What Happens in Vegas: Chris Christie Kisses Sheldon Adelson's. . .Ring?

Sheldon Adelson, elderly casino tycoon, is something of a kingmaker in the Republican Party. Why? He's obscenely wealthy, and he's highly motivated (for reasons I can't really grasp) to make himself even more obscenely wealthy than he already is, through policy. Like the Koch Brothers and a handful of other rich, white, elderly billionaires, enough is never enough. They think they're going to take it with them, I guess. And of course, they want no "death tax," so that their progeny can be obscenely wealthy without having to pay any taxes on it.

The big guy. Image from source, The Raw Story.

But back to the kingmaker part. The odd thing about Adelson's blessing even being necessary, is that Adelson's near entire slate of benefactors lost in the last election. His billions couldn't buy the election after all, amazingly enough. So, why should it work this time? And Chris Christie? Isn't his goose well and thoroughly cooked as a candidate by now? But they're going to keep trying.

[Excerpt]

Chris Christie woos conservative mega donor Sheldon Adelson at Vegas GOP forum
 
Six minutes into a speech yesterday to the Republican Jewish Coalition that marked the opening of his comeback tour, Gov. Chris Christie received a sign. Sheldon Adelson, the GOP mega donor whose bankbook can launch a presidential campaign, conspicuously entered the ballroom at the posh Venetian hotel, sat front and center and listened to the governor pitch himself as a leader who can win. At the end of Christie’s 40-minute speech and question-and-answer session, Adelson joined the standing ovation. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

What Happens in Vegas: Did Greenlee Gazette Influence Policy at MSNBC?

This could have been a coincidence, sure. But was it? After watching The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on Wednesday night, I tweeted the following:

Pundits! It's pronounced ADD-el-son, not AID-el-son. I can't stand #SheldonAdelson either, but wow, get the name right. @Lawrence
— James L. Greenlee (@GreenleeGazette) March 26, 2014

I tweeted it to Lawrence, because he and his guests pronounced Las Vegas' elderly casino mogul Sheldon Adelson's name wrong over and over again. My tweet looks a little snotty to me now, though that wasn't my intention. It's just that the Adelson name is so well known here, and every time I've heard it on cable news, it's been said incorrectly.

Then a funny thing happened. Thursday and thereafter, every MSNBC host and most guests I've heard, have said ADD-el-son instead of the incorrect AID-el-son. And I had to wonder (much as I did when I think I helped change Wonder Woman's logo back in the day), did my tweet change MSNBC policy?

Koch Brothers Behind Huge Anti-ObamaCare Effort

One of the weirder ironies of today's politics is the fact that conservatives hate "ObamaCare," have done everything they could to sabotage it, kill it, disparage it. . .and yet they continue to pretend they're upset that it has been beset with problems as it ramps up. And they're not finished yet, oh no! The Koch Brothers--the right's version of George Soros, except there are two of them, and they work against Americans' best interests--are putting big money into fighting the ACA behind the scenes.

They're actively trying to prevent people from enrolling, down to the level of asking for pledges. This continuing sabotage works in multiple ways. The negative advertising continues to make the ACA seem like a bad thing, and if they're successful in preventing people from signing up, they can help ensure that it actually has a harder time shaping up. And yet, the Kochs still do all of this mostly from the shadows. The average American doesn't know that "Americans for Prosperity" or "FreedomWorks" exist, and if they do, they just think they're patriotic-sounding organizations.

It makes you wonder exactly what's in it for the Kochs if a bunch of Americans don't have affordable health care. What good does a bunch of sick, bankrupted Americans to the Kochs? Or is it enough to try to make the President look bad?  And there's a deeper question I keep coming back to, with the Kochs, Sheldon Adelson, Foster Friess, Rupert Murdoch and so many of these conservative billionaire benefactors: why do these impossibly rich old men care so much about being just a bit richer? You know what, at least George Soros contributes to causes that don't line his already stuffed pocketbook.
 

2012 Reality Check: From Rove to Adelson to Las Vegas Water Woes

Since the beginning of this blog, I've railed against the Karl Rove anti-reality machine. I prematurely experienced schadenfreude at what I thought was the machine's demise. I lamented its reconstruction as a Citizens United/corporate-money-fueled "unstoppable force," and then had a full-fledged schadenfreudegasm when Rove himself was undone on election night. Live on  the GOP-TV that is FOX "News," no less!

