Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Set your irony meters for stun, kids; here's your daily dose of hypocrisy as an anti-gambling official in Alabama wins a big jackpot:
The latest down there is that David Barber, the appointed head of the state Task Force on Illegal Gambling, won a jackpot gambling in Mississippi. So while he's fighting gambling in Alabama, trying to keep it illegal, he's popping over the border for some quick cash. The Dothan Eagle reports:"On a recent visit to Mississippi, I visited a legal casino and won a $2,300 prize playing a legal game," Barber wrote in his resignation letter to Gov. Bob Riley. "While my actions were in full compliance with the law, I am convinced that the forces that operate illegal casinos in Alabama will focus on my actions as part of their continuing effort to smear you and your Task Force."
But the hypocrisy goes much, much deeper than that. You see, gambling is illegal in Alabama and some public officials very much want to keep it that way. In fact, they take huge amounts of money from others who want to keep it so -- including from casino owners in neighboring states who want to keep out the competition. And we're talking millions and millions of dollars here:
To top it all off, Governor Riley (who totally does not want gambling in Alabama, in case you weren't clear on that) allegedly received millions of dollars in campaign cash from the "Mississippi Indians" who run the casinos there. Chief Doubles-Down-With-Eleven apparently hoped Riley would keep gambling out of Alabama so gazillions of wampum beads would flow into Mississippi as Alabamians cross the border to gamble.Guess who else was involved? (No, not Hitler, but you're close.) HuffPo "reports":
According to a 2002 US Senate Indian Affairs Committee report, disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff boasted the Choctaw tribe spent $13 million to elect Riley in 2002. The report states Abramoff told William Worfel, the former Vice Chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, that Mississippi Choctaw Chief Phillip Martin spent the money to protect the Choctaw's gaming enterprise ...
The report further notes, convicted lobbyist Michael Scanlon, Bob Riley's former congressional press secretary, received $4.5 million over two years to protect the Choctaw's gaming interests through the scheme known as "Operation Orange."
So the man who made the task force may be just as big a hypocrite as the man who ran the task force.
Imagine that. Captain Renault, call your office.
Politics
Comments
Well, if having standards is a good thing. Then double standards must be twice as good right?
Posted by: Viva | February 5, 2010 9:12 AM
Chief Doubles-Down-With-Eleven apparently hoped Riley would keep gambling out of Alabama so gazillions of wampum beads would flow into Mississippi...
Is it just me, or does this bit stick out like a sore thumb? It's like the writer went out of his way to destroy the tenor of his own piece in order to provide a little "injun" humor.
Posted by: Taz | February 5, 2010 9:21 AM
I'd really like to see a cogent argument on how to allow free speech to all, even corporations during campaigns, and insure voters understand the motivations by people running for office or advocating on an issue in terms of being able to follow the money. We like to proclaim that the best rebuttal against speech we disagree with is more speech, a mantra I too repeat. However the empirical evidence shows all sides but the monied interests are repeatedly drowned out.
In addition, I believe voters have the vastly superior right in easily discovering these money trails than politicians and advocacy groups have in hiding this information.
Posted by: Michael Heath | February 5, 2010 9:22 AM
Posted by: dogmeatib | February 5, 2010 9:23 AM
What kind of racist bullshit is that? I’ve got a bigger problem with that then anything else in the article.
Posted by: Abby Normal | February 5, 2010 9:35 AM
The hypocrisy is so obvious that pointing it out to the voters should be enough to, oh wait, it's Alabama. never mind.
Posted by: MikeMa | February 5, 2010 9:37 AM
Drat, my end quotes broke in #4. I posted in the comments section at the link asking why such racial comments needed to be made in the first place.
Posted by: dogmeatib | February 5, 2010 9:45 AM
At first I thought this was hypocrisy of the Larry Craig tap dancing in men's rooms to the tune of 'Gays are Bad' kind, but it's worse than personality quirks, it's just plain corruption.
It seems the Indians have learned the white man brand of politics... bribery and greed.
Posted by: Reverend Rodney | February 5, 2010 9:54 AM
Actually many of the casinos (a few years ago I would have felt comfortable saying most) are owned by private corporations that lease (or purchase) the naming rights from the tribal group. With many of these agreements, they generally get a licensing fee, mostly entry level jobs, and that's about it. The corporate investors get the opportunity to place casinos in locations they otherwise would be barred from establishing, and the lion's share of the profits. I have no idea if the Choctaw have an agreement structured in such a manner, but many nations do. Think about it, how many Native American nations have the financial means to build a half billion dollar casino?
Posted by: dogmeatib | February 5, 2010 10:09 AM
Just like the abortion issue- Legal for the wealthy with access, denied to everyone else.
