"Hi, I'm collecting signatures to repeal Maine's Real ID law. Are you familiar with that? Are you a registered voter here in Maine?" I emphasize the word "repeal" and jam the questions together. While I'm talking I'm flashing the ban Real ID stickers on my clipboards. I've got the logo on my shirt.

I don't ask first if the person with whom I'm speaking is a registered voter and wait for a "no". That I'm asking about Real ID interests them. Besides, I'm the one interrupting their Italian sandwich, their summer reading, nap or iPod shuffle. Where I give up some information first, people are more willing to reciprocate.

"Oh, that one, sure, I'll sign," they say reaching for my clipboard.

Or

"I never sign petitions, but I'll sign that one."

Or

"I signed at the farmer's market last week. Thank you for doing this. How are you doing with your signatures? Do you have enough yet?"

Or

"No, what is it about? Is that the one about...."

Which tells you what they know about the issue and what concerns them. No one questions whether or not this is Real ID. They all know it is, no matter the bullshit coming from the likes of Governor Baldacci and Senator Diamond. Politicians wouldn't lie to you, would they? Sign here!

"This is the law that requires the State of Maine to share the data it has on its people," I say, "with the feds, with Homeland Security, with big corporations. The Hannaford thing shows how wrong that can go. All without oversight or restriction. [1]" I emphasize the word "requires".

By now a good number of them are saying, "Yeah, I'll sign that."

And if they reach for the clipboard, stop the rap. Ask them what town they live in and make sure they sign correctly.

I continue, "It starts with Drivers' Licenses and goes on to provide any data Homeland Security wants. Employment, education, medical and financial records. [2] It uses the Drivers' License as a can opener to get everything the State of Maine knows about you."

If I think they are a parent, I'll say "We teach our children that sharing is good." Pause. "But there are limits. And this goes beyond any reasonable limit."

"Our aim is to repeal this law. Your signing here puts it on the ballot in November. It gives the people a choice. Are you comfortable signing this petition to do that?"

Mostly I talk about privacy. How I've got everything to hide. My past, my future, my books, my guns, my friends, my taxes, my web surfing. How it's my life and my business and my country and I don't want the police fishing around in my stuff. Period. They will make up stuff if only to justify their importance. Nothing good will come of it.

On the Beach

Higgins Beach, South Portland

"Why are they doing this," she asked? She was too young to sign. Her grandmother - relaxing after working the hot day in a windowless window factory - had already signed.

I sat down in the sand. "I had a load of lumber delivered last week to build my chicken coop. I was chatting with the truck driver; he's looking at a \$3000 bill to fill his oil tank this winter. He doesn't have that kind of money. And look at what's happening with food prices." I could see she was following the thread.

Her grandmother chipped in with a story about four families moving into a trailer home out near Farmington, buying their food in bulk and getting ready for the winter. And her great-grandmother spoke of how {\em{her}} mother had taught her that sooner or later no one would be able to buy a loaf of bread without a government number.

"People are going to be cold and hungry this winter," I said. "And in over the longer term, for your generation, this is critical. All the resources are controlled and you will have nothing left. This is only the beginning."

"We've been talking about planting a huge garden," she said. "But we don't have any land."

Real ID is all about controlling resources and who gets what. Those promoting it tell you it's about your safety. About immigrants. But the underlying issue is too many people and too few resources. What will happen when people are cold and hungry this winter or next? Checkpoints on the street corners. The solution to a failed economy is a police state. I don't usually get into this discussion, because I want 15 to 20 signatures an hour.

Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth

"I saw you talking to that woman over there and she has no idea what you got her to sign. If you don't like it [Real ID], what's your solution," a gentleman asked?

I didn't mention "that woman over there" was a long time osteopath - 25 years in practice. We'd been discussing Real ID and the public health implications. She was happy to sign and had asked where she could sign for a non-corporate health care system.

"Passports," I said. "This is a $185M unfunded federal mandate. It's going to cost the State of Maine twice as much to implement Real ID as it would cost to buy a passport for everyone currently without a passport. Of course, that still leaves the problem of where does Maine get the money; I don't have a solution for that because I don't see why we need to do this in the first place. But to pay for this, ultimately the state will cut services and raise fees and taxes accordingly. If you love BMV now ($22M), you'll really love it when it's four times bigger."

I didn't go into Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" and the other 9/11, Pinochet, Chile and how the free-market economists destroyed Latin America's most prosperous economy just as they are destroying ours. Or how the only way to deal with a failed economy is a police state. Or keeping warm this winter. Or food. Or public health. This man wasn't interested in the that sort of a big picture.

"The unfunded mandate part bothers me a lot," he said. "But no, my license has to be Real ID compliant so I can fly to meetings and make money. The TSA won't let anyone on a plane without Real ID, so we have to do it."

Comply. This man is an authoritarian. He's already ceded his rights to Homeland Security. He's ceded the right and authority to do this to the TSA. I probably won't get a signature here.

"I dunno," I said trying a Libertarian angle, "Baldacci could get on the plane with the National Guard and insist that Mainers be allowed to travel. Just like the Governor of Montana promised to do."

"That'll never work [3]," he said. "I need Real ID so I can make my money."

"So he can make money, I have to get chipped," I thought later at home. And cracked open an ice-cold Geary's HSA.

###

[1] How do you spell FISA?

[2] This is not in language on the petitions; it's buried in "participation" in the SAVE system. The federal Real ID Act gives Director of Homeland Security the authority to extend the data set requested as he wishes. Chertoff boasts that one will need Real ID to get a job, any services, health care or to open a bank account. A recent National Security Directive (NSPD 59) addresses the infrastructure to share all this biometrically linked "contextual" data.

[3] Prohibition - a federal law and an unfunded federal mandate - ended when the states finally refused to enforce it on their dime.}