by Mark Lerner (November 16, 2010) Constitutional Alliance Stop Real ID Coalition
There are those days for each of us that give us pause to reflect. Today, my birthday is one of those days. I write this letter not asking for sympathy, appreciation or any other self indulgent reason. This is my own “State of the Union” address of a sort. Once you have finished reading this “prayer” please join is assisting the Constitutional Alliance in the work we do. Either contact the Constitutional Alliance through our web-site or contact me at stoprealid@aol.com
As many of you know I am a Co-Founder of the Constitutional Alliance www.constitutionalalliance.org . As the Co-Founder and spokesperson I have been blessed to meet many citizens all over the country. I have driven from one corner of our country to the others many times over. I prefer to drive because driving affords me the opportunity to meet as many citizens as possible whether they live in the largest of cities or the smallest of towns. Each year I have made several trips to Washington D.C.. As I have gone from one state capitol to the next, testifying and doing other things I have met with groups and organizations that represent the right, left and middle of our country.
To be sure there are those with strong convictions on many issues. In part what makes our country great is the vigorous debate our Constitution provides for.
When we first decided to form the Constitutional Alliance we identified several issues in our mission statement that we felt needed to be addressed nationally. Within a year or so we recognized there was one issue that stood out among the others. The issue of American citizens being able to voice their positions on any issue without fear or intimidation of reprisal was the primary issue we have focused on. The subheading, if you will, to the primary issue was ensuring our right to representation was not threatened.
Voting is not representation when a handful of lawmakers at the state or national level decide what legislation is heard in committee or on the “floor” of any chamber. There is no representation when international organizations, special interests groups (including unions) and multi-national corporations are funneling millions of dollars a day into our political process. Many times we have no idea who the people are the money originates from. Your voice, my voice, the voice of citizens is being drowned out by those same millions of dollars. Over a single year those millions become billions of dollars. When I walk into a senator or congressperson’s office I see the lobbyists lining up like vultures. I have been blessed that normally I do not have to wait for all the lobbyists to have “their turn” before I get in to see who it is I want to meet with. This is not a reflection on me but rather a testimony to those that have “opened” the door for me to meet with people.
Approximately two years ago we decided (Constitutional Alliance) that we needed to bring those on the right and left together to address the issue of the Real ID Act 2005. I have written extensively about the Real ID Act. On the bottom of the homepage of our web-site you will find a short video of a media event we sponsored at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.. On one side of me sat a representative of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and on my other side sat a representative of the ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice). These two organizations are polar opposites. It is hard to remember if these two organizations ever appeared at the same place, at the same time voicing the same position about the same issue. Many thought I was crazy for believing that I could convince the ACLU and the ACLJ to come together. There were others from the “right” and “left” that also accepted our invitation including state lawmakers. Leaders of state groups and national advocacy groups also attended. What became obvious that day is even when people, groups or organizations disagree on so many issues it is possible that we can focus on what we have in common, not what divides us. Those who would say “You should never break bread with those you oppose.” are wrong. There are those times, not always, but nevertheless those times when we must speak with one voice if we are to drown out those that only have one purpose; to usurp our rights, liberty and freedom for their own personal gain.
Religion yes; mandatory no. I do not hide my deep faith in God nor the role I believe God has in making all things possible. I understand not everyone believes as I do and I respect that our Constitution protects the rights of those who disagree with me every bit as much as the Constitution protects my rights. That being said on that one day at the National Press Club I thought I was in an alternate universe. Not only were the ACLJ and the ACLU sitting on each side of me but the ACLU was stressing the importance of protecting the religious rights of Christians and the ACLJ was stressing the threat corporate and international interests are creating. Usually most people do not think of the ACLU stressing the religious freedom of Christians. Further, the ACLJ which most people think of as a center right organization that supports corporations, were speaking out against undo corporate influence. My belief; only God could have made that day at the National Press Club a reality.
As I previously noted the event at the National Press Club was focused on the Real ID Act 2005. I have no intention of writing extensively about the Real ID Act in this letter. There are many articles on our web-site where we have discussed the Real ID Act at great length. What was obvious was that there was a common thread that was part of each speaker’s presentation that day. We each identified what arguably is the single greatest threat to our Constitutional Republic, our freedom. The common thread we each identified was the control the federal government was taking over the lives of citizens. The Real ID Act was and is a law that sets federal minimum guidelines for states through the implementation of international standards that apply to state driver’s licenses using biometrics (ex, facial recognition, fingerprints and iris scans). Every American citizen is being mandated to enroll into a single global system of identification and financial control of which they have no representation.
Congress in this new session will be deciding on legislation that will create a biometric social security card and a National Worker’s Identification Card. This raises the question, is our government using our national security, our safety as a way to gain absolute direct and indirect control over We, the people? Direct control is when our government says we cannot do “something” without first having the “requisite” identification documents; documents that require we forego the presumed right of innocence and further provide all our personal information including our biometrics. Indirect control is when through intimidation government influences our actions. Indirect control is when but not limited to when government is reading our emails, listening to our phone calls, monitoring our financial transactions and identifying us when we are in public using CCTV/surveillance cameras and biometrics. In addition we now have Automatic License Plate Readers, red light cameras, RFID technology and a variety of other technologies that we are told are for our “own good”.
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/how-effective-cbp-keeping-us-borders-safe and http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/how-accurate-e-verify One article provides DHS’s goal of preventing only 30% of the illegal goods and people entering our country at authorized Custom Border Patrol checkpoints. Imagine what the goal would be if all of our borders were considered not just the authorized checkpoints. The second link shines light on our government’s E-Verify program. When people are in our country illegally E-Verify is accurate only 46% of the time. The program is wrong more than it is right. Ask yourself again after reading the articles if you believe what our government is doing, the measures we are taking are about our security?
