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Instamonkey: Penn Jillette on Obama and Vegas
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 22:16 — Ben
Barack Obama made a joke the other day -- again -- about blowing money in Las Vegas. Harry Reid just about died. The savvy ex-mob lawyer Oscar Goodman -- who has probably forgotten more about "the Chicago Way" than Obama could ever hope to know -- said the president "is a real slow learner."
And now the Mighty Penn Jillette weighs in at CNN:
Who cares about a magician losing money? Not even me. I'll be fine. My children will go to college if they want.
But, when people cancel trips to Vegas, I'm not the one who gets laid off. A few less people go to the Penn & Teller Theater, and we still do fine, but the hotels lay off other people. It's the people downstream of me who get punished for the president's joke.
Everybody knows, Penn says, what Vegas is all about. The problem is, "when the president of the United States of America makes his jokes about Vegas -- he costs real people real money."
There's more. Read the whole thing, as the sages say.
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Comments
Oh please
Y'know, I was going to go to Las Vegas. I love casinos and the the flash and the beautiful women and the cheap buffets. But President Obama made a passing joke about it ... nevermind.
And really...
Is Las Vegas -- which gives us the "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" -- going to start getting offended when politicians accurately say that lots of people lose lots of money there? It's why the place exists. In his piece, Jillette admits that everything the president said and implied about Las Vegas is true. What a silly, silly kerfuffle.
Re: And really...
You may be right, Joel. All I can say is, if you ever make it to Vegas to see the Penn and Teller show, hold on to your pants!
Two items
First, I agree with Ben. The P&T show is fantastic.
Second, let us all mark the day that Ben used a Jimmy Fallon line in casual conversation without a disclaimer.
Shhh. Don't give away the secret
If you actually let people know they might lose money at the tables or spend outrageous amounts of money on often-overrated entertainment and dining, they might stop coming!
Actually, the Penn and Teller show is amazing and worth seeing. The rest of it I can do without.
BMG
In 2007 we went to Vegas postage paid for my wife's job. She was awarded the highest honor her school can give -- they give it out to two faculty members per campus every year -- and while there we used some of her prize money to go see the Blue Man Group. It was a religious experience. Absolutely incredible, one of the best shows of any kind I've ever seen. I wept.
While we were there it rained, of course, for most of one day. All those outdoor escalators had to shut down.
RE BMG
I saw them in Vegas too, about 4 years ago. It definitely was a good show, though seeing Thom Yorke at the Orpheum in LA (seats less than 2000) last fall completely put them (and every other show I've ever seen) to shame.
"Harry Reid just about died" ...
Now there is some food for thought in that, since the chances of democrats hanging onto that senate seat is higher with Harry being dead than alive.
Meanwhile the push continues across the land for indian casinos on every corner. Maybe Hopi Poti is native american unfriendly after all. We already know how jobs unfriendly he is.
The last time I cruised the bloated area of Las Vegas three of four years ago, among other things I was struck by the great numbers of trucks bearing casino type merchandise from places near and far ... Ohio, Massachusetts, North Carolina. This was merchandise made in the USA by people with jobs, jobs, jobs ... Heh, it's all about the jobs.
So, at the end of the day (a least favorite phrase), the passing joke is the president.
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