First they came for the drug users, then they came for the gamblers...

Via Freedom Sight, I see I see our DC dealers banned internet gambling. I'll certainly sleep better tonight knowing those gamblers are in Las Vegas where they belong. And all those terrorists playing Bejeweled for cash won't be keeping me up at night anymore either. Let them play for fun like everybody else.

Quote of the day from Freedom Sight's link.

"Offshore online gambling Websites are cash cows and the greed that propels these companies leads them to solicit bettors in the U.S., despite the fact that the Department of Justice already believes this activity is illegal," said Goodlatte.

That almost describes the stock market too and what's the difference between say poker and the commodities market? Or the money markets? Hell this describes Capitol Hill and the lobbyists. They don't give a flying leap about whether people gamble, what they're really worried about is the loss of revenue for state sanctioned gaming.

However, the law will still allow states to further regulate themselves. Washington State has taken this to heart and recently passed a bill making it a felony akin to sex offending to engage in online gambling. Conviction carries up to a ten year sentence. Jeez, if they need to fill their prisons, why don't they just double the pedophiles jail time? Should some schmuck who plays cyber poker really be sent to the pokey for a decade?

Who advocated for this bill? What purpose does this serve? Who are they "protecting" with this law? It shouldn't even be constitutional to legislate the conduct. I would think it falls under the pursuit of happiness clause. Something happened while we weren't looking. A bunch of nanny do-gooders got swept into local offices and they're throwing out all those dusty old personal rights that have been taking up room in the statutes for the last 200 years or so.

Time for the electorate to do some housecleaning themselves. I hope the good voters of Washington state are taking names and will remember this in November.