Party Pooper of the Year

It seems that 2009 can’t slink quietly away without one more Bible Belt prude attempting to rain on gamblers’ parade. The spoilsport in question is South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who is appealing a ruling that poker is more a game of skill than chance. If Mr. McMaster were to watch even modest amount of televised poker, the need for skill would be obvious. Seems that Palmetto State solons have decreed gambling to be Evil and that applies — if Mr. McMaster gets his way, to a friendly game of poker at your dining room table. From trying to dictate what card games we can play at home to subjecting airplane passengers to degrading X-ray scans, governmental intrusion in the name of our “best interests” has gone way too far.