Do you think Senator Dodd really believes that driving is a privilege? If he does, then there is something wrong with his logic - How can anyone think that by denying undocumented immigrants driver's licenses this nation will be safer.
If people are so worried about terrorism, one possibility could be that passports be required to board planes. But for driving, everyone would have the same type of license that does not indicate different levels of security. That way by showing a license, undocumented drivers will not be at risk for being identified - and those paranoid against terrorism types could feel secure that only real Americans could board planes (of course that is assuming that all real Americans are law abiding).
Its strange that no one (that I know of) has proposed this idea. Maybe its because the U.S. is just using driving as another excuse to emotionally and financially torture undocumented people. For those of you that have lived in Los Angeles, Houston or other big metro areas with poor public transportation - you know that its torture not to drive a car.
Its also torture for a driver to be hit by a car driven by a person without a insurance.
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Charles Karel Bouley
Public Safety Is Illegal
Huffington Post
Posted October 31, 2007 | 01:15 PM (EST)
...[The] issue is, do we give driver's licenses to illegals. Sen. Dodd says hell no, driving is a privilege and we should not give privileges to those here illegally. He doesn't apply that same rule to health care because, well, after all, if the illegals get sick, we could get sick.
I wonder if I'm the only one that doesn't see the logic in that. If taking care of illegals is a public health issue, then why isn't them driving on our roads unlicensed and untrained a public safety issue? Guess spreading the flu is worse than running over someone or crashing in to a family of four on their way home from Dairy Queen.
The obvious answer to the question is, yes, everyone driving on the road should have a license no matter their immigration status. The DMV is not the INS. The federal government's failed border policy is not their problem or the problem of those of us that happen to drive in major cities like New York or Los Angeles, Miami or El Paso.
Of course it makes sense, Mrs. Clinton. And anyone that thinks it doesn't is caught up in the Republican propaganda machine vilifying those undocumented workers already here. But what's worse is they are advocating unsafe freeways and city streets. They claim to care about America and its sovereignty but not the people on its roads.
Driving is dangerous. Ten times the people die on our roads every year then on 9/11 and yet we do little to make them safer, truly safer. Of course, we have yet to make America safe after 9/11, so we don't really care, do we? I live in Los Angeles, and I don't see immigration status when I'm driving, only tail lights and sig alerts, freeway closures from fatal accidents, and yes, it's a standing joke here that when two cars collide 24 people are killed. Why is that funny? It's not, but it alludes to the fact that there have been several terrible accidents in which vans or cars filled with undocumented workers have crashed and multitudes of passengers are killed because they are crammed in to the vehicles tighter than 1970s college students in to a VW Bug.
Not licensing all drivers regardless of immigration status is like saying some pilots don't need to have pilot's licenses or train engineers needn't have any training. It's ludicrous.
Driving is not a privilege, it is a necessity. Very few American cities have adequate public transportation thanks to big oil. Urban areas are spread out so far that just going grocery shopping can wrack up 10 miles round trip. We have a love affair with cars, and have made cities accordingly (which, incidentally is why we are at war). Surviving without a car is next to impossible in some places, particularly if you are working two jobs and have a family.
I am not going to debate immigration here. Immigration is not the issue. Who is driving next to you in two tons of fiberglass and metal at high speeds is, and how and if they are qualified to do so.
Vehicles kill more people than terror in this country every year. Those vehicles are driven by people. Accidents happen to even the best of drivers. It seems absurd that we would not want to know that at least everyone on the roads have had some kind of test or training.
Hillary Clinton did make one mistake: she should have had the fortitude to stand up to these idiots and remind them their kids are strapped in car seats, just one mistake away from being broadsided.
Keeping everyone safe on American roads is a family value. It's a health and safety issue. And making sure everyone on the roads is licensed is not a matter of immigration, it's a matter of common sense.
There's a saying in my community, "we're here, we're queer, get used to it..." Well, there's a new saying in the new millennium. "They're here, they drive, get over it." Go ahead and stand on your moral high ground about how people in this country illegally deserve no benefits at all. Just be sure you're not standing on that high ground in the middle of an uncontrolled intersection where traffic is not visible for at least 100 feet in all directions. Someone who doesn't know the rules for approaching that intersection could send you flying in to the air 20 feet or so. And when you land, bleeding and broken, you can at least take comfort in the fact that you denied them the ability to learn how to drive by our rules and laws. It should be a comfort in intensive care.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-karel-bouley/public-safety-is-illegal_b_70587.html
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