This legislation clearly grows out of the liberal ideology that our men and women in uniform are stupid losers.

A bill in Congress seeks to eliminate military slot machines overseas that take in $130 million a year, mostly from soldiers.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tennessee, named the bill after Army Warrant Officer Aaron Walsh, a decorated Apache helicopter pilot who became addicted to gambling on military slot machines.

Walsh eventually was discharged from the Army. He committed suicide after several failed attempts to break his addiction.

The Defense Department uses slot machine revenues to pay a small portion of its morale, welfare and recreation programs.

Davis said the money raised off the gambling of soldiers is not worth the risks.

"If American men and women are willing to serve our country overseas we should not be dependent on them to pay for recreational activities they deserve," Davis said in a written statement. "The risks are simply too high and too many to ask that of our soldiers."

In other words, the relatively infrequent problem of individuals with gambling problems are sufficient reason to ban slot machines on military bases.

If that is the case, why not ban slot machines and other forms of legal gambling nationwide on the same premise? You know, because the risks of legal gambling are simply too high and too many to permit the public to fund education and social services (and the coffers of the gambling industry) in that manner. Or at the very least, why not pass legislation prohibiting members of the United States military from gambling off-post as well, both overseas and in the United States? Certainly the same logic applies as it does to slots on foreign military bases.

And while we are at it, we can take US military bases dry based upon the possibility of alcoholism. We can make them porn-free zones because someone might chafe their penis while masturbating, too.

Here's an idea, Congressman Davis -- why don't we treat our soldiers like adults and allow them to make adult decisions. The problem in the case of Aaron Walsh was not the availability of gambling, it was a failure of the military to respond effectively to his out-of-control gambling. Focus your legislation there, not on depriving servicemen and women of recreational activities.

Posted by: Greg at 02:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 399 words, total size 3 kb.