Posted by: History Punk | February 5, 2010 11:03 AM
Everyone knows the only Native American aspect to a casino is the ability to violate laws which don't apply to these "sovereign nations." Take the band that run the Casino in Palm Springs, Calif--they "own" the casino but a Miami lawyer runs it and does all the work and splits the profits with them 50/50.
Posted by: athEIst | February 5, 2010 11:06 AM
viva wins the internets.
Posted by: James Hanley | February 5, 2010 11:08 AM
This sounds like the scam that Ralph Reed and Jack Abramoff pulled in Texas. They took money from the Alabama-Coushatta tribe to support their efforts to open a casino in Texas, and then took money from tribes in neighboring states to fund Texas politicians who took anti-gambling stances.
Posted by: Kenneth Fair | February 5, 2010 12:06 PM
Such innocence. It's obvious you've never seen how tribal councils operate.
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | February 5, 2010 1:04 PM
...damn, you can't write anything anymore without some cretin screaming racism!!! well, the truth will out and the truth is that the indians have bribed, corrupted, and purchased enough influence to have riley close down every operation in alabama, costing the state thousands of jobs in its poorest areas. what's more, the brand new gambling task force leader has already admitted he took huge sums from gambling interests in his last campaign for mobile district attorney. a recent survey said two thirds of alabamians are fed up with their redneck governor and his holiness ways!
Posted by: henry butler | February 5, 2010 1:06 PM
Um, excuse me henry butler, but that 'Chief' nonsense IS racist language. One can quite make the point about the ugliness of money and buying off politicians without resorting to such moronic stereotypes and racist language.
The crack about bribery and greed is real cute too. I know nonIndians like to hold two contradictory notions about us in their heads at the same time - we are supposed to be noble ethereal people and savages - but we're human like everyone else. Most of our tribes have small land bases and are poor. Each tribal gov't is doing what it can to survive and no, it ain't always pretty. Deal. - signed, Cranky old Indian
Posted by: Cranky NDN | February 5, 2010 1:21 PM
Such behavior has a long tradition in the South. I don't know if MIssissippi is still dry, but 40 years ago when I was in the army down south, Mississippi was legally as dry as the Sahara. But any rube knew if you wanted liquor, wine or beer, it could be had, usually through the auspices of the local sheriff. He (and they were always men then) worked both sides of the street. On the one hand he enforced the dry laws, making sure that no one could sell alcohol in his jurisdiction. But he also controlled the distribution of liquor locally and the sheriff or his deputies could be counted on to let you where to buy the good stuff and not have any problems. The Mississippi Indians protecting their casinos by making sure Alabama offers no gambling is just the latest chapter in protection rackets of the Old South.
Posted by: Keanus | February 5, 2010 2:52 PM
Living only about 30 miles from Dothan, Alabama, I can tell you it is a huge issue in this region. Not only is it corrupt, but there are subtle problems. This is a poor, rural area hit hard by the recession. Houston County has over a 12% unemployment rate. A huge electronic bingo purveyor in the area, Country Crossing, maintains that independent legal council has said that their machines meet the state Supreme Courts criteria and therefore are not "slot machines". Governor Riley disagrees and has stationed hundreds of State Patrol officers on the grounds forcing the business to close, resulting in an additional 1500 people unemployed. There is also a conflict brewing over whether local judges have jurisdiction to issue injunctions to stop what the Governor calls appropriate law enforcement actions. It's a mess with attack ads running and protests at the capital.
Posted by: SouthernFriedSkeptic | February 5, 2010 3:23 PM
Lordy, we are giving Texas a run for it's money in the crank and corruption departments. Three specific mentions by Ed in the last few weeks. We beat 'em in football, we can surly show them up in corruption and fundamentalism as well. Yay for the good ol' boys!
Posted by: momkat | February 5, 2010 3:33 PM
@dogmeatib: Even more racist than the insulting language is the fact that he conveniently neglects to mention the huge sums of cash that flowed from the casinos in Biloxi Mississippi. Casinos that are not only not run by "injuns" but will barely let us walk in the fucking door.
Getting and keeping anti-gambling puritans elected was a-ok until some non-white people decided to do it. Then it's time to start yelling about wampum. (I'm not talking about Ed, by the way. I'm talking about the original author.)
@Cranky NDN: Well, we may be noble ethereal people and savages at the same time, but it's usually to two different groups of people. The first are usually new age hippies that think we can point them to a random patch of dirt and cure their spiritual woes and/or physical illness, the latter are usually the kind of people that pronounce African American with two Gs.
Posted by: JThompson | February 6, 2010 2:31 AM
Lmao "people that pronounce african american with two Gs"....let me catch my breath ah! Anyway, he made millions in hush money but had to resign over a $2,000 jackpot? I know this is also racist but I have to ask... What kind of inbred cousin of mine would do this?
Posted by: mario | February 7, 2010 5:36 AM