Yesterday, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice gave a rather good speech at NYU on the Obama administration’s multilateral agenda. The NYT has a good summary here. But the prize for journalistic analysis goes too… Casino Gambling Web, “the top online casino gambling news reporting association” (there’s more than one?).
The Obama Administration has made it known that he does not want the US to be viewed as troublemakers anymore throughout the world. On Wednesday, Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the United Nations made it know that the US will work with the UN.
That is a completely opposite stance than the Bush Administration had, one in which they spurned any UN global efforts. The announcement Wednesday has many people in the online gambling industry believing that the move is another step towards legalized Internet gambling in the US.
Already, the US is in hot water with the European Commission over their online gambling laws. The EC has done an investigation and found that the US is in violation of European Union trade laws. They have given the US a grace period to come into compliance or risk a problem with the World Trade Organization.
The US and EC have been in contact, and they have said they are attempting to resolve the dispute. Unlike his predecessor, President Obama has addressed problems that other countries have had with the US, as opposed to simply turning their back on these countries.
The desire of Obama to reach out is what has people believing that he will eventually oversee the changing of online gambling laws. There have been two proposals offered in regards to online gambling in the past several months.
Wednesday was a day of hope for anyone in the US who enjoys online casinos. There have been many of these days in the past six months, but with every clue that the US is trying to mend foreign relation ties, comes another wave of enthusiasm.
Um, yes, absolutely, I see your logic there. But hold it (or hold ’em), there may be something to this after all. As the New Yorker revealed in February 2008, Barack Obama was known as one of the best poker players in the Senate:
Obama never played for high stakes. Only on a very bad night could a player drop two hundred dollars in these games, typical wins and losses being closer to twenty-five bucks. Obama was a “calculating” cardplayer, avoiding long-shot draws and patiently waiting for strong starting hands. “When Barack stayed in, you pretty much figured he’s got a good hand,” former Senator Larry Walsh once told a reporter, neglecting to note that maintaining that sort of rock-solid image made it easier for Obama to bluff.
So perhaps the President wants to lull other countries into a massive game of online poker… and take all their money. Recession over!
