The steamroller

Mike’s moving blog entry about the threat to online gambling and how removal of the right to do it will touch his life tells a far larger story than his own experience and the threat to his own well-being.

Mike correctly points out, “This online gambling prohibition goes over the top.”

The problem is that the historical, psychological and political processes leading to relieving the citizenry of the choices and responsibilities for freedom aren’t going to stop because they arrived at anyone’s doorstep.

In the 1970s, for instance, the Baptists cheered and gave all manner of support when Governor Dolph Briscoe ordered the closure of the Chicken Ranch, a whorehouse institution that had survived with the tacit approval of politicians and law enforcement officials for 3/4ths of a century.

However, the Baptists felt a lot less enthusiasm when the Texas Rangers, operating under the orders of the same Texas Governor, kicked down the door of a private home and arrested a well-known Baptist evangelist and a number of church elders during a Thursday night poker game.

That went over the top, they believed.

Jealously guarding the freedoms of others we disagree with is a tough pill to swallow.  But it’s the only way we can assure our own will remain intact.

Jack