More secure licenses will protect public

In his column "Making 'Real ID' real" (Opinion Commentary, Feb. 7), Robert Koulish ignores the increased personal privacy protections incorporated in the Real ID regulations recently issued by the federal government.

The final Real ID regulations included nine privacy improvements from the rules initially proposed.

In fact, states have stored personal information related to driving records for more than 40 years, with few incidents of misuse.

The new standards provide still further protection.

State government use of driver's license records has been limited for nearly a decade by the Federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act, which Mr. Koulish neglected to mention.

The 9/11 Commission report recommended to Congress that driver's licenses should not be issued to people who cannot prove lawful presence in the United States.

Driver's licenses are the everyday identity documents relied upon by law enforcement officials, employers, voting clerks and bank tellers for identification.

Issuing secure licenses only to those who have proof that they are who they say they are is a common-sense decision and one long overdue in Maryland.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's decision to cooperate with Real ID moves Maryland forward in compliance with federal security measures and will help reduce the risk to Maryland's lawful citizens from foreign terrorists and identity thieves.

Brian Zimmer

Washington

The writer is president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License.

Visitors not tracked this side of border

In his column "Making 'Real ID' real" (Opinion

Commentary, Feb. 7), Robert Koulish makes a reference to Accenture that merits correcting.

Mr. Koulish's claim that "Accenture and the others have also profited from the 'virtual fence' that socially controls U.S.-Mexico border crossers by tracking them long after they cross" is factually inaccurate.

Accenture has never been involved with any government program that tracks visitors after they enter the country.

However, by establishing minimum security standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards, governments can help reduce counterfeiting and fraud.

This can help make driver's licenses a more secure and trusted identity credential - an outcome that will benefit all Maryland and U.S. citizens.

Peter Soh

Reston, Va.

The writer is director of media relations for Accenture.

Reusable bags are much better choice

While I support The Sun's coverage of Whole Foods' commitment to stopping the use of plastic bags, it may give some readers the impression that paper bags are better than plastic ("Plastic grocery bags draw increasing fire," Feb. 9).

The careful reader will see the few sentences in the article that encourage reusable bags. The average reader may see only the headline.

Paper bags are just as damaging to the environment as plastic ones.

I just retired a cloth bag I purchased in 1968 and had used all those years.

Others have shorter life-spans. But these bags definitely have less impact on the planet.

Christina Chambreau

Sparks

Photo of her fall unkind to Meissner

Sunday's article about Kimmie Meissner was both interesting and informative ("Growing up, falling down," Feb. 10).

However, if a picture is usually worth 1,000 words, the picture that ran with this article was worth only two - totally insensitive.

Ruth Fried

Owings Mills

No basis to believe Clinton is stronger

Much as I admire former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV and his wife, I must take issue with his contention that Sen. Hillary Clinton is better suited to withstand the Republican attack machine than Sen. Barack Obama is ("Battle-tested," Opinion

Commentary, Feb. 12).

Mr. Wilson cites Mr. Obama's reply to an accusation by Sen. John McCain that Mr. Obama was being "disingenuous" on ethics reform as an example of Mr. Obama's failure to stand his ground in the face of a personal attack.

To the contrary, I think a fair reading of Mr. Obama's response, as quoted by Mr. Wilson, shows it to be a dignified, but firm, defense of his position.

More fundamentally, where is the evidence that Mrs. Clinton has defeated the Republican attack machine?

Her one substantial effort at forging policy ended in disaster, partly because of the success of the Republican attack machine - in the form of the "Harry and Louise" ads attacking her health care initiative.

If anything, almost 20 years of right-wing attacks have contributed to making Mrs. Clinton one of the most divisive politicians in the country.

Finally, recent polls suggest that Mr. Wilson's analysis is off base. The polls show Mr. Obama would do better in a presidential race with Mr. McCain than Mrs. Clinton would.

Granted, it's early, and American voters are very fickle.

But there is simply no evidence to support Mr. Wilson's position.

Sheldon H. Laskin

Baltimore

Superdelegates free to defy public will

For the last seven years, many Democratic voters have complained that they were "disenfranchised" when, in the 2000 election, under rules set out in the Constitution, electoral-vote winner George W. Bush defeated popular-vote winner Al Gore.

I find it ironic that they could now be genuinely disenfranchised in this presidential primary race - by their own party's "superdelegates" ("Maryland's turn," Feb. 11).

Jeffry D. Mueller

Eldersburg

'Stop snitching' also applies to privileged

Gregory Kane, Anna Sowers and others condemn urban African-Americans for their "stop-snitching" culture ("Fighting the code of street silence," Feb. 6).

Tyrone Powers and others protest that the "stop-snitching" attitude has been present in other parts of the culture for a long time and that urban African-Americans should not be singled out for criticism.

Why can't they all be right?

I applaud those in the urban African-American community who speak against the stop-snitching culture.

But as a relatively well-off suburban Caucasian man, I call upon those in my class to start snitching too.

Ever since we came into power in the Western world, upper-class Caucasians have abused their power - from the Inquisition and Crusades to slavery and racism, to the Enron scandal and pork-barrel spending.

And all along the way, those in power have sought to cover up for one another's crimes, to maintain the status quo.

This may not excuse their actions, but doesn't it seem natural that the poor and disenfranchised would try to even the score a bit?

If those of us in the upper classes would start snitching on abuses of power, that could even the score in a much more positive way.

The Rev. Brian Adams

Lansdowne