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With the cynical lawsuit to stop casino workers from caucusing on the Strip tomorrow having been rightly dismissed, the LA Times has an interesting article entitled “Clinton plays gaming card against Obama“, pointing out her latest attempt to muddy the waters in what is looking more and more like a campaign against Barack Obama instead of the campaign for Hillary Clinton she was running most of last year when she was still the “presumptive nominee”:
The issue has come into focus primarily due to the Clinton campaign, which has distributed a document to local reporters, headlined, “Obama Blasted Gambling as Socially Destructive and Economically Irresponsible,” listing several of his past quotes.
Among them are a 2003 comment in the Chicago Defender, a black newspaper, in which Obama argued that the “moral and social cost of gambling, particularly in low-income communities, could be devastating.”
In 2001, the Clinton memo states, Obama described himself as “generally skeptical” of gambling as an economic development tool and likened the expansion of slot machines to the state lottery, in which, he said, “you’ll have a whole bunch of people who can’t afford gambling their money away, yet they’re going to do it.”
As part of its efforts to publicize those statements, the Clinton campaign has secured the help of top industry players — several of whom participated in a campaign-sponsored conference call with the media last week designed to chastise Obama.
Southern California-based Latinopoliticsblog.com zeroes in on an interesting point that’s buried towards the end of the article:
The other ironic thing about this issue is that Hillary Clinton is a follower of the Social Principles of the Methodist Church, which calls on Christians to obstain [sic] from gambling. How does she reconcile her church’s beliefs with her heavy ties to the gambling industry? I would expect this sort of dilemma from Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani, but not Hillary Clinton. Why did she even need to go there with the religion?
Back in 2004 I discovered an election sim called President Forever via a random Google ad on my old blog, bought it and spent many a late night frustrated over my unsuccessful attempts to lead Dennis Kucinich to simulated victory over Dubya. No surprise, really, but it was still a fun game that nicely married a few of my favorite things: politics, simulation and strategy games, and fantasy sports. (That same heady mix of total control and total lack of control that often gets me in trouble in real life!) It was when I couldn’t get Kerry or Edwards over the hump after several tries, though, that I began to get legitimately worried about reality; and the rest is sad, sad history.
So of course, after saying just a couple of weeks ago that I wasn’t going to become emotionally invested in this year’s election — to the point where I was purposefully limiting my exposure to any of the candidates, avoiding some of my favorite shows like Hardball and Meet the Press, only skimming relevant posts on my politically vocal friends’ blogs, effectively being the dreaded Average American — I caved and started researching the so-called Big Three Democrats: Clinton, Obama and Edwards.
Then I discovered Talking Points Memo and their Election Central coverage, and it was pretty much over.
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I was still on the fence between Obama and Edwards at that point, but the combination of this Vanity Fair interview with Obama’s wife, Michelle, and Kucinich’s latest “second choice” ploy in Iowa — the same move he pulled in 2004 that put Edwards on my radar to begin with — knocked me off and I am now officially and fully in Barack Obama’s corner. So much so, I’m going to attempt to change my party affiliation back to Democrat in order to vote in the primary next month, something I didn’t even do for Kucinich back in 2004. It might be too late for me, but it’s not too late for YOU if you’re not already registered.
*ahem*
Last week Guy and I played our first Vs. game in months, so the following announcement came out at great time. Over at Metagame, they have an article previewing the Vs. System Product Line-up for 2007. Before last week’s game, it had been awhile since I wanted to play, my enthusiasm had been quelled due to the lack of interest in the expansion sets released over the past year.
Four expansion sets released, and four misses for my taste. X-Men, Infinite Crisis, Heralds of Galactus, and Legion of Superheroes registered a Zero on the excitement scale for me. I have to admit, I did spend some time and money on Infinite Crisis, but it was short-lived.
Things are looking up for 2007, though. Vs. is going back to its roots and hitting the big guns at Marvel and DC. Not only are old rosters being updated, but so are their game mechanics. Get ready to dust off some old decks and make room for new ones! We are looking at updates for Spider-Friends, Gotham Knights, Fantastic Four, Team Superman and many others. Also, some new rosters will make their first splash in 2007, including The Defenders and Birds of Prey.
It’s still early and not all the details are out, but make no mistake I’m betting the guys at Upper Deck have some more surprises up their sleeves. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the Hellboy Essential Collection that’s due to hit the streets any day now.
So, if you haven’t gotten into Vs. yet, now is your chance. In fact, you have all year to choose a set to jump in with, so just go ahead and do it.
If that doesn’t get you ready to play Vs., maybe this sweet preview card will:
Go to Metagame to get all the details on the latest version of Spider-Man.
Also don’t forget to check out the Marvel Team-Up Sneak Preview in 2 weeks: February 10th – 11th, shops across the nation will be holding tournaments. Log on to Upper Deck for store locations and a look at the free giveaways. I have to say, that’s a nice playmat.
Til Next Time..
