Anyone who has been in the District longer than two years knows that in August attention spans get shorter and shorter. So, when Buddy Roogow, executive director of the D.C. Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board, decided to schedule his “listening tour” this week to gather residents’ input surrounding implementation of Internet gambling, folks wondered to whom he would be listening. Then, they got mad. They organized a telephone and email campaign demanding the meetings be called off.

“They were a complete ruse, just window dressing,” said Marie Drissel, a civic leader who, with others, has created the website Stopdcgambling.com to inform and organize District residents against the plan.