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Outrageous!!! Guys, our hobby is about to be made legally extinct. I am fortunate enough to be able to speak directly with both of our Mississippi Senators (Lott and Cochran) and I have voiced loudly my displeasure with the spineless House of Representatives. WE MUST GET HR 4777s SENATE COUNTERPART DEFEATED! I am drafting a letter that I would be happy to post on here that intellectually argues against the entire proposition if enough of you might be interested enough to copy it and send it to your respective Senatorial delegation. The issues here are really two...First, this is a bill dealing with PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, and passage of this ban is every bit the violation of civil rights as racial discrimination. Secondly, as you probably know, by virtue of the ridiculously voluminous legislation that Congress is asked to vote on, many of our elected leaders DON"T EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE VOTING ON!!! Federal government is already WAY too big and this is yet another case where they are trying to legislate every aspect of our daily lives. But, back to my second point....Many of you might be surprised to know that alot of Congress sees passage of this bill as way to "kick Jack Abramhoff in the teeth"...It makes gambling activities illegal and therefore (from the positioned of the uninformed) it must be something that Abramhoff would oppose so "we must vote for passage". If you are familiar with the whole Abramhoff story, you will know that if it weren't for his indictment and hence "retirement", this is precisely the type of bill that he (and his Indian casino interests) would heartily support. Many in Congress think their vote for passage of HR 4777 is a vote to DEFEAT him and his clients. THIS COULDN"T BE FURTHER FROM THE DAMN TRUTH, but, hell, we couldn't expect our elected leaders to actually understand the implications of what they are doing!!
At the end of the day, many Congressman will try to justify their support of this piece of crap bill with a number of flimsy premises such as:
"National Security"...Internet gambling could fund all kinds of terrorist activities. Until we figure out how to secure our geographic borders, don't talk to me about securing our "virtual borders".
"In the interest of the public good" they will say that Americans need to be protected from the evils of gambling and the addictions that follow. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, in the Constitution is Congress given the power to protect us from OURSELVES. Ooops..I forgot, the Homeland Security legislation trumps that old archaic document. Th ebottom line is this...Laws enacted to protect OTHERS from my actions are justified, but this government does not have the right to protect me from me.
"Morality"...I'm not sure where the freedom paradigm shifted to the point where morality was supposed to (or even could be) legislated!! The step from HR 4777 to a bill that would force a particular religion to be practiced by everyone is not that great a philosophical leap. Interesting how this bill apparently deems all forms of gambling EXCEPT betting on horseraces as immoral (since race beeting is excluded from the prohibition)...Can anyone spell HYPOCRISY???
Our ONLY hope to derail this travesty of personal freedom is to convince the Senate of the idiocy of this legislation. You're probably all aware that once the bill passes the Senate, the only way it doesn't become law is for the President to veto it. And on that front, since his election in 2000, G.W. Bush has broken out his veto pen exactly ZERO, NONE, NADA times!!!
I apologize to anyone I have offended with what could accurately be described as a rant, but for God's sake, it is patently absurd that such a bill could ever be passed in the United States of America. CONTACT YOUR SENATOR AND DO IT WITH THE VOLUME TURNED UP!!!
At the end of the day, many Congressman will try to justify their support of this piece of crap bill with a number of flimsy premises such as:
"National Security"...Internet gambling could fund all kinds of terrorist activities. Until we figure out how to secure our geographic borders, don't talk to me about securing our "virtual borders".
"In the interest of the public good" they will say that Americans need to be protected from the evils of gambling and the addictions that follow. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, in the Constitution is Congress given the power to protect us from OURSELVES. Ooops..I forgot, the Homeland Security legislation trumps that old archaic document. Th ebottom line is this...Laws enacted to protect OTHERS from my actions are justified, but this government does not have the right to protect me from me.
"Morality"...I'm not sure where the freedom paradigm shifted to the point where morality was supposed to (or even could be) legislated!! The step from HR 4777 to a bill that would force a particular religion to be practiced by everyone is not that great a philosophical leap. Interesting how this bill apparently deems all forms of gambling EXCEPT betting on horseraces as immoral (since race beeting is excluded from the prohibition)...Can anyone spell HYPOCRISY???
Our ONLY hope to derail this travesty of personal freedom is to convince the Senate of the idiocy of this legislation. You're probably all aware that once the bill passes the Senate, the only way it doesn't become law is for the President to veto it. And on that front, since his election in 2000, G.W. Bush has broken out his veto pen exactly ZERO, NONE, NADA times!!!
I apologize to anyone I have offended with what could accurately be described as a rant, but for God's sake, it is patently absurd that such a bill could ever be passed in the United States of America. CONTACT YOUR SENATOR AND DO IT WITH THE VOLUME TURNED UP!!!
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It's always noon somewhere! 
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