Former PA Governor Tom Ridge is a name that can't be counted out* (particularly for Veep); so this report on his appearance at Dickinson College in PA is notable for his continued desire for national ID cards**.
One personal opinion Ridge shared during his address is that he thinks there should be identification cards issued to every American citizen. He’s possibly more accepting of the cards, Ridge said, because the government already has a lot of his information.
However, there has to be a line as to how far government should intrude into the personal lives of citizens, he added. Ridge recounted a number of people who have told him they wouldn’t mind if the government listened in on their phone calls or kept a watchful eye on them.
They said they have nothing to hide and aren’t criminals so what did it matter if they were being watched, Ridge said. “That’s when I said, ‘We gotta stop,” Ridge said, “You don’t voluntarily surrender what we have fought and died for over 200 years.”
*Here he is over summer -- making it clear he isn't clear on a run.
"Some people around me have given some thought about it [his running for Prez in 2012]. I really haven't. I mean, I learned a long time ago never to say never. I think it's unlikely. Right now I'm really focused on -- I'd like to help Mitch McConnell get a few more bodies in the Senate, and I certainly want to go back to Pennsylvania and do all I can to see that we have a Republican governor succeeding the incumbent."
**When a Republican is President, Dems seem to get paranoid about civil liberties. When a Dem is Prez, elephants seem to get paranoid.
