Exploiting society's most vulnerable citizens, the modus operandi of revenue-generating gambling, is regressive taxation. Gambling is a gateway drug; a city that enables and promotes it violates basic principles of conservatism -- notably, to draw on evidence from other jurisdictions, and to put social problems to heel before they reach metastasis.

In the modern world of reporting news before it happens, conservative bloggers are already writing Mitt Romney's political obituary. Conservatism in the USA will face an unprecedented crisis. It is no longer a proud animal; it is a fearful one.

We've lost a professional political class that put respect for the institutions above tactical political advantage. We've lost an understanding that our public servants are individually elected trustees rather than cynical voting-machine-delegates of a party or a constituency. And we've lost a public that expects better of its elected representatives, or for that matter, can articulate their disappointment, beyond cynical canards about the corruption of politicians.