Editorials
Friday, July 24, 1998

Online gambling ban
would be ineffective

SHUTTING down the billion-dollar Internet gambling industry would be desirable if it were attainable. Since it is not, the billion-dollar question is whether legislation with such a wholesome goal is harmless, election-year amusement or whether it could cause unintended damage.

The Senate has overwhelmingly approved a gambling ban on the Internet with the exception of lotteries, sites for popular sports "rotisserie" leagues, where bets can be placed on athletes' performance statistics, and off-track betting on horse or dog races on "closed-circuit, subscriber-based" computer systems. Indian tribes that now are permitted to run Internet gambling sites would be forced to close them.

That doesn't mean Internet users would be frustrated in trying to find Web sites where they could take risks. Most of the estimated 140 pay-to-play casino sites on the World Wide Web are operated by businesses based overseas, out of the reach of Congress. Lucrative domestic gambling sites could be expected to leave U.S. soil if the ban became law.

Hawaii and Utah are the only two states where commercial games of chance are illegal. Elsewhere, they are regulated by individual states and range from lotteries to casinos. On the Internet, unscrupulous operators are known to have rigged games to cheat customers. They have accepted bets from children using their parents' credit cards.

Federal law already bans interstate gambling by telephone or wire, which is the method by which the Internet crosses state lines, so Internet gambling is technically illegal. With the law unenforced, Internet gamblers have been able to take their chances at domestic Web sites run by reputable companies, whose land-based operations are regulated.

"All prohibition does is build up a criminal infrastructure," warns Internet gambling spokeswoman Sue Schneider. She suggests that supporters of the ban talk with legislators in Australia and New Zealand, whose governments are operating their own online games.

The Justice Department estimates that $600 million was illegally bet on sports alone on the Internet last year, but it questions the practicality of trying to prosecute foreign-based businesses. Like Internet pornography, online gambling eventually will have to be addressed by international agreements.

Partial-birth abortion

CONGRESS is unlikely to override President Clinton's veto of a ban on so-called partial-birth abortions, and the issue is certain to be hotly debated in the months leading up to the fall elections. Opponents of the proposed ban still are reeling from a credibility lapse a year ago, and anti-abortion advocates are underscoring the issue.

Ron Fitzsimmons, director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, admitted that he had underestimated the number of partial-birth abortions that doctors had performed, including those performed on women whoses fetuses were healthy and whose own health was not in danger. His admission encouraged proponents of the ban, which won congressional approval.

Clinton vetoed the bill, saying he would sign a bill that would prohibit all late-term abortions if it would allow exemptions to protect the health of the women. The House this week overrode the veto.

Randy Tate, executive director of the Christian Coalition, says his organization will lobby senators hard to "reaffirm our most fundamental right as Americans -- the right to life." But even supporters of the ban say they expect the Senate vote, expected sometime after Labor Day, to fall at least three votes short of that needed to override the veto.

In a May meeting with leaders of the religious right, the Republican House leadership promised to put the abortion issue "front and center" for the remainder of this year. The partial-birth abortion, a rarely used procedure described by opponents as infanticide, will be the horrific image cited by abortion opponents.

Lawmakers appear uninterested in seeking a compromise. GOP House leaders have refused to allow a vote on a measure to prohibit all late-term abortions except in cases were the life or health of the mother is at risk. A sensible compromise on abortion would deprive the GOP's conservative base of its dearest issue.

Big man with big heart

SALEVAA Atisanoe of Nanakuli has contributed much to this state. As Konishiki, he spent 15 years of his prime as a sumo wrestler in Japan, doing Hawaii proud. A year ago, he arranged for 35 children and seven teacher chaperons from the Leeward Coast to visit his new home in the Far East. It was the ultimate of field trips.

Now, with his retirement from sumo and utilizing his internationally won renown and respect, Atisanoe has established the Konishiki Kids' Foundation. The organization will provide opportunities for more of Hawaii's children to experience the culture, lifestyle and environment of Japan. Arigato, Konishiki.

The foundation will be the beneficiary of Konishiki's official retirement party at the Sheraton Waikiki Ballroom tonight, starting at 5:30 p.m. For $75 per ticket, each attendee will receive heavy pupus, drinks, entertainment and a chance to toast the stellar career of Atisanoe, the former Pac-Five football player turned sumo wrestler turned Sanoyama, his retirement name.

Even as he steps out of the sumo ring, permanently, Hawaii's big man with the bigger heart continues to give back to the islands.

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John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

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A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor