Feb 15, 2014

George Knapp talks Jay Sarno--The Man Behind Modern-Day Las Vegas

I-Team: The Man Behind Modern-Day Las Vegas

Posted: Feb 14, 2014 2:26 PM PSTUpdated: Feb 14, 2014 5:00 PM PST
By George Knapp, Chief Investigative Reporter - bio | email
By Matt Adams, Chief Photojournalist - email
LAS VEGAS -- While some might think the father of the Las Vegas Strip is mobster Bugsy Seigel, or casino titans Kirk Kerkorian or Steve Wynn, the true architect of modern Las Vegas might be a self-described degenerate gambler named Jay Sarno.
While there is no statue to honor Sarno's memory, there is a new book that tells his amazing story, warts and all.
Sarno saw Las Vegas for the first time 51 years ago this month and he was not impressed. He was Las Vegas in human form, a bubbling cauldron of ideas and energy who indulged every dark desire and was eventually consumed by his lusts. But, along the way, Sarno created the twin pillars of Strip economics and inspired a new generation of casino titans.
The new book by David Schwarz is called Grandissimo, the name of what would have been the largest, most extravagant casino resort in the world. Sarno would settle for nothing less. Las Vegas in the late 50s and early 60s probably ranked as one of the raciest towns in America, but it was too bland in the eyes of ambitious hotelier Sarno.
"It was too plain. He didn't think the hotels were well built. He didn't think there was enough drama, so he said he could do better," said David Schwartz, the author of "Grandissimo: How Jay Sarno's Wild Life Changed Las Vegas."
Sarno was a small time businessman with big time dreams and an insatiable hunger for action, especially gambling. For Sarno, too much of everything was just enough.
"He really was Vegas personified. Whatever you had, he wanted more of it. So, if he would be betting $100 a hand one day, the next day it would be $1,000 a hand, then $10,000 a hand. It was always more and more," Schwartz said.
Schwartz, Sarno's biographer, writes that Sarno parlayed a seemingly odd-couple friendship with teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa into a Las Vegas empire. With teamster backing, Sarno's idea for a Desert cabana eventually morphed into the first fully-themed resort in Las Vegas, still the most iconic name in the casino industry -- Caesars Palace. Everything about the Roman resort was extravagant. Skeptics predicted that a joint so expensive would never break even.
"The entire hotel was about excess. You don't just go to dinner. You go to dinner and have wine goblets and people massaging you and peeling grapes and putting them in your mouth. Everything was over the top and people loved it. They still do," Schwartz said.
Caesars was a huge success. Sarno wallowed in it and lived like an actual Roman emperor by indulging all manner of appetites, balancing his very public persona with the responsibilities of a growing family.
Merely two years after Caesars opened, Sarno debuted another themed resort, Circus Circus, with himself as the ringmaster. While Caesars captured the high roller market, Circus was the first property aimed at middle America and families.
"At Circus he planted the seed for the low-end hotel, from the low-end to perfection. For awhile, they were the two most successful hotel casinos in the world."
Federal law enforcement viewed Sarno -- and many other Las Vegans -- with suspicion. Sarno's friendship with Hoffa was real, Schwartz says, but the Teamster loans came with strings attached meaning, casino employees who had mob ties. The feds wondered why rackets boss Tony Spilotro operated a gift shop at Circus Circus.
"Jay needed them to get the casino built. These are the guys with the money and if they were going to give you money, they were going to be in there. So, that was the bargain."
The IRS went after Sarno and his partner in a sensational case that dragged on for years. The defense team of Harry Claiborne and a young Oscar Goodman eventually prevailed, but the fight hurt Sarno's ability to put together the biggest project of his life -- Grandmissimo, a 6000-room luxury resort and mall featuring waterfalls and lush landscaping that may have inspired Steve Wynn's mirage a decade later.
"Would have happened in the late 70s if he got the money. He had the vision, but couldn't talk Wall Street into getting the money, which was really the final tragedy of his life."
Sarno died of a heart attack in 1984 while staying as a guest at Caesars Palace, the resort he built.
Today, Caesars is the flagship and namesake of the largest casino company in the world. Sarno's other property, Circus Circus, begat a second gaming empire that was later absorbed by MGM-Mirage. Steve Wynn has said that he was inspired by Sarno in his own reinvention of Las Vegas in the 80s. Las Vegas would still exist if Sarno hadn't come to town, but it would be a very different place.
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Blogging Beautiful Bill Press and the Newsbusters

On MSNBC, Hateful Bill Press Slams Right-Wingers ‘Driven By Hate’

By Paul Bremmer | February 14, 2014 | 18:45
A  A
You have to love the hypocrisy of certain liberal media figures regarding hateful rhetoric. On Thursday evening, left-wing talk radio host Bill Press appeared on MSNBC’s PoliticsNation to comment on some supposedly inflammatory remarks from Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Ben Carson. [Video below. MP3 audio here.]

Yes, this is the same Bill Press who makes inflammatory remarks all the time on his show [as we've documented repeatedly].

Host Al Sharpton declared, “You know, Bill, there has been a disturbing trend from some on the right: compare the policies of this administration to Nazi Germany.” He then played a clip in which Dr. Carson lamented that “Nazi” and “slavery” are taboo words and complained about political correctness in general. Carson did not, however, directly call anyone a Nazi in the clip.

