Lame ideas seem to be taking hold

The allergies have been hitting hard the last few days, and my supply of Tylenol Allergy Plus, which was so old I didn't even realize the product had been renamed, was just about exhausted.
During a shopping trip to the Wal-Mart Supercenter on 15th, I had to go through the new method of buying the product for the first time. It was irritating to have to have to take a card for the product, take it up to the pharmacy window and then have to use an extra check, since it has to be paid for there. They have to check your identification and pretty much treat everyone like criminals, simply because our lawmakers have been unable to take care of the problem any other way.
I am not upset with the pharmacy workers. They are simply following the law as they must. What bothers me is this approach to every societal problem. If we are not capable of taking care of these meth freak lowlifes, we will make everyone suffer for it. Of course, for the most part the populace rolls over and does not object. I get so tired of hearing, "if it cuts down on meth, it's worth a little bit of inconvenience."
This is the same nonsense that the Missouri General Assembly has forced us to go through to get our driver's licenses. Does anyone actually believe the new system, which requires Missourians to provide their actual birth certificates, Social Security cards and photo identification is going to make a difference?
This method of ensuring that Missourians are who they say they are is ridiculous. Why should we have to go to the trouble of proving who we are, when a little bit of common sense, would take care of the problem. If you are worried about people being in this country and this state illegally, the last people whom you should be concerned about are people who have been here 20, 30, or 40 years or more.
This business of verification should be done by the state and not be a burden for Missourians. Of course, that would be hard to do when nearly every license bureau has been sold to Governor Blunt's political supporters.
Other states are fighting the incredible regulations that the Bush administration is asking them to adopt to fight terrorism. Only Missouri rolled over to show just how fast our GOP majority support the president.
No offense, but making an 85-year-old woman (or a 35-year-old man for that matter) prove that she is in here illegally does nothing to protect against terrorism or identity theft; all it does is enable politicians to brag about the steps they have taken to protect us.