[Sean]

As posted by JC elsewhere ... this is from the GOP web site. See if you can spot the hypocrisy:

Republican Principles

I'm a Republican Because...

I BELIEVE the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.

I BELIEVE in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.

I BELIEVE free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.

I BELIEVE government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.

I BELIEVE the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, and that the best government is that which governs least.

I BELIEVE the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.

I BELIEVE Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.

I BELIEVE Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.

FINALLY, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government.

[Willie Bee]

Originally Posted by Sean

I BELIEVE in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.

So then I have the same rights as the Alabama-Coushatta's and can, therefore, operate my own casino?

[isetcap]

Don't be deceived into thinking hypocrisy is reserved solely for the the Republicans. Post the ideology of the Democrats and be prepared to laugh just as hard.

This is bound to be the case when you're trying to group a population as large and diverse as ours into two platforms. Support freedom while freeing yourself from the shackles of both parties. I know it's scary but you'll be OK.

[Dark Horse]

I think "BELIEVE" may be the problem. lol

In this realm of relativity and uncertainty, they might learn a thing or two from studying probability. Hey, life's a gamble. May as well come to terms with it. The biggest of all gamblers, I 'believe', is none other than the Good Lord Himself.

To create man?!

[magpie]

Originally Posted by isetcap

Don't be deceived into thinking hypocrisy is reserved solely for the the Republicans. Post the ideology of the Democrats and be prepared to laugh just as hard.

This is bound to be the case when you're trying to group a population as large and diverse as ours into two platforms. Support freedom while freeing yourself from the shackles of both parties. I know it's scary but you'll be OK.

While a majority of the Democrats were culpable in the House vote, 76 of the 93 votes against the bill were from Democrats. Only 17 Republicans voted against it. The GOP authored the bill.

Vote for civil libertarians. And it's not a coincidence that most civil libertarians are Democrats.

[Illusion]

Thanks for the info magpie and welcome to SBR.

[isetcap]

Originally Posted by magpie

While a majority of the Democrats were culpable in the House vote, 76 of the 93 votes against the bill were from Democrats. Only 17 Republicans voted against it. The GOP authored the bill.

Vote for civil libertarians. And it's not a coincidence that most civil libertarians are Democrats.

The original stance against online gambling was formulated by the Clinton administration and it is from this precedence that ongoing attempts at prohibition have resulted. The original pieces of legislation were authored with bipartisan representation and gave birth to the bill were are presented with today.

Most civil libertarians are Libertarians. Coincidentally, if they call themselves Democrats, they are simply Hypocrites because supporting individual freedom has nothing to do with the Democratic platform.

[Bulldog]

In my opinion libertarians are Libertarians, not democrats.
And those of us who love freedom have as many reasons to despise the democrats as we do the republicans.
I think the LP receives far less support from the gambling community than it should.
I said it on another thread:
Democrats want your money,
Republicans want your soul.
Vote Libertarian!!

[magpie]

Originally Posted by Bulldog

In my opinion libertarians are Libertarians, not democrats.
And those of us who love freedom have as many reasons to despise the democrats as we do the republicans.
I think the LP receives far less support from the gambling community than it should.
I said it on another thread:
Democrats want your money,
Republicans want your soul.
Vote Libertarian!!

That's fine. Keep doing that. And you'll keep reelecting GOP majorities who write anti-gambling legislation.

Look, I'm a small "L" libertarian, ACLU member and all who doesn't agree with either party at times. But of the two major parties, the Dems are more likely to be sympathetic to gamblers.

Here's a quote from a recent NYT article about the bill:

"Democrat Barney Frank of Massachusetts said he thought the bill was 'outrageous.' 'If people want to do something, and it doesn't hurt anybody else, we ought to mind our own business,' Frank said on Monday. 'This is a bill to tell adults not to do something because people in this body disapprove of what they do.'"

You might not like Barney's party or Barney himself, but you got to agree with him.

Anyway, I'm not here to argue party polities. I'm hear to preserve our right to blow money out our butts.

[Bulldog]

I do agree with him, and you in this matter.
I just wanted to point out that you always have to deal with freedom tradeoffs when youre dealing with democrats and republicans.
But I do see your point when you say voting L could get Republicans elected. Of course this brings us to the debate of why america has a bipartisan political system.
Anyway, long live out your butts money blowers forever!!

[magpie]

Originally Posted by Bulldog

I do agree with him, and you in this matter.
I just wanted to point out that you always have to deal with freedom tradeoffs when youre dealing with democrats and republicans.
But I do see your point when you say voting L could get Republicans elected. Of course this brings us to the debate of why america has a bipartisan political system.
Anyway, long live out your butts money blowers forever!!

Good points. We have a lot in common I'm sure.

Thanks for the welcome, Illusion.

[McBa1n]

You know, there was a time when the Republican party best represented the Libertarian party.

