A Stitch in Haste

Dear Online Gamblers,

Welcome to our world.

Sincerely,
--The Gays

P.S. By "our world," I of course mean the new paradigm of unbridled majoritarianism, formerly known as "mob rule," where activist legislatures (or activist voters), citing "the will of the majority," can pass almost any law they wish, for any reason — real or imagined — that they can come up with, or even for no reason at all.

The world where judges are expected, and usually are perfectly willing, to defer to such actions, citing "presumptions of constitutionality" and the abhorrence of becoming "super-legislatures."

The world where almost any non-race, non-gender minority can be selected for unequal treatment, because "equal protection" means, well, something other than equal protection.

The world where that minority's interests can be belittled, marginalized and even demonized.

The world where a subject traditionally left to state legislatures can suddenly be federalized, because Washington politicians are always presumed smarter than state and local politicians.

The world where an activity that has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with port security can be quietly inserted into a "SAFE Port Act."

The world where the people who mastermind such things have the gall to call themselves "conservatives." What, exactly, are they conserving?

Like I said, welcome to our world. You can take your place next to the homeowners, the trans fat eaters, the innkeepers, the foie gras connoisseurs, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, 19-year olds — and, sooner or later, everybody else in the country.

More thoughts from George Will.

The federal government's war on lottery competitors is on the verge of inflicting some collateral damage:

The Justice Department has issued subpoenas to at least four Wall Street investment banks as part of a widening investigation into the multibillion-dollar online gambling industry, according to people briefed on the investigation.

The subpoenas were issued to firms that had underwritten the initial public offerings of some of the most popular online gambling sites that operate abroad.
...
Another lawyer, Lawrence G. Walters of Altamonte Springs, Fla., said the development was disconcerting because the prevailing wisdom had been that investment in a company that is legal and licensed in its jurisdiction was not grounds for prosecution.

Assuming that the Justice Department investigation is prosecutorial and not just "fact-finding," the implications are astonishing: a financial institution that does business with a company in another country, all entirely legally, can still potentially face prosecution, or at least harassment, by the United States government.

Conglomerate tries to formulate some interstate (rather than international) analogies to help demonstrate the reasoning at work:

• If a resident of Texas, where commercial casinos are not legal, buys stock in Harrah's, can the resident be prosecuted in Texas for illegal gambling?


• If a resident of Nevada, where commercial casinos are legal, buys stock in Harrah's, but goes skiing in Utah, can Utah police arrest the NE resident for illegal gambling?


• Can the state of Texas prosecute the editors of Texas Monthly for selling advertising space to Harrah's?


• Can the state of Texas prosecute a private charter bus company for taking Texas residents from Houston to Louisiana casinos?

My contribution:

What if a U.S. citizen travels to Amsterdam, patronizes a "coffee shop" and returns to the U.S.?

The government has no business investigating business outside the U.S. when that business is perfectly legal where conducted, U.S. laws to the contrary notwithstanding.

---

And this is all, remember, defended on the grounds of nanny-statism — which would be bad enough if it were actually true. But the online gaming ban serves only one purpose and only one constituency: the protection of state lotteries from better-paying private competition. That's not just a safe bet; it's a sure thing.