If he used a computer — which he doesn’t — Sheldon Adelson would have to delete Ron Paul from his list of Facebook “friends.” The libertarian gadfly is the latest U.S.
citizen to take umbrage a Adelson’s do-gooder (and dubiously motivated) campaign against Internet gambling. Paul also took umbrage at his former colleagues in the House of Representatives, accusing them of cronyism to reward a rich patron by giving him an Internet-gambling ban in return for his largesse. Paul minced no words: “Mr. Adelson, who is perhaps best known for using his enormous wealth to advance a pro-war foreign policy, is now using his political influence to turn his online competitors into criminals.”
“Nowhere in the Constitution is the federal government given any authority to regulate activities such as online gambling. Arguing that ‘states rights’ justifies creating new federal crimes turns the Tenth Amendment, which was intended to limit federal power, on its head,” writes Paul, practically singing from the S&G hymnal. What’s more, he argues, it is not the morality of gambling that’s at issue but whether players can be compelled to have their fiddle only in brick-and-mortar casinos or not.
“Even if there was some moral distinction between gambling online or in a physical casino, prohibiting behavior that does not involve force or fraud has no place in a free 
society,” writes Paul, adding wittily, “It is no more appropriate for gambling opponents to use force to stop people from playing poker online than it would be for me to use force to stop people from reading pro-war, neocon writers.”
Dr. Paul also sees a menace to which Adelson is either oblivious or indifferent: Increased federal surveillance as the government micromanages our online activity. “The proposed ban on Internet gambling is a blatantly unconstitutional infringement on our liberties that will likely expand the surveillance state,” Paul concludes. “Worst of all, it is all being done for the benefit of one powerful billionaire.”
Even though I don’t gamble online, I live in a state where I can, if I want. And it’s aggravating to think that right could be taken away because Sheldon Adelson bought himself a few congressmen.
* A much more pressing worry than phantom Internet-poker-funded terrorists (a favorite Adelson bogeyman) is the alleged presence of the Chinese Mafia in Las Vegas. The eight Asian nationals accused of running a World Cup betting syndicate out of Caesars Palace are alleged to have been laundering winnings through a Macao junketeer, Neptune, linked to the Wo Hop To Triad and purported strongman Cheung Chi-Tai.
“We’ve been monitoring [Cheung] for some time,” reporter Jeff German was told by Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett. We’re extremely focused on removing any elements of organized crime in Nevada, and we’ve been working very closely with the FBI,” as did Caesars Entertainment, which helped facilitate the raid which brought the — what shall we call them — the Caesars Eight into captivity.
Chueng’s accused confederate, Paul Phua, although Malaysian by birth, is purportedly a made man in Hong Kong’s 14K Triad. He’s no stranger to Las Vegas, nor is associate Richard Yong, who guaranteed credit for an as-yet-undisclosed triad member, the latter of whom absconded with $1.3 million in unpaid gambling debts. Good luck collecting that, Clark County.
As for Phua’s innocent, little, back-room operation, a sharp-eyed Caesars employee counted “eight computers, five workstations, more than 20 monitors, and additional large-screen televisions and Internet lines.” Nothing suspicious there. One suspects we’re just scratching the surface of this case.
