For many years, I have countered friends and family members who advocate Hawaiian sovereignty and seceding from the United States of America. Their ridiculous ideology, in my thinking, was far fetched and suicidal until a few days ago when I went in to renew my commercial drivers license, or CDL for short.
I stood in line until I was called forward and stated my purpose to the receptionist. She asked for my old CDL, which I promptly produced, and instinctively produced my, still valid, doctor’s examination paper. As she led me inside to the driver’s license clerk for processing, the receptionist casually asked for my birth certificate and proof of residency. I laughed but she didn’t. So, I asked “are you kidding?” convinced that to be walking beside her, I had to have been born.
She instead led me in a fast U turn out the door where she explained that Hawaii law requires that I produce my birth certificate and proof of residence for license renewal. Shocked, I told her that I have lived in Hawaii all my life save for a few years away attending a California college. She politely asked if I wanted to talk to a clerk. I asked if that would save me from having to produce my birth certificate and proof of residence. Her response was a polite “no.”
Humiliated, I returned to my car and left the parking lot with the satisfaction of knowing that even our President Barack Obama would never be able to get a Hawaii driver’s license unless he releases his birth certificate.
On the way home, my memory replayed a few news reports I had heard and/or read about of the thousands of dead people across the U.S. who voted in the last election. I remembered the article I had read about the thousands of dead people, again across the U.S., who are still collecting Social Security payments. I recalled the story that came out a few days ago about the thousands of dead people who received tax refunds last year from the IRS and also about the al-Qaida members now in the U.S. living in public housing supported by our government assisted living programs, while they plot to sabotage our country. None of the above living people were required to present birth certificates, I think.
So here we are, a part of the U.S., living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with 2,500 miles between us and the continental U.S. Our state legislators are so afraid of fraud that they made a law requiring the presentation of a birth certificate each time I renew my driver’s license even after faithfully renewing my driver’s license for the past 60 years. Oh and don’t forget, “the required proof of residency.” Of course, I could understand the requirement if there was a question as to where I came from but my Hawaiian genealogy can be traced to the time before Christopher Columbus landed the Mayflower on Plymouth Rock.
Well, as I was told, the law is the law. My dilemma now is to discount the mentioned happenings across the U.S. as acceptable or apologize to my friends and family members who advocate Hawaiian sovereignty and seceding from the U.S. Maybe it is not such a ridiculous idea after all. I will hunt down my birth certificate as I know that I was born, find proof that I live in Hawaii and, hopefully, renew my driver’s license. On a side note, dead people no not need to produce birth certificates nor do they need to renew their driver’s licenses since I think they have other means of transportation.
Leningrad Elarionoff is a resident of Waimea.
Viewpoint articles are the opinion of the writer and not necessarily the opinion of West Hawaii Today.