The closest thing you can compare Republicans to now is the Empire in Star Wars.
Dems aren't much better, save a few Congressmen (Franks, as noted above, is a serious civil libertarian).

Hehe - that list is hilarious. It's amazing how dumb most Americans are, because they actually believe (despite action dictating otherwise) that the Republican party IS about such things. It's pretty sad.

**Edit**
I should say "Neo-Con" - old school Repubicans were very different from the modern one.

[Willie Bee]

Originally Posted by isetcap

The original stance against online gambling was formulated by the Clinton administration and it is from this precedence that ongoing attempts at prohibition have resulted.

Dad, is that you?

Sorry, just me being a smartass. My dad blames everything wrong today on Clinton. If you told him Clinton is for something, he's against it. Before Clinton, all of the world's ills could be traced to Carter, before that LBJ and JFK, dating back through the FDR years.


Here's a rather funny little look at how the history of government involvement in gambling...

http://www.amateurpokerleague.com/education/arts/80_main.cfm?page=80

How government got involved in gambling

Let’s go way back in time. We’re early humans. There are just four of us in the whole known world, you and I and two unattractive women. It kind of sucks, but that’s how it is.

Sometimes we sit down and talk about how things should happen. We decide that each day you should go find some logs and bring them back to the cave. I’ll rub sticks together and start the fire. Tammy will cook and Mary will wash the dishes. Occasionally we use paper plates, but this is back toward the beginning of history, there are only four of us, and paper plates are very expensive, so usually we use porcelain.

Anyway, the point is that we don’t really need a government. We’re going to agree to procedures that make us comfortable. Sometimes we’re going to get irritated and yell at each other, but we’ll work stuff out.

A corner of the cave
Each night you and I go to a corner of the cave to gamble. At first, we bet on how many days in a row the sun will rise, but I always take the overs and you always lose. So we start betting on more random-seeming events, such as how many thunder claps we’ll hear before the fire goes out, The loser has to do a chore for the winner.

Pretty soon, Tammy and Mary decide to play, too, because there’s nothing very interesting on television. Just outdoor hunting and fishing stuff. No Oprah or soap operas to stimulate their minds. This goes on for years. Gambling becomes more and more important to us as a diversion.

Now, here’s where it gets strange. One day six strangers come to our cave. We’re stunned. We thought the four of us were alone in the world. Now there are 10 humans. You sit down and work out a theoretical formula suggesting that if there are 10 humans we know about, perhaps the world might be populated by as many as 100. I’m the only one who takes your theory seriously, however.

Meanwhile, we’re finding that it’s much harder to keep track of who’s supposed to do which chores with 10 people. Note that all of these are adults, because the concept of children hasn’t been invented yet. Days pass. There are more and more squabbles. The quality of life has deteriorated. Now what?

Well, we decide that someone has to take charge. You nominate me, but in a shocking vote, one of the newcomers is chosen to be our leader. On the very next day, 90 more humans show up at our cave door, including 40 children. The concept of children overwhelms us and our leader decrees that no gambling shall occur in front of them, because they’re too young to understand.

Gambling behind the barrier
We don’t fully grasp the purpose of the decree, but it’s no big deal. We build a rock barrier to keep the kids away from the corner where we gamble. Soon after that there’s a murder. We’re appalled. Our population has shrunk from 100 to 99 for no sensible reason at all. We build a jail in another corner of the cave and put the killer in it.

This makes sense to us. Now we realize we need laws and more people to help us govern. It happens quickly. There are laws against stealing and killing and tickling each other without permission – laws we didn’t need when there were only a few of us.

And then, on the gloomiest night in world history, our leader decrees that henceforth there will be no more gambling. “How come?” fifty of us protest in unison.

“It’s not in the best interest of the community,” our leader explains cryptically.

“But nobody’s forcing anyone to gamble,” I argue.

‘Besides,” you add, “what business is it of yours? You’re supposed to help protect us so that we’re free to do what makes us happy. Now you’re making us unhappy. What ever gave you the idea that you could tell us whether or not we could gamble?”

And then our leader ponders. And there is a lingering quiet. All 97 men, women and children who were free and not jailed and not the leader wait for the answer. Time passes. More time passes. The silence stretches, surviving for moment after moment. Still no answer is forthcoming, and eventually the leader leaves the cave to smoke a cigarette and to be by himself. When he returns, everyone is sleeping.

My friends, I have just told you the real history of gambling legislation. Everything else you have ever heard is a lie.

[isetcap]

Originally Posted by Willie Bee

Dad, is that you?

Yes, it is, son.

I'm not saying that Clinton is responsible for this situation at all. The administration that carries his name is responsible for pursuing the landmark arrest in our industry (see JC) which planted the seed for today's legislation and this most recent arrest. I'm only pointing out that we are fighting more than just "bible-thumpers", which is a fortunate thing, because there's no way that we will persuade those "believers" into seeing the virtue of allowing this industry to exist.

President Most Likely to be Found in an Online Poker Room: Bill Clinton