The Wonders of the Internet
2007-11-16 14:25:45
By:
Gene Bromberg
Why bother listening to me talk about Wednesday's Congressional hearings about the legality of online gaming when you can read
Andrew Leonard's recap at his "How the World Works" blog over at Salon.com. Leonard wrote that, as far as Congressional hearings go, this one gets a "five-star rating". He writes:
"There were professional
poker players referencing John Locke and John Stuart Mill, Tennessee legislators getting medieval on the Family Research Council, and a discussion of the odds against James Bond drawing an inside flush in "Casino Royale." All this against a backdrop featuring a mighty clash between states' rights and international treaty obligations."
Leonard has video of Annie Duke's opening remarks to the panel, so if you want to see that and skip the other four hours of the hearing, check it out. As you see he was especially impressed that Annie brought up
John Locke and
John Stuart Mill in her remarks (if you don't know who they are click the links and educate yourself).
As was Jacob Sullem of Reason magazine, who wrote:
"It's not often that you hear John Locke and John Stuart Mill mentioned in congressional testimony, but they both show up (along with Jefferson and Madison) in an eloquent plea for tolerance that professional
poker player Annie Duke offered during this week's House Judiciary Committee
hearing on 'Establishing Consistent Enforcement Policies in the Context of Internet Wagers.'"
Sullem also pulls a quote from Annie's testimony that I don't think I specifically mentioned, but it's important and needs to be emphasized:
If the government is going to ban every activity that can lead to harmful compulsion, the government is going to have to ban nearly every activity. Shopping, day trading, sex, [eating] chocolate, even drinking water—these and myriad other activities, most of which are part of everyday life, have been linked to harmful compulsions. Are we moving inexorably toward a world where we prohibit online shopping because some people compulsively spend themselves into bankruptcy?...Are we going to ask banking institutions to monitor and regulate our citizens' online shopping behavior to determine when a purchase can or cannot be approved?
The funny (in a terrifying kind of way) thing is that groups like the Family Research Council really DO want government to ban lots of activities that THEY consider harmful. They want all gambling to be illegal, pornography to be banned, say that evolution is politically-correct dogma, and that homosexuality is a "destructive behavior". But it's my firm belief that the American people are finally starting to wake up to the dangerous influence of groups like the Family Research Council and don't want people of their ilk having any saying THEIR lives. The fact that Rep. Steve Cohen made the FRC's Tom McClusky look like a fool during the hearing hopefully illustrates that arch-conservative groups no longer hold the same sway in Congress. In fact, let's look at that the exchange between Cohen and McClusky one more time:
COHEN: Do you think that horse racing and dog racing and lotteries should be legal in the United States?
MCCLUSKY: Are you asking me?
COHEN: Yes, you personally.
MCCLUSKY: The Family Research Council does believe that such things should be illegal.
COHEN: So it is really not the Internet you are against. It is gambling in general. Is that right?
MCCLUSKY: Yes, that would be true, or at least unrestricted gambling such as we have with the Internet or other.
COHEN: But the lottery is restricted. You can't play if you are a child. Same thing with horse racing. But you are against that, are you not?
MCCLUSKY: Yes.
COHEN: So restricted or unrestricted, you are against it?
MCCLUSKY: Yes.
COHEN: Is there any fun that you are for?
At that point McClusky said "Any what?", as if he'd never heard the word "fun" before. Which might be a bit uncharitable, it's possible he really didn't hear what Rep. Cohen said. Then again, after seeing McClusky during his testimony, he doesn't strike me as the sort who gets down and gets funky.
The reaction of other media outlets to Wednesday's hearings shows that our side hit a home run. Our side of the story is being heard and it's finding a receptive audience. Phrases like "personal liberty", "personal responsibility" and "common sense" are being used in public without the speaker being pointed at and ridiculed. The times, they are a-changin'.
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