Power of the press

[Bud31069]

Everyone should consider emailing one or more news outlets. The only org. in this country that is more powerful than our Government is the press. I sent an email to Bill O'Reilly asking him to consider this issue for his tv show. For those of you who dont know who Bill is, he is the self proclaimed, and rightfully so, "The most powerful man in news".

I am not the most eliquent of writers, my grammar sucks as well, but here is what I wrote Mr. O'Reilly;

Bill,

I am deeply troubled by the U.S. Government's repeated attempts to strip the average American citizen of his or her individual freedoms. The Internet Gaming law that was passed by congress on Friday was just the latest in series of laws that chips away at the foundation that this country was built upon. The really sad part in all of this, in my opinion, is that Sen. Frist and the majority of the others in Congress do not truly care about the morality of gambling, they are simply playing politics; playing politics with my freedom as an American citizen.

My personal view is that this law was attached to the Port Security bill to make sure that it passed first and foremost, but more importantly I feel that it was passed so that members of Congress, and specifically the Republican majority, could diffuse and distance themselves from the Jack Abramoff scandal. If this isn't a clear cut case of politics outweighing individual freedom I don't know what is. If congress was truly concerned about gambling in the U.S., then why did they attack only internet Gaming/Poker and not Casino gaming, off-track/internet betting on horse racing and sports, and state lotteries. Of this group, the state lotteries have to be the greater moral issue in the U.S., not poker which is game of skill not luck.

It has been estimated that as many as 30 million Americans play poker for recreation and income, both on the Internet and in games at home and in casinos. The leading advocacy groups had been lobbying congress for the past year or more to regulate and tax internet gaming, as opposed to criminalizing it. There was also a push to make allowances for poker in the law that was passed, and even an effort to have Congress form a committee to best decide how to confront the issue. Neither effort was successful as you well know. The effect of this new law will certainly have a negative impact on the industry, but more importantly it could make criminals out of millions of American citizens who wish to keep playing poker.

I would like to ask you to look into this and possibly consider this as talking point for your show. With that in mind, here are a few links to information that I used while writing this email

http://www.pokerplayersalliance.org/
http://www.nrog.org/

As a side note, the U.S. court system has ruled in the past that being a poker player is a legitimate occupation and a game of skill not luck. Here is a link to that story.

http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/article/14882

There a number of large internet forums dedicated to the poker community, a couple of those are;

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/ubbthreads.php
http://www.pocketfives.com/

Thank you for time and your consideration of this issue,

James S.




Here is his email address if you wish to help me get this on the air;

[email protected]

If we want to be honest about it, the court system and public opinion are probably the only way this will ever be overturned. I am doing my part. Do the rest of you folks have another email or two left in you?

[RStMartin]

O'Reilly is a preachy moralist who likes to spout off on topics he knows little about.

If he does a Factor segment on this subject he most likely will attack the poker lobby.

(and I'm not a moonbat)

[Uglyowl]

You make a great point on getting the media involved. The easy places seem to be:

- Daily Show
- Colbert Report
- Opie and Anthony
- Howard Stern

Then we can maybe move to the more "serious" shows.

[Bud31069]

Im just trying to do my part. If you wish to sit back and hope that someone else comes to your rescue, then that is the one freedom you still have left. I hope you get to keep it!

[jah7_fsu1]

O'Reilly has never given me any reason to think he would be against the stripping of our liberties. If he puts it on, expect him to thank Frist for making it harder to have America turn into a nation of degenerates by wasting their money on gambling. I'd be VERY surprised if he agrees with you.

[RStMartin]

I got no problem with getting the media involved. But just O'Reilly is the wrong person.

[Colms]

howard stern is always looking to rip our government a new [censored], not to mention he would probably love to rip on the hypocrisy of this bill

[Gunslinger1988]

try Keith Olbermann at MSNBC

[Bud31069]

Pick your news outlet. It really doesn't matter. If one of them picks up the story then the rest will follow suit. Bill O'Reilly was just the first person that came to mind, mainly because up to this point I was a die hard republican that wouldn't be caught dead listening to the liberal bias that CNN calls fair reporting. Email Al-Jazeera for all I care.

The point is we need to fight back and the media is one of our best weapons.

[Copernicus]

[ QUOTE ]
howard stern is always looking to rip our government a new [censored], not to mention he would probably love to rip on the hypocrisy of this bill

[/ QUOTE ]

and he plays online unfortunately he has no audience anymore!