"Roll them bones, Pilgrim!"

Who can figure out Bay State governor Deval Patrick? From the Boston Globe: "Patrick plays his hand in battle over casinos"

Governor Deval Patrick launched a dramatic campaign yesterday for his plan to introduce three resort casinos in Massachusetts, telling a packed State House auditorium that gambling has long been part of the state's history and would not change the character of the Commonwealth.

This I gotta hear:

"For a very long time now, gaming has been in practice in Massachusetts, and gaming revenues have been used to support public projects," Patrick said. "In 1762, John Hancock raised lottery money to rebuild Faneuil Hall after a fire. Lottery funds were used to finance the Revolution."

There you have it: lotteries are the "gateway drug" to hardcore gambling. Can we "just say no?" Nope, we need the cash.