Posted by I found out last night that the Michigan State Police are investigating a local VFW hall for having poker games on the weekends. I’ve played in said game a few times and know many of the players. It’s a group of mostly Vietnam and even Korean war vets who sit in the back room a couple nights a week and play poker instead of playing pool out front. Someone apparently decided to call the police and report it, with the speculation being that it’s someone who wants the post commander’s job. The State Police have apparently been investing a lot of time and money in busting up this obvious threat to our society, including videotaping people entering and leaving, their license plate numbers, and so forth. They’ve now begun to call people who have played in the game to shake them down for more information. The filing of charges is imminent.
All of this points to one overwhelming conclusion, in my view – it’s time to cut the state police budget. If you have the resources to commit that kind of time and manpower to stopping a bunch of vets from playing poker together, then obviously there isn’t enough real crime to spend that money on and it’s time to lay some people off and save the money we pay them. The utter hypocrisy of the whole thing is staggering. Here is what the state says is illegal gambling:
Any person or his or her agent or employee who, directly or indirectly, takes, receives, or accepts from any person any money or valuable thing with the agreement, understanding or allegation that any money or valuable thing will be paid or delivered to any person where the payment or delivery is alleged to be or will be contingent upon the result of any race, contest, or game or upon the happening of any event not known by the parties to be certain, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than $1,000.00.
Pretty much covers everything, including the stock market, eh? You buy a stock betting that its value will go up, the person selling it is betting that its value will go down. Which will occur is not known by the parties to be certain, but it’s a risk they are each willing to take. And never mind that, despite this prohibition, there are 19 casinos in the state of Michigan. Never mind that the state itself runs multiple lottery games – Lotto, Mega Millions, daily three and daily four picks, not to mention dozens of scratch off games. This very VFW hall has a vending machine to dispense scratch off tickets and that’s perfectly legal, but if the same vets who buy those tickets decide to play a poker game together then obviously we need to bring the full resources of the state police to investigate them and file charges. It’s a sick and hypocritical power grab by the satraps in the state government to stamp out any fun that they can’t put a tax on and it’s time to put a stop to it.
As an aside, how does a vice cop live with themselves? As Doug Stanhope points out, their sole purpose in life is to ruin the party. That’s what they do all day, every day, at their job. It’s what they’re hired for. And if they can afford to hire them, we’re obviously being overtaxed. And remember, the same people who support this kind of thing will also blather endlessly about the wonders of the free market and personal responsibility. They don’t really believe in those things, it’s just empty rhetoric. What they really believe in is using the power of the state to make sure that others aren’t having fun in ways they disapprove of. And I’m fed up with it. Let’s defund their sick little game and tell them to police their own lives and keep their hands off of ours.
April 29, 2005
April 29, 2005
April 29, 2005
April 29, 2005
April 29, 2005
April 29, 2005