Gotta Fight That War on Tear Raa, Bra!

So Tom Delay (R-Texas) was on Meet the Press yesterday morning and inspired me to post something on my blog. I was laying comfortably on the nice King sized bed in our comped $400/night suite up in Northern Michigan while my wife was taking a shower and flipping through channels till it was my turn to get cleaned up. I came across Meet the Press and this wacky guy talking with a horrid speech impediment. Mr. Delay cannot pronounce the word terror. In the span of like 2 minutes he said it about 4 times and I was just in awe. The best I can come up with is "Tear RAA". How can people take someone seriously when they talk like that? (Oh wait, GW, nevermind). When hanging out with his little congressional buddies does he use the word bra instead of bro because of this terrible problem of his? "Hey bra! Ready to go vote on that bill, bra?"

Then he decided to become a funny talking hypocrite when he stated that he believe the protesters at the mall in D.C. on Saturday were unpatriotic and aiding and abetting the enemy by wanting to impeach the President and wanting the administration to come up with some type of timeline for withdrawal in Iraq. I wonder if he thought the same thing when people walked the streets asking for President Clinton to get impeached due to a BJ he received in the oval office? Oh wait, Democrat...Republican...oh! I get it now! Jeez, there I ago again missing the point. Towing party lines, blah blah blah.

I find it odd that this guy is a congressman and never heard of the 1st Amendment. I guess it only works if the protest doesn't go against your beliefs. I am sure he had no issue with the Bush supporters spitting and trying to start fights with the anti-war protestors. To him they were his bras! He probably thinks of them as Freedom Fighters or something.

I can honestly say I knew nothing of this guy but after watching for 10 minutes I now know what kind of man Tom Delay is. Just another waste of oxygen in my humble opinion.

Those Damn Democrats Always Bothering Them Poor Republicans!

"We were in the middle of a war, working in very difficult conditions, and we had to move quickly to get this Iraqi money working for the Iraqi people," Bremer told lawmakers. He said there was no banking system and it would have been impossible to apply modern accounting standards in the midst of a war.

Republicans argued that Bremer and the CPA staff did the best they could under the circumstances and accused Democrats of trying to score political points over the increasingly unpopular Iraq war.

"We are in a war against terrorists, to have a blame meeting isn't, in my opinion, constructive," said Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican.

STORY



So this is the response when asked why $8.8 Billion seems to be unaccounted for. We supposedly sent pallets of cash to Iraq and now we can't seem to find some if it? Yeah, cause we can afford to lose that amount. I don't care if the Democrats are looking for points, I would love to know what happened to all that cold hard cash. Just Republicans screwing up and not taking responsibility for their actions.

Another Right Taken Away

Well they have gone and done it. The process has begun to pull the plug on internet poker in the US. Good old Fristy did what all wonderful politicians in this great country do to get what they want, he attached the Internet Gambling Bill onto an important and much needed Port Security bill. The bill passed the house almost unanimously and then because of time constraints due to the session ending was passed by the senate in a vocal vote. So just like that the online poker has taken a nose dive.

Today reports are coming out from Party Poker and Pokerstars stating that they will be suspending all US based accounts on their sites the minute George W Bush signs the bill into law. So that is that I guess. I would have liked to see sites wait about a month or two when the actual rules and regs come out but I guess they are worried what might happen to them since the US seems to lose it's temper rather easily these days.

I don't understand why this has to happen. Just another right taken away from us. It is interesting to see diehard Bush fans and Republicans all pissed off over what just happened. I guess if it doesn't effect you, you won't feel the pain. But when it does effect you your eyes are opened wide.

I love playing poker and just don't have the resources around me to play anywhere but online. Yes, we have 3 casinos in Detroit and 2 have pokerrooms but each has their lowest limit at 5/10 which is not where I am at right now. 3/6 I can handle, 2/4 or lower would be ideal but they don't run it. They also have tournaments but they have such horrid structures that it is basically all in of fold after the 2nd round of blinds and I don't feel like wasting money on a coinflip. So I guess it leaves me with my monthly home game and pub poker. Hard to make millions with those options. :)

Well thanks again US Gov't for making sure I, as a 34 yr old, cannot enjoy poker. I appreciate you from stopping me from making money. Thank you and piss off.

Why So Much Anger in the World?

I have witnessed such unbridled anger this past week and I have to ask the question, why is everyone so angry? Most of the anger I witnessed stemmed from a blog of professional poker player, Daniel Negreanu. He made the mistake of thinking that he lived in a free country and posted his feelings on the current administration running the US and an opinion on the Iranian President.

All hell broke loose on his site, FCP. People were creating accounts just to rip him a new one over his "opinions". What I find most interesting is that the people who go off on huge hissy fits of anger are usually ones who are supporters of Bush. Is it just Republican nature to fly off the handle and deal with all opinions different then the their own with personal attacks and lots of screaming? I unfortunately have yet to meet a Bush supporter who can not debate the issues without getting overly defensive and not throw at least one personal insult toward the person or people they are debating with. Sure this may be a gross generalization, but in my experiences it rings true for me.

I, for my own reasons which will be possibly discussed at a later date, do not support our current administration. As an American that right and am happy to continue to have that right. People who support Bush for their own reasons have that same right and I would never tell them they do not, yet they like to tell me and others that we "have" to support our President. Sure, these are the same people who didn't support Clinton but why be so nitpicky right?

My wife works for a campaign and in the short time I have spent seeing it first hand I have witnessed her fellow campaign workers, the candidate, and myself be insulted, cursed at, and been given the finger by "proud" republicans. Wow, okay, you are proud, but also terribly classless. It is really sad that many republicans think that a good debate is a flip of the bird and a "Fuck off, Bitch!". Yeah, that really drives your point home. Just that attitude alone makes me not want to be a republican.

But the sad part is is that this country is horribly divided. My wife explained that our great leader said he would reach his hand across the isle and bring us all together. That doesn't seem to be the case. I guess Mr. Rove had more to do with that but as the President of the United States, you get to take the blame. Deal with it's probably in the job description.

Remember after 9/11 everyone was so nice to each other? Remember how we all got along, regardless of political affiliation or pretty much anything else. We were hunting for Bin Laden and things were not that bad. When did it all change? Iraq? I don't know for sure but that would be my guess. The minute we stopped doing anything about 9/11 this country took a turn for the worse in my opinion. Guess we are back to looking for him again but it's pointless now. Plus it seems to be a political ploy to help the failing republicans in Novembers elections. As stated in my profile, I hate people, the reason I do is because for the most part they are all stupid, so many will fall for this ploy. But I think they will still be in trouble come November.

Let's just be nice and respect each others opinions and views. How does my view being different from yours hurt either one of us? If you like Bush, go right ahead. I disagree but I won't rip your head off about it. You should learn to do the same. This is America, we are supposedly fighting for Freedom *snicker*. Let's not be hypocrites.

Internet Gambling on the Hot Seat

As a online poker player I have been paying attention to the bill that is trying to be passed in the Senate against Internet Gambling. I personally am not for the bill passing for the obvious reason of not being able to do something that I love and have some skill at. But last night I saw 60 minutes was going to do a story on it and watched it (well sort of since I was online playing poker.

So the main argument this time was based on the fact that kids would be able to gamble online. That is a bad thing. Sure, so is drinking, smoking, and taking drugs, but no one seems to be trying as hard to stop kids from doing that these days. The thing they addressed was how a kid could take dad's credit card and jump online and start gambling. Well here are a few things I noticed about that senario. First off, when the kid tried to access poker sites he was not allowed on. That says something right there that the sites are doing their job in keeping people like that kid from accessing their site with a credit card. Secondly, the site the kid did get on looked to be GlodenPalace.com which is a "real" gambling site. By real I mean, not a poker site. Poker is defined these days as not "gambling". I believe, and correct me if I am wrong, but in states that do not allow games of chance, many actually have poker rooms that are legal because poker is recognized as a skill game, not a chance game. My point is that go after the right people. Go after the sites that offer slots, craps, and roulette, but leave the poker sites out of it. Now, some sites do offer both. Make the site pull the blackjack and crap off but leave the poker aspect in. I'm fine with that.

But one of my problems with this bill is the other reason and that is that internet gambling is used by terrorists to launder money. Oh give me a break. You keep saying it but not once have I seen one shred of evidence presented that supports that series. Maybe that guy I saw on Pokerstars last night with the handle OSBL4885 was Osama trying to win some money to fund another attack.

I understand we need to keep the kiddies safe. But this is ridiculous. Where is the parent in this equation? Why does the government feel the need to become the parent? The kid steals dad's credit card and then loses $500 on the slots. The kid should get in trouble for that by his parents. You may as well ban OnDemand on digital cable cause what stops a kid from going on there and buying porn every night. The parents will find out, just like they did with the gambling.

Stay away from the poker. It's just that simple. Feel free to block credit card access on those sites, I don't use a credit card so no skin off my back. Hell, do what Norway (or Finland or Sweden) did and start your own poker and gambling site. Get in on the action. Just leave us alone.

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