I have talked privately with many elected officials. Going back nearly three years ago before even President Obama was elected I wrote about a sense of doom that was lining the walls of Congress. It did not matter if I was speaking with Democrats, Republicans or Independents I could sense that those I was speaking with felt that government, regardless of who was in control could not resolve many problems our country faced. This sense of looming failure along with the fact that elected leaders speaking out against the broad sweeping powers the government was taking was a “third rail” (certain death politically) ensured we as citizens must stand together to protect our rights or they would become privileges at best. The likelihood of a global economic calamity, a terrorist event of unimaginable consequences, a pandemic, a natural disaster of unthinkable proportion, nuclear weapons used, or other catastrophic events is greater than ever before and some would suggest unavoidable. When a catastrophic event takes place it is more important than ever that there is transparency. The nature of the threat must be explained honestly to the American people so the motives of those in power are not in doubt. Congress, because of its failures, is ensuring there will be no transparency and worse yet giving the “government” unfettered control over citizens.
I have said it before and I will continue to say it until I draw my last breath; our foremost responsibility as citizens is to pass on to the children of today and tomorrow the rights, liberty and freedom we inherited at such great sacrifice of previous generations. Not one citizen is exempt from fulfilling this responsibility to their utmost ability.
We are failing to meet our foremost responsibility in part because we are so focused on individual issues such as but not limited to healthcare, immigration, wars, the deficit and many more important problems/challenges. If we do not first make sure our rights, liberty and freedom are protected so we may have vigorous debate about the many challenges we face it will not matter where any of us stand on any issue. There will be no representation for citizens and no right to seek redress.
We are on the verge of providing the federal government with total and absolute control over We, the people.
In journalism I am told it is important to provide the who, what, how, when and where in a story. We are providing our government with the who, what, how, when and where of each of our lives. Should we allow the government to move forward with Real ID, a biometric social security card, a National Worker’s Identification card and other proposed identification cards that rely on biometrics and/or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology we will not just have failed future generations but dishonored those that have given the ultimate sacrifice for each of us.
I argue in my book “Your Body Is Your ID” that we have already created a surveillance society; one which cannot be reconciled with a free society. Everywhere we go, if the government has its way, we will be leaving an electronic trail. This trail will provide the government with who we are, what we are doing, how we are doing what we are doing, when we are doing what we are doing and where we are doing what we are doing. With database linking already taking place and the creation of new databases that are proposed we will find that as a result of direct and indirect electronic access our government will have created a centralized database of any and all information including the biometrics of each citizen. By matching/comparing/analyzing our “electronic trails” not only will government know what we are each doing, government will know who we are with when doing what we are doing. In September this year DHS published in the Federal Register that they will not comply with the Privacy Act of 1974. DHS said this was necessary because they were bringing together information from administrative databases, immigration databases and law enforcement databases. In addition to this ignoring of the Privacy Act our government, your government has already given itself in the Patriot Act the ability to search any and all aspects of our life without a search warrant through the use of National Security Letters.
For my birthday prayer, forget wishes, I pray that we each have the courage, strength and wisdom to recognize we are failing at fulfilling our foremost responsibility as citizens. I pray that each of you in supporting the Constitutional Alliance’s proposed alternative solution to address issues such as but not limited to immigration, crime and the threat of terrorism. Our solution is real security not perceived security.
I discuss the proposed solution at great length in the book “Your Body Is Your ID”. I have recently reached an agreement with a reputable, and well known within the industry, publisher. I am working on rewriting parts of the book. The book will, for the most part, remain as is with some additional information and certainly more editing. My writing skill or lack thereof requires said editing. Essentially our proposed solution requires that all birth certificates be digitized and numbered sequentially. The solution is much more detailed; I am just providing a snapshot in the letter. Keep in mind that the biometric DOES NOT identify people; it is the breeder document (i.e. birth certificate) that provides identification. Our government had the biometrics of the eleven Russian spies caught earlier this year. To spite this fact these people were issued driver’s licenses and other U.S. identification documents.
I have no time for those who do not appreciate what our foremost responsibility as citizens is. I hold my own family to the same standard as I do myself and others I know. Some are guilty; all are responsible. If you were to ask my family about how strongly I feel our foremost responsibility as citizens is, they would tell you I do not compromise on this issue. It can and has at times caused some for heated debate.
If you are on the “right” and feel those on the left are taking our country towards socialism that is your right to believe so. If you are on the “left” and believe those on the right are in bed with multi-national corporations resulting in a “corporate globalist” agenda that is your right. I ask, is socialism any better or worse than globalism? In either case it should be clear that we, the individual citizens of a sovereign nation, living in sovereign states as sovereign citizens are the losers.
The Constitutional Alliance works for you regardless of your political ideology or what “party” you belong to. We focus on one issue, the issue of ensuring that the people control government and that the government does not control the people. We work to ensure “representation” exists. That “representation” is not an idea that only historians will write about in the future.
I pray that one day I would get to meet each of you. It would be a privilege. If our courage does not exceed our fear, then we are destined to not just failure but also to servitude.
Finally, I ask that you share this document, this prayer if you will, with everyone that you are in contact with. Ask others to support the work the Constitutional Alliance does so we may fulfill our primary goal as an organization. We work for each of you and that means all of you regardless of your political party affiliation. Sign up for our updates once you visit our web-site.
Please do not allow this document to become no more than a statement that at some point in the future people will read to learn what happened to the late great United States of America.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Mark Lerner
God Bless the United States of America, the greatest country on Earth
About The Author 
Mark Lerner is a co-founder of the Constitutional Alliance, an alliance of groups and individuals who support the Mission Statement.