Letters to the Editor: No Renewal For You!

By Lou Sansevero Ferron

Editor:
OK, I’ve finally had it with the Looney Tunes country the left has turned us into. I’m beginning to feel like the Peter Finch character in the movie Network although I fear that my throwing a tantrum and yelling “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” will only get me locked up in a loony bin, which might not be so bad as I’m beginning to think that is where the few remaining sane people are.
Today my green eyed, blonde haired, fair skinned wife who speaks impeccable English (or at least the impeccable Emery County dialect) and who was born in Emery County went to have her driver’s license renewed only to have her renewal refused…why? She didn’t have her social security card with her; she had her previous driver’s license, she had her renewal application, she even had her current U.S. passport to prove that she was, in fact, a U.S. citizen but didn’t have her Social Security card. Are you kidding me…her Social Security card? First of all how many of us carry our social security cards with us or even know where they are. Second do you (and more appropriately, the state of Utah) realize that the most forged document in the United States is the Social Security card?
“Why do you need my Social Security card?” my wife asked…”Since September 11 we have to be more careful” was the reply. What the…? I am willing to bet you that every radical Muslim in this country who is intent on attacking it and every illegal alien in this country can produce a Social Security card if asked; maybe not one issued to them but a card containing someone’s, maybe your, social security number. Third do you realize that the social security card was never meant to be a form of identification and that up until, I believe, the 1970s every social security card had the statement “For Social Security And Tax Purposes – Not For Identification”. This requirement makes absolutely no sense especially since if one is an illegal alien and doesn’t have a Social Security card, or as the “Notice: Change In Utah Law” which is sent to each licensee needing renewal says “A ‘limited-term’ driver license, identification card or CDL may be issued to applicants who can provide proof of legal/lawful presence in the United States. Applicants who do not qualify for a ‘regular’ or ‘limited-term’ certificate, may be eligible for a Utah Driving Privilege Card”. In other-words if you are an illegal alien you can get a “Utah Driving Privilege Card” without having a social security card even though you are in violation of Federal Law while a law abiding U.S./Utah citizen can’t renew his/her driver’s license without one.
What does showing your Social Security card prove, what purpose does showing it serve? That you are who you say you are? That you live where you say you live? That you are a U.S. citizen? That you are legally in the U.S.? That you are not a terrorist? That you even have a legitimate Social Security account? No, it proves none of these things and serves absolutely no purpose in relationship to the renewal of one’s driver’s license nor to the protection of the nation from attack.
I am sick and tired of this; I am an American citizen, I am tired of being treated like a visitor in my own country just because “profiling” those who are actually threats to our nation and those that are here in violation of our laws, even though “profiling” is the most practical and accurate way of identifying those individuals, is considered “politically incorrect”. Mr. Governor, a Social Security card is no proof of anything let alone U.S. citizenry, legal residency, or positive identification; put some sanity back into our state government and remove this ridiculous requirement from the driver’s license renewal process.