In 2005—four years after 9/11—Congress passed the Real ID Act as a counter-terrorism measure. Its goal was to set security standards for government-issued IDs.

The Act was introduced in late 2013. But it wasn’t until September 10, 2020, that the Department of Homeland Security announced that all 50 states were in compliance in issuing identification complying with the standards of the Act.

Only those holding such ID may pass through airport security—for domestic flights as well as international ones—and enter certain federal facilities. 

So what is the easiest way to get a REAL ID? 

According to the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA):

“Visit your state’s driver’s licensing agency website to find out exactly what documentation is required to obtain a REAL ID. At a minimum, you must provide documentation showing:

• 1) Full Legal Name
• 2) Date of Birth
• 3) Social Security Number
• 4) Two Proofs of Address of Principal Residence, and
• 5) Lawful Status (if you’re an immigrant)”

So much of what passes for security is actually security theater. It doesn’t actually make us safer, but it makes us feel safer. 

And it makes us feel the government is keeping us safe, even when it isn’t. 

Consider:

After 9/11, thousands of National Guard troops were deployed to airports nationwide as a highly visible show of force to deter further attacks and reassure a panicked public. The public would not have felt so reassured had it known the Guards were carrying unloaded M-16 rifles. 

In addition, these “weekend warriors” were not trained detectives. So they didn’t know how to spot a potential terrorist—although they were a likely deterrent against purse-snatchers.

Other examples of security theater include:

• Mandatory shoe removals and random bag searches at TSA checkpoints:  Have repeatedly failed to detect test weapons and contraband in internal red-team audits.
• Installing highly visible, non-functional security cameras to deter shoplifters or vandals: If the feed isn’t monitored or recording, it offers zero protective value.
• Stationing uniformed—but untrained—“security guards” in such places as stores and banks: Usually they lack even rudimentary training in firearms, unarmed combat and/or first aid.

Sample state ID card that’s acceptable under the Real ID Act

Consider this: A friend of mine—whom I’ll call Jack—recently applied for a Real ID card as issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles. He brought a certified copy of his birth certificate, bills from AT&T and Pacific Gas and Electric.

The birth certificate easily passed muster. But for a moment there was a problem with the bills from the utility companies: Jack had been getting his mail through a P.O. box, rather than at the apartment building where he lived.

And the “examiner” wanted to see a document with his home address on it.

Fortunately, Jack was able to fish out another bill with that on it. The “examiner” was satisfied, and Jack left the DMV assured that he would soon receive his TSA-approved Real ID card. 

So: How does showing a utility bill document prove your integrity? 

No doubt Mohammed Atta—the ringleader of the September 11, 2001 attacks—faithfully paid his utility bills—right up to the day when he highjacked American Airlines Flight 11 and crashed the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. 

And, yes, a birth certificate proves you were born in the United States—but so was Timothy McVeigh, who, in 1995, blew up the Oklahoma City Federal Building, killing 168 people.

Nor does a “school document”—which can get you a Real ID card—reveal anything about the character of the person.

Theodore Bundy attended the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington—before embarking on his career as a burglar, kidnapper, rapist and serial killer.

Another form of security theater includes checking photo IDs to enter State and Federal office buildings. 

Knowing a person’s identity is useful—if you have a reliable database system to match it against, such as the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC). 

But if you lack this, forcing people to “show me your ID” is pointless. And that’s assuming the ID isn’t fraudulent.

But people watching the guard performing this security theater ritual assume: “The guard must know what he’s looking for. So we have to be safer for his checking those IDs.”

In fact, most security guards have little training and even less experience. Many of them don’t carry firearms and lack self-defense skills.

According to Salary.com: The median annual salary for an unarmed security guard is $38,697. 

Not exactly a salary geared to attract “the best and the brightest,” is it?

Making all of this even more infuriating: In August, 2021, at least 76,000 unvetted Afghans were admitted into the United States.

The reason: They were too cowardly to fight the Taliban.

Americans had spent 20 years training them to do just that. And as soon as the Taliban launched a major offensive, they fled to Kabul Airport—leaving their wives, girlfriends, mothers and sisters behind to face slavery and brutality.

So while cowardly Afghans—many of whom no doubt had terrorist backgrounds—didn’t have to prove themselves trustworthy, lifelong and law-abiding Americans must.