We have a gambling problem in Alabama. The state’s governor, Republican Bob Riley, began a crackdown on illegal gambling 23 months ago. He declared, with the backing of the state’s Supreme Court, that thousands of electronic bingo machines located in 16 of the state’s 67 counties are, in fact, slot machines. Slot machines are illegal in Alabama. Nevertheless, thousands of them crept into our state under the phony label of “charity bingo.” Since charity bingo is allowed for things such as church fund-raisers, the gambling industry thought they could put the word “bingo” on a slot machine and get away with it.
GIGGLES AND SPITE
I envy the Byzantines. The death of their empire was spectacular. Muslims under the command of Sultan Mehmed II came storming through the gates of Constantinople on Tuesday, May 29, 1453 and promptly began butchering every man, woman and child in sight as they likewise looted the city’s extensive wealth. When the crescent was lifted over the newly named Istanbul, every survivor of the the once glorious Byzantine Empire was left with no doubt that their world, and all they knew, was over.
Whether or not the United States died on Sunday, March 21, 2010, may still be an open question. There remain many battles to be fought. However the sacking of Washington that we witnessed on our televisions as the damnable Health Care Reform Bill was passed into law was far less noble than that of Constantinople. What we observed, as democrats bribed and intimidated their own members into passing this monstrosity, would make Boss Tweed’s Tammany Hall seem like a Baptist bake sale. At least Tweed and his cronies were bribed with private money.
The Prophet Of Wrath 