"Real ID Raid" on Charlie Bass Concord office

[Dave Ridley]

As you guys may already be aware, Cathleen and I pulled a "silent demonstration marathon" yesterday.  The first stop was the TSA checkpoint at Manchester airport, which I'm writing a separate article on.  The second stop was U.S. Congressman Charlie Bass's office, which is just southeast of the State House Concord.

I didn't really think we'd have much impact on them since they get demonstrators with some frequency.  But we had other bureaucrats to visit in the area with the same materials, and we didn't want this Real ID perpetrator to feel left out.

We walked in about 11:45 a.m.  There were three fairly young staffers inside.  I'll call them BlondeGal, ManagerGuy and Quiet Guy.   BlondeGal asked us if she could help us.  I opened the sign and then handed the leaflet to ManagerGuy.   Cathleen stood right behind me and observed.

The sign says:

Real ID is wrong
Why are you
forcing it on us?
NHfree.com

The leaflet says:

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Is it right for this office to help force "Real ID" on New Hampshire citizens?



I have the right to remain silent.  Officials from this office have the right to stop lobbying for "Real I.D."

Real I.D. is the controversial, arguably unconstitutional, Federal program which would add complex new requirements for renewing an NH drivers' license.  But this office, to its discredit, has used our tax dollars to lobby for the the plan and has even helped deliver Federal threats against the citizens of New Hampshire.

By so doing, officials from this office have unwittingly allied themselves with identity thieves and made themselves the enemies of privacy.  They commit an act which may even facilitate the creation of a police state. 

Don't take my word for it.  Google the words "Real ID New Hampshire" to see what your most trusted media sources have to say about this de-facto Federal ID card.

If you are an employee of this office, rather than a decision maker, and you consider yourself a patriot, there are presumably some things you can do about this problem. 

If you are loyal to your superiors, one option would be to question them. Ask why they are advocating this program and whether your family would be forced into it.  Ask if your personal information, including SSN, would go into a costly interstate database accessible by thousands of government workers.

If you fear retaliation for asking questions, perhaps there is some other constructive thing you could do from your position which would slow or mitigate the advent of this system.  We'll  trust you to think one up.

We appreciate you listening to our concerns and stand ready to defend your liberties if and when the government begins to hurt *you* without justification.

Respectfully,


Your neighbors at NHfree.com

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Pretty early on ManagerGuy said something to effect that they weren't really forcing it on us.   He asked BlondeGal to look up some document written by Virginia Beecher, the head of NH Department of Motor Vehicles.  I guess his reasoning was that since one unelected bureaucrat from NH wants to have Real ID, that makes it ok to force the thing on the whole state.

Manager guy said something like "we just work here, trying to help people."  He asked if they could give us some information.  He said the get demonstrators a lot.

BlondeGal and QuietGuy mostly ignored us or tried to.   ManagerGuy took a lot of phone calls and made some but kept pausing and staring at me for a few seconds at a time, like he was trying to remember something and looking at me might help.  At some point BlondeGal dug up Virginia Beecher's document and gave it to Cathleen.

After a ManagerGUy stared at me for a long time and then seemed to remember what he was trying to remember.   The impression I got was that he had remembered the location something he wanted to show us or give us.  He jumped up and went into the back away from us.  There he had one or more phone conversations on the other side of a door.  Perhaps he was looking for something back there; I don' t know.

Anyway I had my alarm set to go off after about 20 minutes of standing, as a sort of pre planned signal to leave.   I've always thought it would be kind of fun to have the alarm go off while some "important" person is talking to me and then walk away in the middle of the conversation just because the "time to go" alarm went off LOL.

Anyway that's about all I remember.  The only person in the room when we left was BlondeGal, and we waved at her, and she waved back, looking amused enough.   Then we headed over to Fed Senator Judd Gregg's office right across the street.   He's another Real ID perp who has, if anything, been more vocal in pushing the thing on New Hampshire. 

There it was mostly the same story although we left a few flyers around the office in secret places while they weren't looking (heh heh).   They didn't seem to be getting as many phone calls. They had this big map detailing all the stolen money Gregg has helped bring into the state from hapless taxpayers in other parts of the country.  To Gregg's credit, his office was less fancy than Bass's.  He also had three staffers present but more middle-aged.

Later I'll write separate reports on all 4 of the other locations we visited.

[error]

Absolutely beautiful!

[Pat K]

nice.

[d_goddard]

THANK YOU!!
We need to put pressure -- REAL pressure, likle the kind that gets news media involved and the politicians feeling the pinch -- on this issue.
Irena and I both got form letters back from Bass' office just the other day; we had sent him personal snail-mails. From the form letters we got back, it's clear that more snail mail isn't going to do fuck-all to change his tune.

BTW, Real-ID is in direct contradiction to existing NH law:
http://www.nhliberty.org/nh_law_vs_real_id

It may be useful to point this fact out to Mr. Bass and Mr. Gregg. They both need to WAKE UP!

[Dave Ridley]

More silent demos by other people would be nice.   

[Kat Kanning]

Very cool, Dave!

[Russell Kanning]

"Manager guy said something like "we just work here, trying to help people."  He asked if they could give us some information.  He said the get demonstrators a lot."

I bet they do.
Isn't it funny how they give up justifying it and "just work here"?

This cannot be pleasant or comfortable for them.

[error]

I think it's time to ask them to quit their jobs.

[Russell Kanning]

I think that would be a very good line. It comes up in conversation right after "I am just doing my job". You long distance guys can put just as much pressure on them as the new london crew.

[PinoX7]

Anyone who wants the Real ID is either truly evil, or truly stupid.
Its the gateway to a cashless society, also could be used as a personal tracking device.
and once they condition the public to all have real ids there going to implement something new, like bio chips that you put in your skin

[Lloyd Danforth]

, like bio chips that you put in your skin

Well....with the chip, you wouldn't have to remember that pesky card

[tracysaboe]

666

Tracy

[d_goddard]

666

and once they condition the public to all have real ids there going to implement something new, like bio chips that you put in your skin

To be frank, statements like those above are the ONLY ammunition that Senators Clegg and Gatsas are using -- to FORCE REAl_ID DOWN OUR THROATS.
They say that those opposed to Real-ID are sperading "hysterical misinformation" -- and, in the above two quotes, you are!
If you simply objected, loudly and strongly, to the fact that Real-ID will ERASE the privacy protections already in NH laws, you'd have a much stronger argument, one that is likely to win over those on the other side.

[PinoX7]

666

and once they condition the public to all have real ids there going to implement something new, like bio chips that you put in your skin

To be frank, statements like those above are the ONLY ammunition that Senators Clegg and Gatsas are using -- to FORCE REAl_ID DOWN OUR THROATS.

Thats true, but I still see that happening, I mean 'they' are already doing it in new orleans with verichips. Also all around the world in Executives, law enforcement, and troops, Soon they plan on putting them in every child born in the US. Its may not have any real connection to REAL ID, but its still another step down that road.

[Dreepa]

Dog tags are about to be chipped as well.