An impressive display of expertise

The introduction of high-stakes video bingo machines at Greenetrack last year has added 300 jobs in Greene County, a rural area that desperately needs employment opportunities. Not everyone is pleased that the gains have resulted from the expansion of gambling, however, and one of the chief critics is John Giles, president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama.

Giles, as you'd expect, asserts that gambling is wrong because he thinks it disproportionately hurts the poor and the elderly. Then he delves into economic analysis. See, gambling is an uncertain employment source that could pull out of town at any time; manufacturing jobs are far stabler. And that would be a wonderfully persuasive argument, except that the state has lost 100,000 manufacturing jobs in the last 10 years even when you factor in the explosive growth of automobile production.

Not content to rest on his laurels, Giles also offers the answer to all of the Black Belt's economic worries: "[T]he long-term economic development fix for any county is good clean industry."

Finally, bold leadership in the fight against pollution! Unchecked video gambling machines have contaminated our air and water with noxious emissions for far too long. The sooner we end their reign of terror, the healthier and more prosperous we'll all be.