Gov. Bob Riley rattled gambling sabers again Friday when he announced he would go after Indian casinos, which operate under federal regulations.

Riley said he would request the federal government shutter three casinos operated in Alabama by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

It’s interesting why this lame-duck governor with only three months left in his term would toss this political spear into the mix.

First, Riley’s administration is wrong when it says the Poarch Band can’t do anything banned by the state. The state does not allow slot machines to play bingo. The state Supreme Court has ruled legal bingo requires player participation, more than pulling a lever or pushing a button; numbers have to be called, numbers have to be recognized and marked and a bingo has to be called if achieved.

Well that’s fine for the state, but the National Indian Gaming Commission in Washington, D.C. regulates gambling on reservations. The commission has approved any form of bingo, including electronic, as long as a state allows the paper bingo.

A spokesman for the National Gaming Commission has told The Associated Press already it does not intend to change the bingo provision and that tribal gaming in Alabama is regulated by federal law, not a state supreme court interpretation.

Secondly, in three months, Riley’s gambling task force is dead, according to public statements by both gubernatorial candidates. Democratic nominee Ron Sparks says he opposes closing casinos. Sparks is in favor of expanding, taxing and regulating electronic bingo across the state. Republican nominee Dr. Robert Bentley has proposed a constitutional amendment to allow voters to decide yes or no on gambling.

If closing down privately operated casinos across the state, forcing many into unemployment and then taking on the federal regulations regarding Native American-operated casinos in the state is what Riley sees as leaving a legacy, it’s a weak one.

If keeping the gambling issue alive as a subject for debate in the gubernatorial race is another goal of Riley’s, he didn’t have to jump in the mix, the candidates have handled that subject to the point of redundancy at the expense of other, more important, issues.

Riley should fold on this one, pick up his chips and amble on out of the governor’s office quietly.