ARIAIL CHANNELS CASABLANCA TO EXPLAIN SC GAMBLING LAWS, DEFENDERS

It’s no secret that Casablanca is probably one of the greatest films ever made. And one of the most memorable scenes from Casablanca takes place when Captain Renault raids a backroom casino and says, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here,” immediately prior to being handed his winnings.

And The State’s amazingly talented editorial cartoonist Robert Ariail channeled that humorous, situation in a piece (above) that ran yesterday to point out the idiotic, archaic nature of South Carolina’s current gambling laws.

Only, unlike in Casablanca, the police are raiding private homes. And in the South Carolina version, the winnings come from hypocritically acceptable lottery money.

Now, I have no problem with the state education lottery. It’s a great thing.

But lawmakers should not be in the business of picking and choosing the ways in which law-abiding citizens choose to spend their money.

Sen. Glenn McConnell’s proposed legislation, however, would fix that problem by legalizing all forms of civic forms gambling.

That legislation, of course, excludes casinos and other institutions in which “the house” profits, but also excludes the possibility of turning poker players into prisoners.

Unfortunately, though, not everyone agrees with the premises of Ariail’s cartoon.

For some odd reason, the self-proclaimed “libertarians” at FITSNews believe McConnell’s bill is a bad idea. Apparently, the Will Folks form of “libertarianism” includes the government ransacking the homes of private citizens who play cards in their kitchen.

Of course, true ideological libertarians — not just the ones who are paid to act like libertarians — are outraged over such things. And hopefully enough of them will join with McConnell to ensure that the unnecessary gambling laws in South Carolina are revoked as soon as possible.

(h/t The Digitel)