Last summer at their annual policy meeting, the American Medical Association considered having "excessive video gaming" formally certified as a psychiatric disorder and listing it in the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of mental diseases to which psychiatrists are addicted.

While I still think things will eventually calm down and Governor Rod Blagojevich's insistence that senior citizens be given free rides on all mass-transit systems will one day be viewed as a welcomed entitlement, it's obvious that lots and lots of Illinoisans don't feel that way right now.

Most Americans, when asked for a photo ID, will pull out a driver's license and not think twice about it. We have to show proof of our identity when we drink, when we drive, and when we fly. Identification can also be required to rent a movie, borrow a book, or write a check. So why shouldn't we be required to show a photo ID to vote? That's the question presently before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Pure genius. Hot-dogging genius, of course, but brilliant nonetheless.

I'm referring to Governor Rod Blagojevich's announcement last week that he would abandon his much-repeated pledge to veto any tax hike "on people" and go ahead and approve a regional sales-tax hike to fund a mass-transit bailout for Chicagoland. His only caveat was that senior citizens must forever ride free on all transit districts in the state.