...Now I see why he was voted the funniest celebrity in Washington.... you all have got to read this!
Rep. Bachus and the Intertrons
I just received the transcript to my testimony before Congress earlier this month on Internet gambling.
I thought you might enjoy one of the odder exchanges I had at the hearing. The exchange was with Rep. Spence Bachus, and I guess this was supposed to be his "gotcha" question for me. To be honest, I was so floored by the sheer ignorance of the question, I didn't quite know how to respond. To set up the exchange, one of the points of contention during the hearing was the reliability of age verification systems. Enjoy.
Mr. Bachus: Mr. Balko, in your testimony, you sort of-you talked about one of the brands you singled out for praise was FullTilt Poker?
Mr. Balko: Well, that was one of the-it's one of the more reputable poker...
Mr. Bachus: One of the more reputable firms. Have you looked at their website?
Mr. Balko: Yes, I have.
Mr. Bachus: Did you read-you now, they have the biographies of some of the players, and you've seen those haven't you?
Mr. Balko: I'm familiar with several of the biographies of the top poker players, yes.
Mr. Bachus: Are you familiar with Ross Boatman's biography on their website?
Mr. Balko: No, I'm not.
Mr. Bachus: Let me tell you about him. [Reading from bio.] Ross was 10 years old when he played poker for the first time. His brother Barney, who is a little older than Ross, was playing with some friends, and after much pleading, they let him sit in.
His gambling career really didn't get started until a couple of years later, though, when he was 12 years old. Ross was too young and didn't have the money to play with those guys-I guess they're talking about his 14-year-old brother-but they let him sit and watch, and he learned plenty.
[Bachus, now looking at me.] I guess the verification system didn't work.
Mr. Balko [flummoxed]: I believe that all took place well before the age of Internet gambling, Congressman.
Mr. Bachus: Okay. Was it? I wonder why it's still on the site today.
This is really astonishingly dumb. Either Bachus is posturing and intentionally misleading people who don't know the difference between a guy who played poker with his brother 30 years ago and a website that lets kids gamble online (which in itself is appalling) or he himself doesn't know the difference. Which is even scarier.
Note: Anything in brackets above was added by author, Radley Balko and not part of the actual record.
