Most states have accepted an obligation-free extension until December, 2009. Several of these states have passed statutes refusing to implement REAL ID. That is not capitulation (though DHS and friends are spinning it as such); it is kicking the can down the road.

The governors in the states I just mentioned are considering forcing a confrontation over REAL ID. This will not permit the airlines to “go along” because the DHS threatens to turn airline travel from a marginally profitable business to a marginally unprofitable business. Businesses – and airlines in particular – are usually lackeys to politicians because it’s in their economic self-interest, not for sport. When it’s in their economic self-interest to change REAL ID, they’ll be on it.

Now, there’s no guarantee that the governors from these states will hold out and force this confrontation – I have hope, but not illusions. It will not be magic that brings down REAL ID, but a well-placed judo kick to its teetering edifice.

If the state governments are still intending not to comply in the face of the federal government’s threats, then what is the point of their asking for an extension? Are they just buying time until Real ID magically vanishes?