DigitalDave
10-11-2006, 01:01 PM
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/04/opinion/main2061902.shtml
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., concerned that his involvement with the discredited Jack Abramoff (lobbyist for Indian gaming interests) might jeopardize his re-election prospects in November, instructed the House leadership to pass a bill restricting Internet gaming in the United States — no matter what it took. The House did just that.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who would love to run for President in 2008, was eager to do the same in the Senate to show the vocal Christian right wing of his party that he shares their aversion to gambling. (Remember the Reagan days, when the conservative wing of the Republican Party won elections by railing against big government meddling in people’s lives? I guess those folks will have to vote Democratic now.)
Politics is a lot like poker. In order to win, you have to play with what your dealt. You have to fool people into thinking you have a certain hand (in a politicians case, moral values). If you know your hand is not going to win, you raise the stakes when you believe the other persons hand is not that great. You raise them based on what you think the value of their hand is worth, not on what you think yours is worth. Frist and Hastert did just that. Hastert is fucked basically for all that is going on around him, so he's trying to get people to think he isn't associated with it. He decided that it would be best to raise the stakes on an important bill having to do with Port Security to also make transfering funds for online gaming illegal. It had nothing to do with Port Security, but they got the votes they needed to get it passed. The Democrats didn't have a chance to debate it, but regardless, they passed it anyways. Frist and Hastert knew the Democrats would fold when the risks were too high. Of course they didn't want people to think they were weak on security! The Democrats folded, and the slimeballs win the pot! :shock:
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., concerned that his involvement with the discredited Jack Abramoff (lobbyist for Indian gaming interests) might jeopardize his re-election prospects in November, instructed the House leadership to pass a bill restricting Internet gaming in the United States — no matter what it took. The House did just that.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who would love to run for President in 2008, was eager to do the same in the Senate to show the vocal Christian right wing of his party that he shares their aversion to gambling. (Remember the Reagan days, when the conservative wing of the Republican Party won elections by railing against big government meddling in people’s lives? I guess those folks will have to vote Democratic now.)
Politics is a lot like poker. In order to win, you have to play with what your dealt. You have to fool people into thinking you have a certain hand (in a politicians case, moral values). If you know your hand is not going to win, you raise the stakes when you believe the other persons hand is not that great. You raise them based on what you think the value of their hand is worth, not on what you think yours is worth. Frist and Hastert did just that. Hastert is fucked basically for all that is going on around him, so he's trying to get people to think he isn't associated with it. He decided that it would be best to raise the stakes on an important bill having to do with Port Security to also make transfering funds for online gaming illegal. It had nothing to do with Port Security, but they got the votes they needed to get it passed. The Democrats didn't have a chance to debate it, but regardless, they passed it anyways. Frist and Hastert knew the Democrats would fold when the risks were too high. Of course they didn't want people to think they were weak on security! The Democrats folded, and the slimeballs win the pot! :shock: