[blml] 2007 laws

[Eric Landau]

On Oct 16, 2007, at 3:14 PM, Jerry Fusselman wrote:

> On 10/16/07, Eric Landau <ehaa at starpower.net> wrote:
>>> By design we have extended
>>> considerably the RA's power to determine what matters of system
>>> it will regulate.
>>
>> ISTM that "extended considerably" is a rather misleading
>> understatement.  I believe the phrase Grattan is looking for is more
>> along the lines of "absolute total power with no constraint,
>> restriction or oversight".
>
> I agree with Eric, and I worry about this change.  What is to keep the
> majority in an RA from making everyone bid more like them?

Nothing, obviously.  "Making everyone bid more like them" is  
precisely the point.  The ACBL has been trying to get all  
restrictions on their power to control how people bid removed at  
least since Don Oakie was President in the early 1970s.  At first the  
WBF resisted (calling them out on a few flagrant illegalities), but  
soon threw up its hands and de facto permitted the ACBL do whatever  
it wanted, more recently adopting this as policy in those convoluted  
leopard-loo minutes (in which we learned that the power to regulate  
conventions permitted an RA, for example, to bar left-handed players  
from using conventions), and now fully legitimatizing it by making it  
explicit law.  Of course, the majority will have no power to  
determine how they are required to bid henceforth; that will be  
entirely in the hands of the ACBL Board of Directors, who are elected  
by people (District Boards) who are elected by people (Unit Boards)  
who are elected in small-group meetings of "active members" (read  
local in-group) purportedly open to all but typically held behind  
closed doors without any publicity.

Had the ACBL not participated in the formulation of the new laws, I  
very much doubt that we would have seen this sort of change.

The very last obstacle between the ACBL BoD and the complete  
fulfillment of Don Oakie's everyone-must-bid-as-we-say agenda is the  
word "artificial" in the new L40B2(d).  I imagine the lobbying  
campaign to have it removed from the 2017 laws has already begun.


Eric Landau
1107 Dale Drive
Silver Spring MD 20910
ehaa at starpower.net