The Bush administration seems to be adopting a new strategy: If you can't go out on top, at least you can go out on the bottom.

As I mentioned a week or so ago, the deadline is looming quickly for partisan bills and policies to be reviewed, ratified and implemented before the new Obama administration comes to power.

The process takes 60 days, so in order to ensure the new administration can not cancel your plans, you need to start the process before November 17th.

And so it was obviously with this in mind that the Bush administration began its latest push to implement the UIGEA, despite the fact that it is opposed by the international community, the American banking industry, the Federal Reserve, the House Committee on Financial Services, and if the recent election is any indication, at least 52.5% of the American people.

According to the Politico, "[William} Wichterman and others backers of the bill, like Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), have been pushing the administration to enact these changes before Nov. 17, in the narrow window before the new administration could make any changes, according to people familiar with these deliberations."

What makes this even more interesting is the fact that Wichterman is drawing unwanted attention due to the fact that he was until recently a high profile lobbyist who, on behalf of the NFL, diligently worked with Bill Frist to draft the UIGEA in the frist first place. Apparently, this kind of bare-assed conflict of interest is so obvious that it even draws attention in Washington.

But is this really surprising? After working so hard abusing the process in order to get the UIGEA passed in the most unethical way possible, it's only fitting that these guys would continue using every underhanded manner available to get the damn thing implemented. The job is only half-done!

But that is only part of the problem here. What is really starting to piss me off is the fact that these sports leagues are regularly seeing fit to insert themselves into the political process to suit their needs.

I mean, really, is the NFL not making enough money already? They obviously are completely aware that a major portion of their popularity, and thus revenues, are directly driven by the gambling public.

What are they even trying to achieve by working so hard to marginalize online gambling?

I'll tell you what they are doing... the real reason why the sports leagues are so adamantly against online gambling has nothing to do with morality, or even point shaving. It has everything to do with a long term plan by the sports leagues to find a way to actually profit from sports gambling revenues.

As long as people are gambling online and offshore, there is no way for the leagues to earn a share of the revenues. But if it the activity were monopolized by American gaming companies, then the leagues could be "persuaded" to drop their objections to sports gambling as long as they receive a piece of the pie in some sort of revenue-splitting deal.

That's right, folks. The NFL and other sports leagues are only against online gambling in order to clear the dance floor so they can form a partnership with the major casinos once the time is right and have the sports gambling market to themselves.

Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong. And then think about it for a minute. It is obvious that this is all part of the NFL's 5-year plan.

And speaking about Bill Frist... I damn near choked on my Egg McMuffin this morning when I saw that Frist had penned a self-congratulatory "Commentary" on CNN.com. In it, he talks about how great it is that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are both Senators, as Frist was. From the commentary, it appears that being a Senator gives you amazing insights on how to work with the opposition and untie unite the country - something that is much needed in these dire times.

That's a great point, Dr. Frist. And it means a super-special amount coming from the guy who used only the most partisan and unethical methods available to jam the UIGEA through the process and into law without any debate, by waiting until the dead of night and attaching it to the unrelated but must-pass SAFE Port Act. Why don't you share with us some more advice on how to be bi-partisan, Dr. Frist?

Better yet, why don't you stick to mis-diagnosing terminally ill patients via video tape, or claiming that AIDS is transmitted by tears. In short, why don't you just go away? You were part of the problem. Your time has passed, and please don't you even think about getting back into politics. Goodbye, sir.

Everybody, why don't you all take a moment and drop your own comment below Dr. Frist's Commentary and let him know exactly what you think about him and his style of politics?

Have fun with it. Let's see if we can get CNN to shut those comments off. This is democracy in action, people!