so much
better….don’t you?
Let me know where we
want to move….I’m
packing up as we speak.
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