OK, let’s set the scene:

[Lynne] Messinger said she spoke to a clerk at the desk, and explained that she had a California driver’s license. She has houses in both California and Texas and goes back and forth between the two, but decided several years ago to switch her voting residency to Texas.

The clerk left for a few minutes, then told her to take a seat. At that point, Messinger said, a state trooper summoned her into his back office, saying he needed to speak to her. Once inside his office, Messinger said the trooper insisted on seeing all the documentation she had brought, and demanded to know where she lives and pays taxes. He even told her she could be jailed for driving with a California license.* It is illegal to drive in Texas on another state’s driver’s license 90 days after moving into the state.

The asterisk there is NBC’s shamefaced admission that, yes, it is in fact illegal for Texas residents – like, say, Lynne Messinger – to drive on an out-of-state license after a certain point.  But what NBC (and, presumably, MSNBC) forgot to mention is that this is not even remotely uncommon.  Take my own current state of residence (Maryland): new residents must get an in-state driver’s license within sixty days of moving.  If they do not, then they are considered to be driving without a valid driver’s license… which is a misdemeanor that can result in a fine of up to $500 and two months in jail.

I’m not going to research all fifty states, here.  I suppose that it’s possible that Texas and Maryland are the only two states in the country that consider it a crime to drive without a license, and that under certain circumstances that crime can be punished with jail time.  But I suspect that it is not – so how about it, MSNBC?  Are you ready to imply that the true-Blue state of Maryland a Nazi-like regime, too? – Because, honestly, I’d pay money to see MSNBC do that on their network*.

Via

Progressive woman who is told she can’t live in Texas and keep a California driver’s license thinks this is “Nazism.” http://t.co/ilmaIGY7l7

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) October 25, 2014

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*The part in parentheses is mine: unlike MSNBC, I at least try to look up stuff first before I go off on it.

**Or, preferably, on a network that people watch.