Politico landed a hard-to-get interview with Sheldon Adelson, but he doesn't really say anything all that interesting except for this, explaining his animus toward the Potus:
Like many other businesspeople who depend on tourism, Adelson holds a grudge from just three weeks after Obama’s inauguration, when the new president said financiers receiving bailouts shouldn’t “go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime.”
“From that point on, Vegas started to go down,” Adelson said. “And he’s got the nerve, the chutzpah, to come here and raise money here. He should follow his own advice and not come to Vegas. He hurt me. He hurt 200,000 people working in the hospitality industry in this town.”
I see from reading around that this has been an issue in Vegas. I might have thought that conservatives would think that Obama's comments were prudent, as he was instructing people not to go take taxpayers' dollars to the gaming tables. I also find it kind of hard to believe that the conference and convention industry listens that attentively to the president. I back Obama, and I don't give a flying fig leaf where he goes on vacation or suggests I should or should not go.
That said, I hate Las Vegas--man, I've never been anywhere I hated as much. I went there maybe five years ago expecting to like it. I usually like American kitsch. But I just found the place to be Joe Biden-literally suffocating. And $42 for a steak and $6 for a cup of coffee because they've got you trapped. Since I have no intention of seeking the presidency, I don't mind saying that I think none of you should ever go there for any reason, except our friend Kevin (are you still with us out there?), who partially redeems the place.
