Liberals never cease to amaze...

...and we have our share of 'em right here in "conservative" Oklahoma.

I recalled this and other related "horror" stories that have been documented in Oklahoma ever since the provisions of H.B. 1804 went into effect on November 1, 2007 as I had my Oklahoma driver license renewed yesterday. I was prepared for a lengthy delay in receiving my license renewal, but as it turns out this was by far the quickest renewal period I personally have ever experienced. I was in and out of the local tag office, new license in hand, in less than twenty minutes.

From the knee-jerk story linked above:

HB 1804 was aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants. Instead, this portion of the law is creating unnecessary burdens for people who have lived here all their lives. Coming up with a fix must be a priority for lawmakers. In the meantime, check your license, or you may regret it.

Great advice in the concluding sentence of the article -- check your license or you may regret it indeed. Ask my eldest son. But just because someone has lived in Oklahoma all or most of his life, this does not mean he's a legal citizen of Oklahoma or of the United States entitled to the priveleges and immunities thereof.

These "horror stories" have been reported in any number of publications in Oklahoma since Nov. 1, 2007. But it is the personal "horror stories" that get around by word of mouth that are the most common. I have a friend who is a staunch immigration restrictionist. But when he heard of the difficulties a female friend of his encountered while attempting to renew her expired Oklahoma driver license several months back, his immediate response was very similar to the story linked above. I explained to him in a private discussion on the matter that this was all part of Oklahoma's immigration law, and that immigration restrictionists should be more than willing to go along with tighter restrictions on driver licensing in Oklahoma for the greater good. Initially he was not particularly receptive to my explanation, nor my advocacy for that particular provision in H.B. 1804. But as these sorts of things generally go, once he had time to reflect upon it he began to realize that he and I and all Oklahoma citizens, if we truly support the intent of H.B. 1804, must be willing to make certain personal sacrifices in pursuit thereof when necessary. You know, being willing to incur the "horror" of committing a grand total of three or four hours of our lives (provided we don't allow our licenses to expire once issued) to act in compliance with the provisions of Oklahoma law.

It used to be in Oklahoma that an expired license was no big deal to renew, I can personally attest. Indeed, I once learned that my license was several months expired during a routine traffic stop. The officer simply requested that I "take care of it immediately" which I was very happy to do. It is now more difficult to "take care of it" due to the provisions of H.B. 1804. So, as the story above puts it, and to reiterate, if you're an Oklahoma citizen and you possess a valid Oklahoma driver license, don't let it expire or you might regret it. On the other hand, you may well be in for a treat, prepared as you should be for the worst, yet hoping for the best.

But it's funny, I've personally been reminded several times during the course of this month when showing my driver license not to allow it to expire. You know, neighbor and fellow citizen taking care of neighbor and fellow citizen. All part of the master plan, knee-jerk liberalism notwithstanding.