Big Brother is Watching

The US government, it all of it's wisdom, has decided that I am a danger to myself. How so? It is not that I smoke (I don't), or that I drink (I do), or that I am taking too many different prescription drugs (no comment). No my problem is far worse, far more insidious. I....Play internet poker! Now, try to stop thinking all of those horrible things about me, I am not a bad person, not really.
Seriously, the US has passed legislation, and Dictator, I mean President, Bush has signed it into law, making it illegal for me to put my money into an internet poker account. Apparently, the fact that I enjoy cards and have been playing internet poker for the last two years on the same $50 means that I have a problem, or could develop a problem. Poker has been a great way for me and my husband to 'hang out' with our friends back in Jersey. We can all log on, sit down at the same table, and play cards and chat. It is almost as nice as when we all got together for home games in my kitchen. An important note, Poker is not gambling. Anyone who plays the game can tell you that it is a game of skill. When you play poker you are not playing against the house (always a losing proposition), you are playing against the other people at the table. If your skills are better than their skills, you win. It is that simple. Gambling is plopping your money down on a roulette table and waiting to see where the ball falls (another game that I love).
What is the logic behind this big brother type control? The children. We must prevent our children from becoming compulsive gamblers. As a mother of three, two of which already play poker with us at home, I feel that it is my responsibility to parent my children, not the Government's. Also, you need a credit card to sign up for an internet poker account. Children should not have credit cards to use. I know that I am always teaching my kids to avoid credit cards. But what about the poor college kids? These poor, misled children could put themselves into deep debt and become compulsive gamblers. It would seem to me that the bigger problem is the banks that are handing out high limit credit cards to college kids like they were candy on Halloween. Where is the legislation to stop the credit card companies from providing these poor kids with the crack that will keep them in debt forever? Oh, that's right, the banking lobby takes care of our legislators, so they would never pass a law that would hurt the banks. Who cares that debt is far larger problem in the US than gambling?
So, at the end of the day, I can sit down with a gallon of vodka, a cartoon of Lucky Strikes, and handful of Oxycoton, but my government has saved me from spending $25 on my entertainment. Wow, do I feel safer already.