Dear PoP – DC government planning to open online gambling site, set up gambling parlors in libraries? seriously?

Photo by flickr user Orin Zebest

“Dear PoP,

Just saw this article in the Post:

The bright glass-and-copper library on Benning Road NE just beyond the Anacostia River opened last year as an anchor for redevelopment and a refuge for the mind.

Now, District officials are deciding whether they should use the gleaming outpost in a depressed section of the city for another pioneering purpose: as a gateway to online gambling and the promise of millions of dollars in government revenue.

If I am reading this correctly, the DC government is going to set up an online gambling site using public safety infrastructure, then install computer terminals in libraries to allow people to gamble!!!  This was apparently snuck into some bill by Michael Brown.  I can’t imagine a more egregious and horrifying thing for the city government to do and I hope you will spread the word to maybe stop this from happening.

I honestly think this is the most shocking and outrageous idea that council has ever cooked up.”

We spoke about DC launching on line gambling sites here and here.

The Post article also says:

Library officials are considering how to approach the gambling venture. Library spokesman George Williams said the libraries “are looking at everything. We haven’t made a decision yes or no at this moment.”

Michael Brown, the council member who played a central role in advancing gambling in the District, said that it’s not appropriate everywhere. “I would not like to see folks being able to play at a library or a rec center,” he said.

So if it does go live – where, if at all, do you think this gambling should be allowed?