. . . as interpreted by Ray Gifford:

I suspect that gaming is growing up, as Congress and regulators notice there is a mass of cash to raid and content to regulate. Of course, the two factors are not unrelated — demanding protection money not to mess with their content is a time honored Washington tradition. There’s a good article for you—the First Amendment as a RICO statute against the government.

In accord with my penchant for 19th Century railroad analogies, some day I am going to write up the story of Credit Mobilier as a tale of political extortion rather than business bribery.