"I suppose I just don’t like poor planning, sloppy implementation, and political agendas."
So you are against government? Beware of guys in masks & hoodies approaching you. TR ---------------------------------------- *From: *David Wardell via Mifnet <[email protected]> *To: *[email protected] *CC: *[email protected] *Date: *May 20, 2025 06:37:38 *Subject: *[Mifnet 🚀 72448] Re: REAL ID Day After-Action Report: Stalemate - AEI 20250514 > Hi Scott, >  > > Not at all. >  > > I’m not opposed to verifiable ID to board airplanes. I do wonder why a rather > basic ID plan had to take decades to develop and implement, why that > implementation has so many excuses and loopholes, and why, if the project has > some real benefits (which I believe it does) these couldn’t be better > articulated. If REAL ID was worth doing at all, it was worth doing so that it > can succeed. The writer of the piece I shared has his own ideas on whether > it’s a good idea, but he also describes a scenario wherein it just doesn’t > work. >  > > I’m also not opposed to the TSA, largely because I vividly recall the many > shortcomings of the pre-TSA “system” (if such it can be called). I do fault > the TSA for flawed implementation (which has also persisted for over 20 > years) and many other sins, not the least of these being its use as a > political tool by whichever group occupies the “Big House” at a given time. >  > > In sum, I suppose I just don’t like poor planning, sloppy implementation, and > political agendas. >  > > Such are my personality flaws. >  > > All the best, > > DW >  > > *David Wardell* > (757) 561-0582 > [email protected] > [Image][Image > link][cid:[email protected]][https://wardell.us/url/b5s86] > [Image][Image > link][cid:[email protected]][https://wardell.us/url/s9qvz] >  > >  > > *From:* F. Scott Wilson via Mifnet <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Monday, May 19, 2025 10:49 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Cc:* [email protected]; [email protected]; F. Scott Wilson > <[email protected]> > *Subject:* [Mifnet 🚀 72447] Re: REAL ID Day After-Action Report: Stalemate - > AEI 20250514 >  > > So, Dr Wardell, are you opposed to a national ID for airplane access? >  > > Scott > > On May 19, 2025, at 10:42 PM, David Wardell via Mifnet > <[email protected]> wrote: > >  > https://www.aei.org/technology-and-innovation/real-id-day-after-action-report-stalemate/[https://www.aei.org/technology-and-innovation/real-id-day-after-action-report-stalemate/?mkt_tok=NDc1LVBCUS05NzEAAAGabdrO2XA7nUMzzuGJdTLRCI8XaNCu79rxd93G9QGTkmDubKzwpMPXvno8tP_r9w9aL8KYVI2KMS2ODPmCkx0zhMqfho85MZXqMS5wb4y0p3WEpiA] >  > I’ll observe that I was at the very first post-9/11 TSA meetings where > something like REAL ID was discussed. It’s been rattling around in the box > for over 20 years. >  > *David Wardell* > (757) 561-0582 > [email protected] > <image001.png>[https://wardell.us/url/b5s86] >  > > <image002.png>[https://wardell.us/url/s9qvz] >  > >  > ---------------------------------------- >  > *By Jim Harper* > > *AEIdeas* > > D-Day is more than just the glorious day that began the end of World War II. > It is the general term for any major military operation, along with H-Hour > and perhaps M-Minute in cyber war. Here’s my report from a curious move in > our nation’s War on Terror: REAL ID Day. > > On May 7, 2025, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was > scheduled to attack American air travel. Terrorism works by inducing > overreaction from victim states. So, yes, the TSA’s work to restrict travel > by law-abiding Americans gives a win to the 9/11 attackers, nearly a > quarter-century on. No doing business in other states, no visiting the new > grandbaby—unless you have enrolled in the national ID system created by the > REAL ID Act. > > But the attack didn’t come. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary > Kristi Noem > announced[https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/06/kristi-noem-real-id-deadline-00331397] >  the day before that American travelers would not be turned away. As /The > Wall Street Journal/’s travel columnist reported, lines were > shorter[https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/real-id-first-day-air-travel-airports-8eb137ca] >  at many airports. My experience flying on May 9 without a federally > compliant ID was smooth. I decline strip-search > machines[https://www.cato.org/blog/tsa-strip-search-machines], so I already > get a pat-down (or “freedom massage”) each time I fly, which is probably what > travelers with noncompliant IDs got. > > That was not an abject loss for the agency. As it has done so many times > before, it abandoned its improvised deadline, but it did so later and less > clearly than before. Many people still operate under the impression that they > must show a federally compliant license at TSA checkpoints. That belief > represents a significant gain for the national ID project. > > But that gain comes at a cost. DHS has adopted an interpretation of the REAL > ID Act that is unsupported by its text. Any expansion of the national ID > system through such means represents overstretch that could lead to collapse. > > Let’s review the dynamics of that overstretch. A year ago, I > predicted[https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/real-id-deadline-will-never-arrive/678370/] >  > (twice[https://www.aei.org/technology-and-innovation/no-the-real-id-deadline-is-not-in-one-year/]) > that the REAL ID deadline would not arrive. On May 6, with the deadline > apparently impending, an NPR interviewer > asked[https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025/05/06/real-id-flight-travel-states-airport] >  me (not unkindly) what to make of the deadline’s arrival. (My part of the > program starts at about minute 27.) > > REAL ID deadlines have always fallen because the statute requires DHS to > determine states’ compliance or non-compliance. If DHS deems a state > noncompliant, TSA must turn away all travelers from that state—whether they > have a federally compliant ID or not. That prospect is untenable, so the > deadlines have always been postponed. > > When Congress passed the REAL ID Act two decades ago and DHS fleshed out its > details, states under leadership from both major parties resisted. The > burdens[https://www.cato.org/blog/what-real-real-id-compliance] of actual > full compliance are massive, numerous, and onerous. State leaders expressed > concern with the cost of this unfunded federal mandate and their > constituents’ privacy and data security. > > To create the appearance of progress and bring recalcitrant states on board, > DHS routinely declared states compliant despite their failure to meet all > statutory requirements. DHS retreated to pared-down “compliance factors,” > eventually declaring all states compliant, even though they are not. > > But this has the DHS and TSA in a box. With all states officially > “compliant,” there is no cause to turn away any traveler. So the agency began > threatening to refuse travelers who lack federally compliant IDs. > > On NPR, I > talked[https://www.aei.org/Users/JimHa/Downloads/All%20this%20I%20explained,%20awkwardly,%20perhaps,%20on%20NPR] >  a lot about the weakness of identity-based security against significant > threats. Eliminating REAL ID would have essentially no impact on national > security, and it would improve our overall welfare. Congress should repeal it. > > In the coming weeks and months, travelers without federally compliant IDs > will be able to access air travel. Selectively, perhaps, some travelers > without REAL IDs will be turned away for saying the wrong thing to a TSA > supervisor, for traveling while black, or some other unknown reason. This is > the stuff of irregular government procedures. So far, only one print reporter > I know has > read[https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2025/05/07/savannahs-driver-services-location-has-had-increased-processing-for-real-ids-since-march/83471410007/] >  the REAL ID statute to see whether TSA is acting consistently with the > authority Congress gave it. > > But one of those cases will open up the TSA to the lawsuit that collapses its > national ID plans. A little focus on what the statute does from a judge > trained to apply statutes as written will produce a ruling showing that TSA > does not have the authority to turn travelers from compliant states away from > airports. > > I count it as a stalemate. The TSA’s moderate advance on REAL ID Day > foretells collapse, sooner or later, of the national ID project. > >  >  > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Revised: 20250507 > > You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. > > The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't > exactly cost-free. If you'd care to make a small contribution to the effort, > please know that it would be greatly appreciated: > https://wardell.us/url/mifbit > > All posts sent to the list should abide by these policies: > > 1) List members acknowledge that participation in Mifnet is a privilege--not > a right. > 2) Posts are always off the record, absent specific permission from the > author. > 3) The tone of discussions is collegial. > 4) Posts are expected to be in reasonably good taste. > 5) We discuss ideas and not personalities, and we don't speak ill of other > Mifnet members. > > * The Mifnet WEB SITE is: >  https://www.mifnet.com/ > > * To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list at any time please visit: >  https://lists.mifnet.com/ >  OR: SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: > [email protected]?subject=leave > > * Send Mifnet mailing list POSTS/SUBMISSIONS to: >  [email protected] > > * You may reach the person managing The Mifnet at: >  [email protected] > > * Please consider the DIGEST version of The Mifnet, which consolidates all > list traffic into 1-3 >  messages daily. 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