A fairly widespread and well publicized attempt at a National Drivers' License, as I recall late in the forties or early fifties, died a long and withering death. The purpose was, supposedly, so that people could travel freely from one state to another without confusing the highway patrol.

Visualize the headline "ILLEGAL TEXANS DRIVING IN KANSAS!" and you get an idea of the "pro" side of the argument.

The movement failed primarily over the issue of STATE SOVEREIGNTY.

It may be difficult for our "foreign" friends to understand, but the issue of what things the Federal government can, and cannot, do is fundamental to our Constitution. The determination of who is qualified to operate a motor vehicle is simply not one of the things the Feds are (or at least were) permitted to do.

One might expect the same objections to any form of National Identification Card.

I note that no one in our conversation - or any of those who propose such a card - has been very specific about who would be identified:
Citizens?
Voters?
People-who-have-lived-in-the-same-place-for-more-than-3-days?
"Good People?"
"My Friends?"
"Your Friends if I Like You (and they don't look funny)?"

It would seem that we would need a very complicated system of cards to be useful.

Note, as an example only, that there are Federal standards for who is eligible to vote on national issues; but there are still battles going on here over the right of individual states and individual communities to set different standards for voting in local elections and on local issues.

This issue has received virtually ZERO press here in radical Kansas. Apparently our citizens, and even our liberalpinkoradicalbleedingheartpress (a word I heard somewhere else) snorted a healthy "BULLSHIT!" and went on about their business.

There has been some coverage of other nations who seem more enamored with the notion, but I personally don't find it something to worry much about here - at least for now. Others may have more immediate reason for concern.

John