King and McGregor's Scare Tactics: Two Sides of the Same Coin

The Birmingham News had an interesting piece this morning on gaming magnate Milton McGregor. McGregor has asked AG King to shut down Riley's task force on gambling. You can find the story here.

Interesting, McGregor actually says "it's time for King to 'come out of his office' and stop Riley." This quote is interesting because it underscores something frequently emphasized on this blog, that both sides of the gambling dispute deserve an attorney general willing to make his position on gambling clear instead of hiding between half-truths and clever maneuvering. Troy King has devised a way to support the expansion of gambling in this state when it comes to his supporters like Ronnie Gilley, but he continues to hide in his office at risk of exposing himself politically.

However it is also interesting that McGregor and King seem to have resorted to the same scare tactics on the gambling issue. In a way, it's like they are borrowing lines from the same source.

The News story offers the following on McGregor:

The owner of the state's largest and oldest electronic bingo casino said Monday that Alabama Attorney General Troy King should shut down Gov. Bob Riley's task force on illegal gambling before 'somebody gets hurt.'

Milton McGregor, owner of the VictoryLand casino in Shorter, in Macon County said Riley's task force and its commander, Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson, are behaving like 'storm troopers moving across the state, intimidating legal businesses and putting people out of work.'

Notice the veiled threat 'before somebody gets hurt.' Now, look at Troy King's letter to Governor Riley which he wrote back on January 29:

Aside from the possible disregard of private property rights and due process, I am deeply concerned that you may be exposing Alabama's taxpayers, your Task Force Commander, the Director of Public Safety, the Director of the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, and yourself to liability.

You can read the full letter from a link here.

Am I the only person starting to notice a trend? When McGregor and his folks are cornered, they resort to making arguments about property. Now, I agree that property rights are important. It's probably one of the most sacred rights of the American tradition. However, using that right to hide behind illicit and socially degrading activities is just not right, nor is it upheld by the law. It's also interesting here that both McGregor and King are making the same vague threats about taxpayers or others 'getting hurt' or being 'liable' for particular actions.

It seems to me that both the AG and the gambling bosses are trying to use scare tactics on this issue. It's time to let them know it's time to stop.