It was really nothing short of amazing that Mitt Romney, right-wing talk radio, the right-wing blogosphere, the afore-mentioned FOX "News" and all of the rest of right-wing world undone by reality. They'd believed their own hype, own pundits, own predictions, own polls, own data and own bullshit for so long; breathed nothing but the air in their own closed-loop bubble, that they were stunned by the November election. Romney hadn't even prepared a concession speech, and the Romney/Ryan wives were reportedly in disbelieving tears.

"Thanks for the $150 million, bro!"      "You better watch your ass!"
Aren't these beautiful people? In an earlier time, Adelson would
have had Rove sleeping with the fishes!

Also since the beginning of this blog (and for years before), I've been a regular reader of Las Vegas City Life magazine, of the best of the local weekly newspapers. More often than not, City Life has at least three articles that hit home for me, and usually I learn something I didn't know. For instance--at what makes this a What Happens in Vegas feature--Sheldon Adelson's hilarious undoing by the Ron Paul supporters. Read on to see how Shelly's anti-reality bubble was popped by the Paulites, and other popped bubbles at the link below.

[Excerpt]

From Karl Rove to the Southern Nevada Water District, it was a year of bubbles bursting

Back in 2004, at the apex of the Bush era — that eight-year compost heap that fertilized so much of today’s right-wing gestalt — a Bush aide who turned out to be Rove spoke to The New York Times Magazine about the administration’s awareness of its manifest destiny. He introduced us to the mocking phrase “the reality-based community”…

Read more at: City Life

What Happens in Vegas: Sheldon Adelson Spent More Than We Thought

There were many moments of schadenfreude on the night of Election 2012, and there have been many since. But this goes beyond my slightly guilty pleasure at the misfortune and sadness of conservatives. The Citizens United decision was a very scary unknown before the election started. There was real fear that all of that money--much of it from unknown sources--was effectively going to buy a president, and all of the rest of our government. It was an amazing surprise when most of that tidal wave of money crashed harmlessly down shore.

Ain't he something? Image from source.

Of course, in my state of Nevada, we did get a little bit wet. Even though President Obama carried the state, Shelley Berkley lost her Senate run, and both Joe Heck and Dean Heller won their respective races. But overall, the megamillions spent on the election didn't pay off particularly well for those who fronted the money. I'm shocked that Karl Rove isn't persona non grata in Right Wing World. You'd almost expect him to be eeping-slay with the ishes-fay, if you catch my drift.

But let's get back to schadenfreude, shall we? One of the biggest spenders behind the Rove-style groups was Las Vegas' own troll gremlin golem squillionaire, Sheldon Adelson. The Venetian owner plunked down wads of cash to keep Newt Gingrich afloat (well past his prime), and then backed Romney, even though he'd previously payed to tear Mitt down. All of that money is flushed away now, but it turns out there was a lot more going down the drain than we previously knew.

[Excerpt]

Sheldon Adelson Spent Far More On Campaign Than Previously Known

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson vowed to spend as much as $100 million to defeat President Barack Obama and help the GOP take control of Congress. According to two GOP fundraisers with close ties to the Las Vegas billionaire, he made good on that promise -- and then some. Adelson ultimately upped the ante, spending closer to a previously unreported $150 million, the fundraisers said. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

What Happens in Vegas: Meet Sheldon Adelson, Buyer of Democracy

Okay, a couple of things here. First, the man's name is pronounced ADDLE-son, and as a denizen of Las Vegas, it bugs me every time I hear it pronounced AID-elson. Secondly, Sheldon Adelson has done good things in this town, not always using his virtually infinite fundage for evil. Thirdly, the comparison to George Soros (benefactor of many previous Democratic campaigns) fails for more than one reason, chiefly that Soros wasn't helping people get elected for his own personal financial interest.

