Opinion

Amid all the discussion of which casino should go where, who has which tribe backing their proposal, which proposal is best wired in Sacramento or Washington, and attendant topics, the central issue in the situation has been largely overlooked. Is gambling the right way to finance government, or to compensate Native Americans for past injustices? Legislators have been tip-toeing around that question, proposing partial solutions which might just end up favoring one player over another. Diane Feinstein, for example, has proposed revoking the special legislation sponsored by the usually estimable Rep. George Miller on behalf of the crowd running Casino San Pablo, which positioned them to cut a recent exclusive deal with Governor Schwartzenegger. Feinstein’s solution seems at first glance like a good one, but it won’t be if it simply clears the way for the politically connected Upstream project at Point Molate, which has undesirable environmental consequences and poses a major liability risk for the adjacent Chevron plant. -more-

As our family party was getting underway this weekend, Peter laid down the law: “Okay, no more dumping on Kerry, from now until the election.” For a group like ours, that’s hard, really hard. On almost any political topic, everyone has an opinion or five, even the toddlers. There’s no question of Bush, of course, but as charter members of the chattering classes we all have our own ideas about how to get rid of him. As the election approaches, it’s too easy for the chattering classes to turn into the nattering classes, preparing to say “he should have taken my advice” if Kerry doesn’t win. Yesterday’s New York Times and this week’s Nation were full of scoldings for Kerry and his advisors from all kinds of commentators who think they know how to run political campaigns, despite having spent the better part of their lives as scribblers. They’ve done their scribbling in the best venues, granted, and they’ve managed to make a living giving unsolicited advice, but in the last analysis how do they know what they’re talking about? -more-