INDIAN GAMING….Atrios makes a good point today:
I’m really getting tired of the phrase “Indian Gaming Interests” being thrown around by the media as if it is some sort of insidious thing. They’re just another business interest, like the numerous “old white man business interests” that spend a lot of money financing campaigns.
As it happens, I’m not especially happy about Indian gaming, and I’m not especially happy about the lobbying they do. However, there are plenty of businesses that get unique concessions from the government ? like, say, billion-dollar no-bid contracts for rebuilding Iraq ? and who spend their profits by aggressively lobbying for their interests in both Sacramento and Washington D.C.
I don’t think gaming should be restricted to tribal interests, but the fact is that the tribes aren’t doing anything different than any other industry. So feel free to oppose artificial restrictions on gaming ? as I do ? and feel free to oppose the insidious triangle of corporate welfare, insider lobbying, and payola masquerading as campaign contributions ? as I do ? but the only reason to get more outraged about Indian gaming than any other cosseted industry is because us white guys aren’t getting a piece of the action.
Sadly, whites aren’t likely to get over their victimization complex anytime soon. It’s a real cultural problem, and one that white leaders ought to be spending more time addressing.