Adelson is in the game because he can afford to be, because after the Citizens United ruling, he can be, and because he's kind of a bastard. This goes beyond a guy with deep pockets, funding his favorites, and looking for a little quid pro quo. This has--fairly quickly, if you think about it--turned into a many tentacled beast, with Adelson as the head, and Karl Rove as the brain. It's a frighteningly coordinated, full-throttle, take-no-prisoners attempt to purchase political offices from little to the biggest in the land.

The biggest failure of the Supreme Court's decision is in saying that money equals speech. Because by doing that, they've assured that more money equals more speech. Who on earth, short of Bill Gates, could compete with the kind of speech Adelson and the Koch Brothers (who coordinate with Adelson and Rove) can purchase? How could this possibly be what the founders intended?

By all reason, our democracy should be helpless against this assault. You'd think, with no real competing entity like it on the left, that this kind of money would just win now, forever. So far though, it's not working out that way. Things could change in the weeks until the election of course, but even with evil genius Rove pulling the levers, this machine is having trouble driving the polls. And I wonder, can all the money in the world sell a faulty product?

Sheldon Adelson really looks like that. Image from Politico.

[Excerpt]

Sheldon Adelson: Inside the mind of the mega-donor 

. . .Worth just over $21 billion, and now in the crosshairs of the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission, Adelson has made history: He is the first person to spend $70 million to sway a presidential election, and he plans to spend more – perhaps as much as $100 million – by Election Day. An estimated $20 million to $30 million of the giving was to groups that do not disclose their donors, and had not been reported before. . .

Read more: Politico

What Happens in Vegas: Sheldon Adelson Might Be in Trouble

Sheldon Adelson is a Las Vegas gazillionaire who was actually kind of in trouble with his Sands/Venetian/Palazzo properties at the end of the Bush era. Since President Obama took over though--and I'm not saying one thing has to do with the other--Adelson has become a squillionaire. He's seriously in the pink.

But Shelley is decidedly unhappy with the Prez. So much so, that he bankrolled Newt Gingrich for months after his sell-by date. And now, he's pumping zillions into Mitt Romney's campaign. It all has something to do with Israel, which Adelson--being Jewish--is sort of in to. And Romney--being Mormon--is. . .I don't know. . .into because his evangelical supporters know is necessary for the end times, the Rapture, Jesus' return and Armageddon? I don't know, I'm an atheist. I can't keep all this religion shit straight.

Anyway, it would seem that one of the super-rich GOP sugar daddies is potentially into a spot of trouble. I has a sad.


[Excerpt]

Adelson. Ain't he a fashion plate? Image from Raw Story.

Justice Dept. probes Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp. on money laundering

The Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether Las Vegas Sands Corporation and several of its executives violated money-laundering laws, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Citing unnamed lawyers and other people involved in the matter, the newspaper said the probe was being conducted by the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Sarah Silverman's Proposal to Sheldon Adelson (NSFW)

Image from Jewcy

As a Las Vegas resident for almost 18 years, I'm of course familiar with Sheldon Adelson, the rich dude who owns the Venetian. His name is big in town, as you'd expect. I knew that he was a conservative, and a bit eccentric. But I think for a while I had him confused with John Cleese's portrayal in Rat Race. Which means, I thought he was a harmless billionaire.

And then there was Newt. Adelson pretty much single-handedly kept Newt Gingrich in the Republican Primaries long past his expiration date. That's one guy (two if you count his wife) keeping a candidate in the race, through largesse. It's just odd. And now that Newton has bounced, Adelson is pumping money into supporting Mitt Romney. In this case, it isn't single-handed, but it could be. And it's all so puzzling. Before Obama was president, Adelson's holdings were hemorrhaging cash. In the last 3+ years, he's rebounded. Why does Obama scare him so? And should one guy have this much power?

Sarah Silverman has a proposition for Mr. Adelson. And being Sarah Silverman, she's not exactly ladylike about it. Or maybe she is, it depends upon your definition. But I will tell you that this us not safe for work. So, don't complain to me that it's dirty and tasteless. I just told you that.

What Happens in Vegas: Sheldon Adelson Donates $10 Million to Romney Super PAC

Oh, what hell Citizens United hath wrought. We used to think that election season political ads were obnoxious and oppressive. But boy howdy, get ready for a flood. I'm sure that the five or six owners of the major media companies in the United States (how did that happen?) are thrilled at the infinite mounds of dough. They won't have to run Head-On commercials or Sham-Wow! infomercials for a while! And an only slightly larger group of billionaires essentially get to buy whatever politicians they want.

