Yes! to Florida Gambling! No to Christ's teachings! ... by gimleteye

I never saw so many Christians united by sin as the movement to full-scale gambling in Florida. If sin is good for church business, then church leaders should be lining up to create jobs in sin industries like those proposed for Miami.

That's the take-away from yesterday's Chamber of Commerce staged show according to reports; a speak-in that omitted casino opponents. Recall it was the ministers and congregations in Florida that solidified the GOP grip on the state legislature. Family values. The teachings of the Bible to counter liberals driven by the cult of individuality divorced from personal responsibility.

So now comes jobs over morals. Full-scale casinos is a public good, according to Erik Fresen and Lincoln Diaz Balart. The heart of the state GOP is on the side of sin. Republican state senator Ellyn Bogdanoff got the final word in this morning's Miami Herald report: "In an interview after the forum, Bogdanoff compared a potential shake-out from casino resorts to Fort Lauderdale's effort to drive off spring-breakers--a strategy that helped bring on the demise of some "dilapidated" hotels. "It's like Darwin's rule for business," she said.

But wait. Leaving aside the antipathy of right-wing Christians for Darwin, isn't the teaching of Christ that care for the poor, the weak and infirm is good for humanity? What Florida Christian can claim that Darwinian evolution is the reason that we should embrace casinos in downtown Miami? Is the point, that the effects of gambling will be to "upgrade" our businesses, our government, and our society?

The Chamber of Commerce said the same, of the housing boom. Huey Long, on steroids. More house than you can afford, more money in your pockets. The historic boom and bust is still grinding its way through Florida. It was a form of Darwinian evolution. It was also biggest wealth transfer in US economic history, enriching Wall Street, deforming democracy and turning the dream of the middle class into a nightmare of uncertainty. How is gambling any different?

It is not. The problem with Florida is that speculation is so baked into our culture, we just stand around like donkeys under the tree in the noonday sun waiting for the preacher man to cure our ills with the next brand of snake oil. Last night, on the news, one of our most flawed presidents, Bill Clinton (Democrat!), talked about his solutions to the housing crisis including writing down everyone's mortgages.

It is the only way to work through the massive drag on the economy, Clinton says. Forgive the speculators, (never mind that Clinton and Robert Rubin, former Goldman Sachs co-chairman and Citibank director, embraced the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act-- under GOP pressure-- in 1999) bring them to the pulpit and let them preach.

The other day a good friend argued with me, for casinos in Miami. "What else can Miami do?" he offered, as a rationale. In the race to the bottom, no cup of water should be spurned. I answered, "How well is the University of Miami going to attract investments and high paying jobs in bio-medical technology in a city and region clogged with a sin industry?" He replied, "Every state is trying to attract bio-medical jobs." To which I responded, "Every state or nearly is trying to do the same with gambling. And besides, with our tendency to political corruption allowing gambling in Miami is like letting a child play with a loaded gun." He thought for a second and said, "Well that's true."

But. But that is Darwinian evolution, letting children play with loaded guns. All those north Florida conservative Christians will just have to buy bigger and more powerful guns.