In recent months, thousands of these bingo machines have been seized in pre-dawn raids by the governor’s anti-gambling task force. Although the machines seem innocuous, the Alabama Task Force on Illegal Gambling considers them to be a type of slot machine, and slots are illegal in Alabama.

For more than a year, casino owners and Riley have fought in the courts and the Legislature about the legality of the machines that look and play much like slots, and pay out cash based on rapid, computerized games of bingo.

A Riley spokesman last week defended the actions of the governor’s task force, saying they are designed to keep officers and members of the public “safe.”

However, state legislators and others are divided on whether or not the machines are truly illegal. Most of them seem to be leaning toward allowing the machines, and are more concerned that the raids are disrupting business at the casinos. A number of casinos and bingo halls have closed their doors after the bingo machines were carted away.

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, wouldn’t say whether he thinks the machines are legal, but he said that question should be answered through a statewide vote, rather than law enforcement actions.

“The governor’s current strategy of raiding bingo facilities is the wrong approach,” Davis said in an e-mail. “The raids have unquestionably thrown as many as a thousand Alabamians out of work.”

Even other Republicans are disagreeing with Riley’s obsession with eliminating bingo, including his own attorney general, Troy King.

Major casinos in the state are fighting back in court and in at least one case, have been able to get a restraining order on the task force from coming in and taking their machines.

VictoryLand, a large casino in Macon County, so far has been able to prevent the seizure of its 6,400 machines. A failed raid in Feburary brought hundreds of state troopers to its doors.

Yes, Riley is certainly saving Alabamians from the horrors of electronic gambling machines. But considering the money that the state must be putting into these raids, you’d think it would be better spent elsewhere — education, say, or roads, or how about public safety in general. You’d think the governor would have bigger problems to worry about than bingo.

“I think it’s offensive,” said Rep. Mike Shelton. “In my six years of being in the Legislature, it’s the most childish thing I’ve ever seen.”

Shelton thinks that a Republican member of the House is moving the portrait because he does not want to be seen in the same picture as the President during live streaming on the internet.

That would seem to narrow the choice down to who may be responsible, but Shelton is not giving clues on who that might be.

House Speaker Chris Benge seems to know who the guilty party is too, but he is not telling. Benge did promise an internal investigation with a public admonishment of the perpetuator.

The mysterious moving of the President’s portrait appears to have stopped for the time being, but not necessarily because Shelton drew attention to the deed. The portrait is now attached to the wall in a more secure manner.

• Rielle Hunter finally has given an interview. She still loves “Johnny.” She said that she did not know where the $5,000 a month the Edwards’ campaign gave her came from and that it was John Edwards’ aide, Andrew Young, who offered to be the father on the birth certificate. However, the real bonus is in the pictures she posed.
• Detroit is getting around to solving its problems. It has banned perfume from three city buildings.
• The UK is considering legislation that would make it “unlawful sex discrimination” for a gym to suggest that a woman cannot lift as heavy weights as a man.
• Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal signed a bill into law exempting Wyoming-made firearms from federal law as long as they are not taken out of state.
• Russia’s top public health official has called for a ban on alcohol sales after 9:00 PM.
• By votes of 412-0, 410-0, 416-0 and 423-0 the House voted to impeach Judge G. Thomas Porteous on four counts. Porteous is only the 15^th judge in history to be impeached.
• Kim Jong-Il has $4 billion stashed away in European banks in case the day comes that he is forced to flee North Korea.
• New Hampshire is weighing in on the important issue of the day. Should the state drink be cider or milk?
• Concerns of fraud are tainting the Iraqi elections as the results are withheld amidst reports that some precincts report more votes than there are voters.
• Rhode Island may be the corruption capitol of the United States.
• The Iowa Family Policy Center issued a statement declaring, “Homosexual activity is certainly more dangerous for the individuals who engage in it than is smoking.”

The 45-year-old Sharkey, who claims that he is a vampire, brags that he has not had a girlfriend older than 19 since 2006. Now he has a new girlfriend, 19-year-old Audrianna Foster.

Sharkey announced from Florida that he is seeking the Republican nomination for President in 2012. Sharkey stated that he opposes abortion and wants to improve veteran’s benefits.

Besides being vampire, Sharkey has numerous skeletons in his closet from run-ins with the law. He is currently on probation. His Wiki page identifies those problems.

Perhaps the most bizarre part of this story is the response from A.J. Matthews, Hillsborough County Republican Party State Committeeman.

“He does believe in Republican values,” said Matthews.

A vampire with Republican values? I have to assume Matthews is speaking of Sharkey’s abortion and veteran’s positions and not the blood sucking and impaling.

It is so bad that it is funny.

Ironically, the ad campaign and video promotes that size doesn’t matter, but did you see the map of Israel that the man was holding? The map is of a Greater Israel, including the Golan Heights, Gaza and West Bank. Of course, Jerusalem is the capitol.

It looks like size does matter after all.