Silence of the Shills (Is this the End for RAWA’s Hessians?)

 

 

While the American Revolution was being fought, the British government found it easier to hire and arm foreign mercenaries than to recruit and train its own soldiers.

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson apparently hasn’t studied that page from American history.  He’s convinced that shoveling millions of dollars into what amounts to the rusty coal furnace known as the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling will somehow deliver that most elusive of political victories — a federal bill outlawing most forms of online gaming.  That’s now seemingly a fool’s paradise after his forces were thoroughly demolished in Wednesday’s committee hearings before members of congress on Restoring America’s Wire Act, otherwise known as “RAWA.”  

 

READ MORE ABOUT THE GREAT BATTLE OF RAWA HERE

 

While outspoken advocates of legalized and regulated online poker/online gambling tend to be true believers motivated by a genuine love for the game, joined in a noble fight by defenders of individual freedom, Adelson’s odd mix of paid shills stands inconspicuously stark contrast.  RAWA’s coalition of hired forces resembles the typical Hessian military camp during the incubation period of the founding of this republic.  In other words, while online poker advocates fight for what they truly believe in, their opponents are paid to fight.  Man the trenches they will — so long as the wealthy king sends money.

Motivation is key.  I’ve met several state organizers who work as unpaid volunteers for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), which is the most vocal of Washington lobbying groups opposing RAWA.  The PPA is perhaps best personified by Mike Qualley, from Minnesota, who like many state chairpersons remains relentlessly active.  He posts at a variety of public forms intended to inform and educate, organizes poker players in his state and elsewhere, and speaks out frequently on behalf of legalizing online poker.  And, he isn’t paid a dime.  Qualley and countless others working anonymously have nothing to gain other than reaffirming their rights in the so-called “land of the free.”  Conversely, Adelson’s forces appear willing to fight only so long as the paychecks clear.

Consider the disappearing acts of RAWA’s two most outspoken proponents in recent months.  Andy Abboud works directly for Adelson.  He’s the “Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Community Development for the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Las Vegas Sands Corporation,” which begs the question — how does all that fit onto a single business card?  But, I digress.

Abboud made headlines numerous times as Adelson’s handsomely-paid bag boy.  Last year, he raised eyebrows when he said “we’re going to make it the plague,” when talking about online gambling to Las Vegas writer and reporter Jon Ralston.  At an iGaming conference here in Las Vegas earlier this year, Abboud astounded an audience of several hundred gaming professionals when he characterized many of the proponents of online poker/gambling as “the PPA and their creepy Twitter followers.”  That bought audible gasps from the crowd.  But those PR misfires were lame in comparison to Abboud’s stupendously awful testimony before a congressional committee about a year ago which probably did more damage than good.  Perhaps sensing that Abboud discussing online gambling technology he admittedly knows nothing about is akin to entering Frankenstein in a beauty contest, RAWA’s supporters opted not to include him in the hearings this time around.

Then there’s Cheri Jacobus, a self-described “GOP Consultant, TV pundit” just about no one’s ever heard of.  She popped up out of nowhere on social media about a year ago and started posting hundreds of tweets ripping into online poker, the PPA, and proponents of anything to do with gambling.  She was relentless.  Then inexplicably, she seemed to just as quickly lost interest in online gambling and has all but disappeared.  While she was blasting away, someone got around to asking Jacobus why she became so active in the online gambling fight, so suddenly.  After all, no one had ever heard of her, or seen a post of any kind that was critical of online poker/gambling until Adelson furiously starting writing checks, “consulting firms” were hired, and the Mardi Gras money parade led by Adelson started rumbling down the street.  No doubt, there were lots of Jacobuses out there, cupping their hands together while candy was being tossed from the float.    [see footnote]

No doubt, Adelson is a candy man for a lot of burned-out former politicians and desperate PR consultants willing to say anything, or take on any cause, willfully sacrificing conviction for the confection.

Take Willie Brown, the ex-San Francisco Mayor who reversed his previous position that had been in support of legalizing online gambling, when offered a board seat (presumably paid) on Adelson’s coalition.  A Google search reveals he hasn’t actively done anything on the subject in more than a year.  Guess he just lost interest.

Consider George Pataki, the former New York Governor, who also signed up and joined Adelson’s coalition as a board member, sparking lots of free publicity for Adelson’s pet cause.  Yet another Google search reveals Gov. Pataki hasn’t uttered a peep against online gambling since Feb. 12, 2014.  That was nearly two years ago.  To be fair, Gov. Pataki has spent much of the last year running for president, a political hallucination that has seemed to draw even less attention from the press and public than his first joining with the anti-gambling coalition.

Blanche Lincoln became a human billboard more than a year ago when she became the most visible public face speaking out against online poker/gambling.  The former Arkansas senator who based on post-election defeat activities would serve on just about any board so long as she was paid, agreed to the weighty task of carrying Adelson’s political golf clubs up a mountain, at least for a time.  Give Sen. Lincoln some credit.  She did make a few television appearances and seemed to earn her keep, unlike the others who largely freeloaded.  That said, another Google search reveals Sen. Lincoln must have tumbled off the mountain sometime over the past eight months, or simply given up and gone into hibernation when it comes to advancing RAWA.  She hasn’t been quoted anywhere since early this year.

Hessians, all of them.

Being here now debating issues like RAWA is but a speck on the timeline of American history.  Yet, if history teaches us anything it’s that true conviction without compensation, a willingness to fight for a cause with no motive other than one’s own fundamental belief system is a vastly superior force to hired guns and paid mercenaries, no matter how powerful they might seem.

We learned that back in 1776.  And we’re proving that again in 2015.

Footnote:  Cheri Jacobus may or may not have received funds from Adelson and/or the coalition.  She popped out of nowhere, and then just as quickly disappeared.  A PPA representative contacted her as asked if she was paid by any Adelson-backed group.  She refused to answer.  No doubt, the others have all received some form of compensation.