Paramount wanted Robert Redford to play the part of Michael Corleone.
Coppola said no, and told them he wanted Al Pacino.
The studio balked, but Coppola perservered.
Paramount guaranteed him he'd never work again if he didn't pull this off.
Coppola decided to gamble with Pacino - and he won.

But that's not really gambling.
Coppola is a very talented director, and surely would work again.

The dentist who removed my four impacted wisdom teeth in college got in a poker game
with the man who owned the Pontiac dealership in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
My dentist now owns the Pontiac dealership, and the Caddy dealership.
The dentist decided to gamble - and he won.

But that's not really gambling.
He was a rich dentist - he could always make more money.

When the corporation that owns Circus Circus decided to spend a billion dollars on Mandalay Bay,
people said  "It's too far south of The Strip, you'll never make money at that location."
But they decided to build there. They were willing to gamble.

But that's not really gambling.
A new, fancy golden casino in Vegas, run correctly, will always make money.
 

You want to know what gambling is?

After Kenneth Starr's goons and henchmen got tired of beating up Julie Hiatt Steele for years, and after
fabricating evidence, threatening her friends, family and neighbors with death in prison and doing every
despicable thing you could ever imagine to bring down Bill Clinton, the Starr goons were finished presenting
their case to the judge and jury, and now it was Julie's turn to defend herself with the simple truth.
 

So after Starr's goons had put on their entire case against Julie Hiatt Steele,
the Judge looked at the Defense table and said, "Are you ready to proceed, Ms Luque?"
and Nancy Luque, Julie's lawyer, stood up and said,

"The defense rests, Your Honor."
 

 Ladies and gentlemen, that is gambling!
 

 I can't and won't speak for Julie, but here's my understanding of what happened that day:
 Julie was telling the court, my words, , "Your Honor,  the case put on by Starr's goons is such crap,
 such utter nonsense and completehorseshit, and such a damn waste of everybody's time,
 wouldn't it make sense to just forget about this foolishness and we all just went the hell home?"

 Then, if I understand the events correctly, the judge charged the jury with the case and they
 retired to deliberate. They came back and told the judge they had no real chance of arriving at
 a unanimous verdict, so the judge declared a hung jury and Starr was free to start all over again.
 

 Have you ever seen such a ballsy gamble in your whole life?

 If the jury had come back with "Guilty," Julie would be in prison right now,
 stuck there for the next couple of decades wondering what the hell kind of country she lived in.

 Certainly, at least part of her legal strategery was to say,

 "There's no case here. Anybody see a case here?
   We can't find one.  Can you?   Do you see a case here?"

 Wasn't that a helluva gamble to take?
 Would you have the courage to take that chance?

 Nobody in Hollywood ever took that big of a gamble.
 Nobody in Las Vegas gambles on that big of a scale.
 ...and there's goddamn sure nobody in Washington DC with that kind of courage.
 

 I am soooo going to enjoy shaking her hand.
 I am soooo going to enjoy looking her in the eyes and saying, "Thank you, Julie."
 I am soooo going to enjoy sharing a little Grey Goose with this lady.
 

 You could, too.

 Don't pass up a chance to say, "Thank you," to her.

 Someday, when Senator Steele takes her oath of office, you'll be able to say,
"Back in 2002, some wacky comedian on the Internet threw a fundraiser for Senator Steele
  I went to it and I got to shake her hand a share a drink with that courageous lady."
 

 Don't pass this up.

 Trust me.
 

   PayPal to  bartcop@bartcop.com
 .Support Bartcop.com
 PO Box 54466.... Tulsa, OK  74155

 PayPal $100 for each ticket to bartcop@bartcop.com

 No more time for snail mail.

 If you're absolutely penniless and can't contribute,
 why not write to Julie and say, "Thank you."

 Juliehiattsteele@bartcop.com