Graft in Penn's Woods
The road to You-Know-Where is paved with good intentions, but Pennsylvania politicians from the Governor on down have chosen the alternate route, legalized graft (AKA, campaign contributions).
"Two months after Gov. Ed Rendell signed Pennsylvania's slots bill into law, he took a $10,000 campaign check from David Levan, who is now hoping to open a slots parlor near Gettysburg" (WGAL.com).That isn't all he accepted, either. According to this document, there is at least another $53,000 in his coffers. I lost track in the plethora of names. With numbers like this and the equal application to members of all political parties, how is an Average Joe like me to combat the pending tragedy that slot machine parlours are likely to generate?
"Waitamnit!" someone is saying. "Didn't you just go gambling at casinos in Connecticut?" To which I answer: "Yes, I did." That doesn't mean that I want a parlor just outside the hallowed territory of Gettysburg. The town is a massive memorial. Do we want to sully hallowed ground? Put the parlours somewhere else. Put them in Philadelphia, the governor's real first love (ahem ... I didn't hear any congrats from hizzoner when Pittsburgh won the Superbowl).
My first and only trip to Atlantic City gave me the impression that gambling creates a shallow facade that hides decay and corruption caused by the institution itself. The neighborhood less than a block from the strip looked like a Somali war zone. When I heard that casinos were being built in the once peaceful and rather beautiful communities near New London, Connecticut I feared the same would happen.
A couple visits under my belt has belayed this fear, but it arises again with the impending opening of similar venues here in Pennsylvania. But other than the historic Gettysburg area I don't really care that much. With few exceptions the Commonwealth isn't that attractive or worth trying to preserve. Not that our politicians care anyway. The way they are lapping up these so-called campaign contributions from gambling interests shows their true concern.
