Online Poker: Senator Bill Frist alienates 50 million Americans
An individual wrote to the Aspen Daily today echoing the sentiment of poker players (and voter registrants) throughout the US furious over Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist's attachment of an anti-gambling provision to the port security bill passed by Congress early Saturday morning. We here at Gambling911.com are proud to share this editorial with you and does not necessarily express how we feel about Mr. Frist (i.e. it is way too kind).

And be sure to watch for our special interview with Las Vegas Representative Shelley Berkley coming shortly in our Online Gambling Industry blog. You will not want to miss it!




Editor:

I am writing to express my furious outrage at Senator Bill Frist, because of his selfishness and his stupidity.

I am a loyal Republican and a staunch supporter of President Bush. I have voted straight-line Republican for his entire term as president. I can't tell you how many times I have defended the president when Democrats have said he is taking away our rights and freedoms and wants to impose a religious right-wing moral authoritarianism on the country. I have defended him steadfastly because I believed that was not true.

Now a few weeks before one of the most important elections in the history of the country, what does Senator Frist do? He uses his position in government to impose his moral authoritarianism. He tells 50 million American poker players that he is going to cut them off from one of their preferred entertainments because he is morally superior to everyone else and he knows what's best for us. He is taking away our rights and liberty just like the Democrats warned us the Republicans would do.

He says that he wants to protect those weak, addicted types that shouldn't be gambling anyway, and to do that he will restrict the rights and liberties of 50 million people who love the game and can control themselves. I thought this was the party of personal responsibility.

If he was truthful that he was concerned about the addicted minority, then he really blew it. He was in the position where he could have written consumer protection legislation that would have been happily accepted by every online gambling company in the world. He could have set the consumer protection standards for Internet gambling worldwide. But his actions prove him false.

He thinks his job is to control everybody, to limit our freedoms to satisfy his opinion of what we should all be doing. That's wrong, his job is to preserve and protect our freedoms and our liberty.

I thought this election was critical for America's future. I believed that if the Democrats took over control of the House or Senate that horrible things could befall America: Cut and run in Iraq, with the accompanied millions of murders of innocent Iraqis as we pull out; encouragement to the Islamic jihadists, proving America is weak willed and cowardly, ripe for attack; endless investigations into the Bush foreign policy; end of the NSA wiretap program, a new bill of rights for the terrorist prisoners, possible impeachment of the president, etc.

But if Senator Frist doesn't care, if he would rather alienate 50 million voters a few weeks before the election, then why should I care? I pledge right now that though I will never vote for a Democrat again, if this "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement" legislation becomes law, I will sit out the election, something I have never done before, let the chips fall where they may. Why would I do that? Because Senator Frist imposing his fundamentalist moral superiority authoritarianism proves he doesn't deserve to be the leader of the Senate. He's a loser and he deserves to be fired. Any tragedies that befall America when the Republicans lose the House and Senate will fall squarely on Bill Frist's lap. He will be responsible.

I know many poker players, they are all furious. I know many Republicans who love poker and play online often; we are all horribly disappointed. Here's another example of the Republicans shooting themselves in the foot right before a critical election.

Sorry Bob Beauprez, I would have voted for you. Sorry Rick O'Donnell, I would have voted for you also. Donetta Davidson, John Suthers, Mike Coffman, sorry. Blame Bill Frist and his selfish stupidity and his false sense of moral superiority.

Ron Isaacks
Lakewood, Colo.
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