If the North Dakota Legislature and, eventually, voters decide to allow state-owned casinos to be scattered here and there as a means to raise revenue for a floundering state budget, how much do you want to wager there’ll be a gambling den at the following location: 10-15 miles south of Bismarck-Mandan, strategically located between those cities and Prairie Knights Casino on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

Revenge on those uppity Indians responsible for the Dakota Access Pipeline protests would be so sweet for Rep. Al Carlson and the boys, wouldn’t it?

Getting a pound of flesh for all the trouble the DAPL protests brought the state might not be the only reason Carlson and some his cronies introduced a late bill that opens the door for up to six state-owned casinos in North Dakota, but I’d gamble (there we go again) it was in the back of some minds.

Then again, it might be at the front of their minds. Carlson has been known to carry grudges, and to act on them. He was the person behind canceling the Tribal-State Relationship message last year at the height of the DAPL protest.

Not to mention, there’d be opportunity to put a casino south of Fargo; west of Grand Forks (or east of Devils Lake) and west of Minot. All the best locations to choke off business to the reservations.

Carlson is nothing if not crafty, defined in this case the same way you’d describe an evil genius, and this proposal is all of that in several ways.

With the state in an economic slump and with his party allergic to raising taxes, even temporarily, to ease the distress, Carlson can pitch this idea as a way to put pain-free, voluntary money in the state coffers.

It also falls under the heading of “rural economic development.” Perhaps those casino locations mentioned earlier would be 20 or 25 miles outside the big cities, close enough to a population center to draw their wallets with an easy drive, yet far enough away to qualify as rural. As the resolution reads, a casino cannot be within five miles of any city with a population of 5,000 or more.

It touches all the bases. Tourism, too.

Not that it isn’t without issues. There will be the usual, and proper, debates about the wisdom and morality of the state entering the gambling business. This is a huge leap for any state, much less one that is just now on the verge of allowing its citizens to shop on Sunday mornings.

Is it moral for the state to enter the casino business? Is it ethical to try to balance the budget on the backs of gamblers with what amounts to a regressive tax?

It will make for a healthy discussion in the Legislature, which has an obvious conservative bent with an ever-growing legion of libertarian leaners. It would seem to not be a good formula to approve Carlson’s proposal, but there’s an out -- if it passes the Legislature, it would go to the voters. That would allow lawmakers to say, “I don’t personally agree with this, but I think the voters need to decide.”

Crafty, these guys, with a healthy dose of vengefulness. Or is it the other way around?

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