Do you have your papers?

Ohio.

Land of Discovery. Home of the Wright Brothers, John Glenn and Neil Armstrong. A state of farmers and technologists. Home of Amish, Jew, and Gentile. Home of the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. And a State filled to the brim with German heritage.

A German heritage that unfortunately now may carry more comparisons to its less than favorable years.

How many B-movie WWII films have you laughed at, or cringed at, when a zealous SS agent said the infamous words "Do you have your papers?" to your protagonist hero? And then you thought quietly to yourself "Thank God I don't live in a place like that."

Oh Yeah? Welcome to Ohio in 2006.

Yesterday, the Ohio Senate passed a new law creatively titled The Ohio Patriot Act which will allow police officers in Ohio to ask anyone for their name/identification for any reason, at any time, anywhere.

Failure to identify yourself can lead directly to jail.

Yes, you read that right. In the over-used and over-abused continuation of loss of civil liberties done in the name of 9/11, Ohio has now adopted policy that was once the cultural punch line of the horrific joke called the Nazi party.

Show me your papers.

What's next? Mass programs of propaganda? Public policy that opposing speech indicates traitorous behavior? Ominous programs to electronically watch and monitor every citizen as if all were potential threats to the state?

Oh, wait... never mind...