Wow, so if, say Robert Hansen, one of the more damaging security risks of recent years had only had his ID inspected, so we knew "he was who he said he was", we'd have prevented him from doing all the mole damage he did?

Despite the silly officiousness of the TSA and their WW2 remniscent "travel document checks" pageantry, I can't recall any significant event where if only we had more deeply verified someone "were who they said they were", the outcome would have been any different.

We've become a nation obsessed with showing each other ID at every turn, as though this presents an insurmountable, impenetrable barrier for any who would do us harm. It's always sad to see how many have swallowed this preposterous illogical garbage and then move on to parrot it in their own experiences.