Editorial: Dobson's zealotry is a waste

In some strange way, you have to give credit to James Dobson, the religious-right power broker. As a member of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, Dobson never wastes a chance to bash the sins of gambling. He has parlayed his seat on this national commission into an effective tool to rally the troops and raise funds for the Colorado-based organization he heads, Focus on the Family.

Dobson knows how to get attention, but his comments frequently are laced with demagoguery. In his most recent monthly letter to Focus on the Family's 2.4 million members, Dobson referred to gambling as a "destroyer" of lives and families. "On balance, gambling produces not prosperity and security but various forms of decay," Dobson wrote.

Gambling, just as any other legal industry, has its faults. And until recently the industry was slow to deal with the issue of problem gambling. But to imply that gambling is bringing about the decay of this nation is way over the top.

What's more, Dobson alleges that the gaming industry is the "most powerful force" in government; that almost every "big name" in Washington is "tainted" by contributions from the gaming industry. "It is not surprising, given this history, that Congress rarely opposes anything desired by the gambling industry," Dobson writes. Yet if Washington is as dominated by the gaming industry as Dobson contends, why did Congress establish a national gambling commission proposed by one of the industry's most ardent critics, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.?

While Dobson overstates the case, no one denies the gaming industry's considerable influence in Washington. Closer to home, the gaming industry often calls the shots when the Nevada Legislature is in session. But Dobson would be taken more seriously if he discussed the larger issue of money's corrupting influence in politics by also including the impact that other industries -- along with unions and interest groups -- have on the process.

Why doesn't he talk about Detroit's lobbying against tougher auto-safety measures? Why doesn't he include banking's big contributions to lawmakers who must decide legislation involving that industry? Dobson is so obsessed with expelling from America what he sees as a morally decadent business that he fails to acknowledge the real root of the problem: restoring confidence in the political process by reforming campaign finance laws that lessen the influence of money in politics.

Many don't bother listening to Dobson anymore, but it is undeniable that his voice carries weight with Republicans. When last year he suggested he might bolt the Republican Party because the GOP had lost its moral compass, congressional leaders did everything they could to appease him. Although the GOP leadership may bow before him today, Dobson's antics and his ongoing obsession with the gaming industry ultimately will result in him being written off as just one more fringe player in American politics.

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