Poker Players Alliance bluffed by the GOP
28th August, 2008
After what appeared to be a huge victory for the Poker Players Alliance when the Republican Party in the United States took out the section of its platform that supported the prohibition of online gambling, the party ended up putting the section back in a short time later.
It would have been a bold move by the GOP, which has lately become the party that opposes personal freedom and promotes dangerously aggressive foreign policy – no longer having anything to do with traditional Republican ideals. However, the party showed its true colours by deceiving the Poker Players Alliance and the American people, by deleting and then reinstating a part of its platform.
Everyone in the online poker world was excited about the progress made when the news came out that the party had changed its platform.
“This is a small victory in our determined effort to educate both sides of the aisle that there is a true constituency in America that values it internet freedoms,” said John Pappas, the executive director of the Poker Players Alliance.
However, the sentiment changed quite a bit after the news came back out that the party had put back in a section supporting online gambling prohibition.
The platform, after the clause was reinstated, read: “Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families. We support legislation prohibiting gambling over the Internet or in student athletics by student athletes who are participating in competitive sports.”
The Poker Players Alliance and everyone who wanted to see this kept out of the party platform were warned by Senator Richard Burr, of North Carolina, who said that the move was only to make the party appeal to more voters but that it would likely be changed back once the more conservative members had their voices heard.
By Michael