Image from Wikipedia.

Well, almost. Sheldon Adelson--the squillionaire who owns The Venetian and Palazzo--originally wanted Newt Gingrich. Some things, apparently, money can not buy. But look how long Shelly kept Newtie afloat! He just opened up his bottomless purse, and single-handedly kept Newt going for months after he was essentially toast. And now, he's funding Mitt Romney, surely not his favorite candidate, but apparently preferable to that (black) guy currently in the White House.

I am already sick of the ads we're getting*, and I hope that ultimately people just tune them out. Because let's be honest. How many people are there who are just torn between these two candidates. Nothing short of finding out Barack Obama was a secret Holocaust denier or that Mitt Romney invented bacon would be likely to change my decision. You?

I, for one, welcome our new corporate fat
cat overlords.

[Excerpt]


Sheldon Adelson is giving $10 million to Mitt Romney super PAC

Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who helped prop up House speaker Newt Gingrich’s presidential primary campaign for months, is now using his massive wealth to help former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. According to two sources familiar with the donation, Adelson is giving $10 million to the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future*. Under Federal Election Commission law, Restore Our Future is free to accept donations of unlimited amounts from single donors but must reveal the identity of those givers. . .

Read more at: The Washington Post

*Another thing I'm sick of? These ridiculously named, falsely grass-roots-sounding SuperPAC names. "Restore Our Future" is one of the lamer ones, not harkening to jingoism with words like liberty, freedom or patriot. And it isn't larded with "People for the. . .", "Americans for. . ." or "The Smith & Wesson/Ronald Reagan Libertygasm Foundation." But it's still goofy (and irritating) as hell.

Mitt Romney: "We didn't win by a lot, but we won by enough"

Worst victory quote EVER! All of the remaining GOP candidates (and, frankly, the departed ones) are so horrible, I really don't care at this point. But Mitt Romney won Michigan and Arizona. Whoop-de-do. Wake me when Newt Gingrich's billionaire, Sheldon Adelson, stops giving him money, and this gets down to a two-man race, with crazy Ron Paul on the fringe.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What Happens in Vegas: Resort Sues the Tea Party

(Summoning up my best Nelson Muntz impression from The Simpsons) HA-HA!

The for-profit, astro-turfiest wing of the tea party, The Tea Party Express Nation is in trouble. The owners of The Venetian and Palazzo are suing them for big bucks. You might remember that the wind was already going out of the tea bagger balloon last year. They planned this big event in Las Vegas, and then postponed it. . .and then canceled it all together. But it would seem that they made a deal with arch-conservative Sheldon Adelson's properties, and they welched. It's really so funny sad.

She's doing it wrong. Image from BizarroBlog

[Excerpt]


Las Vegas resort sues tea party group over hotel bill

(Excerpt consists of only a headline because the LVRJ is particularly litigious. Sorry.)

Read it at: Las Vegas Review-Journal

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.

Venetian's Sheldon Adelson Annoyed at Barack Obama

Photo from GetRichCasino.com

About a month ago, Barack Obama gave a speech, wherein he said, "You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime." This upset many in Las Vegas, who took it as an indictment of the city itself, instead of the fact that bailout recipients were taking pleasure trips.

Now, the owner of The Venetian and The Palazzo is complaining about it. Sheldon Adelson is one of the biggest Republican names in Vegas, having hosted many a fundraiser. And--being a staunch Republican--you'd think he'd be against using taxpayer money for such frivolity. But when it comes to money, he's not the first of his party to ignore principle in favor of the bottom line.

[Excerpt]

Vegas mogul slams corporate spending backlash

Las Vegas casino legend Sheldon Adelson launched a quest for America's most boring city on Tuesday in a comeback to President Barack Obama's criticism of bankers who hold meetings in the famous gaming capital.

Obama last month warned companies that get bailout cash against spending it on activities potentially seen as perks -- sparking a row with hotel and resort operators who say they are already struggling to fill rooms and may have to cut jobs. . .

Read more at: Reuters