Mr. Bush Whacks Me Once Last Time

I play poker for money on the Internet. Bring on the handcuffs.

About three years ago, in a classic sneaky-politician move, a Republican lawmaker stuck a rider onto a sure-to-pass seaport security bill. He did this literally in the middle of the night. His rider (which had nothing whatsoever to do with port security) is now law: The Unlawful Internet Gambling Act or some such. Dumb law. Happily, the sunbitch was thrown out of office by his constituents the next year.

Now the Bush administration, rushing to get a few more slaps in on the electorate, has implemented measures to define and enforce this stupid law. They will go into effect on 19 January next year, one day before the Bush comet disappears from the heavens forever.

The law is hated by the banks, the Internet money sites, the people who have to enforce it, the poker sites, the millions who play Internet poker (the Poker Stars site alone often has 120,000 people playing) and the credit card companies.

And me.

This administration has an awful lot of blood on its hands, a dismal record of governance, an approval rating in the cellar and a overspending record that is mind-boggling. In a mere eight years, it has presided over the worst terrorist assault on our country in history and managed to host the worst economic crash since the Great Depression. Yet this administration still has the incredible arrogance to decide how and where I should spend my leisure-time money.

There must be a special place in hell for such wickedly misplaced self-assurance.