Re: Article by Bill Frist
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i thought the article was actually surprisingly well-written, for the most part. if he had written an identical article about a bill that did not include poker (and did include horse racing and online lotteries) i would mostly agree with it. i'm all for personal freedom, but as a country i don't think we need a lot of people dumping money overseas playing online roulette. flame away.
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Schwza, buddy, c'monnnnnnnnnnnnn. Yes, of course there are many problem gamblers and this can be a dangerous thing. It doesn't take an exceptionally well-spoken person to articulate this obvious fact. However a)the vast majority of people who gamble have no serious problems with it, and protecting people from themselves is pretty invasive and not very "small government". Casinos are also available in 1 form or another near most major cities, so there is an obvious contradiction here as well. b)Frist appears to assume in his article that most if not all states have laws against internet gambling, and that he is only "enforcing". This is clearly not the case, but unfortunately the courts will have to sort this out.
c)his motivations are either obnoxiously pious or political pandering or both.
And finally, I dont think I need to talk about the many differences between poker and other forms of gambling, which Im pretty certain Frist is utterly ignorant of, and which he does not acknowledge at all. There are many, many things which can potentially hurt people in this world, most of which are pointless, asinine, and intrusive to legislate against. Many of those things are also responsibly enjoyed by a majority of people. I do not think poker, or gambling in general, is any exception.
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