After hearing the soundbite, Sir Bill mounted his high horse. He recalled his days as a panelist on CNN’s Crossfire:
We had a rule. Pat Buchanan, Bob Novak and I, we all agreed. Anybody who used the Nazi word or who used Hitler, they automatically lost. They lost all credibility. And for Ben Carson to go there just shows how desperate they are.
But it just so happens that Press himself has invoked the Nazi comparison in the past to attack those he disagrees with. In an August 2009 column, he smeared Tea Party members who protested ObamaCare at town hall meetings:
Taking a page right out of a Nazi playbook, organizers bus in professional protestors and arm them with instructions on how to take over meetings, shut down discussion, shout over any pro-health care reform speakers, and then post video of the resulting chaos on YouTube. It's mob rule, pure and simple.
Does that mean Bill Press has lost all credibility? Nah, he’s a liberal. Liberals can say whatever they want without sparking national outrage.

Later in the segment, Sharpton proclaimed that only a quarter of Americans now identify as Republicans. Press believed that right-wing media figures like Carson, Limbaugh, and Mark Levin were to blame. He erupted:
You know what it is, Reverend? They are driven by hate. And I don't think the American people want hate in their politics. But that's all these people know... They've had this obsession from the beginning. They are sick. They're mentally deranged commentators as far as I'm concerned.
It was an impassioned outburst. But it was also hypocritical, for Press is hardly a model of civility. He has made plenty of hateful comments in the past. In addition to the aforementioned Nazi reference, he has likened Republicans to terrorists on multiple occasions. He once called Newt Gingrich a suicide bomber and compared Glenn Beck to al-Qaeda. He has also compared secessionists to terrorists.

Press’s insults go beyond terrorist comparisons. He once expressed amazement that lightning didn’t strike John Boehner dead after the House Speaker made a particular comment. He expressed his wish that the American people would suffer “un-freaking bearable” pain from last year’s sequester spending cuts. He also slammed former President George W. Bush as “probably the dumbest president ever” and blasted American voters as “bastards,” “idiots,” and “dumb as hell” after they elected a Republican-led House in November 2010.

 [You can find examples of Press’s hateful rhetoric here.]

Bill Press has no right to complain about right-wing hate. He is one of the most hateful left-wingers out there.
Below is a partial transcript of the segment:

AL SHARPTON: You know, Bill, there has been a disturbing trend from some on the right, compare the policies of this administration to Nazi Germany. And last night, Fox contributor Ben Carson defended that kind of talk. Listen to this.

[Begin tape]

BEN CARSON: The objective of many on the left is to take a single word that you're not supposed to say. You can't say Nazis, you can't say slavery. That's political correctness, as you well know. I do not believe in that. I think it's a bunch of crap. I'm worried about the fact that the populace is being silent and is not expressing what they believe because they're afraid. They've been intimidated.

BILL O’REILLY: By? By whom?

CARSON: By the government.

O’REILLY: How?

CARSON: By the government and by the media, by the PC police.

[End tape]

SHARPTON: I mean, Bill, it's unreal.

BILL PRESS: No, it is unreal. First, I just got to say, I have a good idea for Rush Limbaugh. You know what to do? Tell the truth for once.

KRYSTAL BALL: Oh yeah, good luck with that.

PRESS: Stop telling the lies, maybe. That's what they really ought to do. But as to Ben Carson, Reverend Al, you and I met way back when I was doing Crossfire on CNN, remember right? We had a rule. Pat Buchanan, Bob Novak and I, we all agreed. Anybody who used the Nazi word or who used Hitler, they automatically lost. They lost all credibility. And for Ben Carson to go there just shows how desperate they are. But here’s what bothers me. Where is the leadership of the Republican Party?
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SHARPTON: Right.

PRESS: Where is Reince Priebus? Reince Priebus got his underwear in a snit, right, in a twist because somebody at MSNBC said something about a Cheerios ad, didn't even mention the Republican Party. And he demanded a correction and boycott MSNBC and all of that crap. Why isn’t he condemning that kind of language? Where is his leadership and why is John Boehner using the same ‘lawlessness’ language that we hear from Rush Limbaugh and Krauthammer? We expect it from those nut jobs. We don't expect it from the leadership of the party.

***

SHARPTON: It's hurt them, because, Bill, the negative talk has brought them down to where just 25 percent of Americans identify as Republicans. That's the lowest number in at least 25 years.

PRESS: You know what it is, reverend? They are driven by hate. And I don't think the American people want hate in their politics. But that's all these people know. It is hate talk against the president, against Michelle Obama, the first lady, and it's been that way from the beginning. Remember back in 2008, Mark Levin, another nut job talk show host, said when President Obama had big crowds out at his rallies, they said he’s like Hitler because he had big crowds at his rallies. They've had this obsession from the beginning. They are sick. They're mentally deranged commentators as far as I'm concerned.


Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/paul-bremmer/2014/02/14/msnbc-hateful-bill-press-slams-right-wingers-driven-hate#ixzz2tQdFd5n6


from newsbusters


Chloe Louise 
 in a few seconds
It is not just the hate but also the whackadoodles that are deleting the repubs from society. Bombastic Beauty, Ann Coulter, has been a one-woman wrecking ball for the group. This is why so many of the GOPers are moving over to the democratic party. With a new leader like Hillary Clinton emerging the strength will continue and the middle of the road idea is attractive to all.

just trying to steer the right in the right direction.......yes, I accept the assignment.
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Sewing with Al Sharpton at 3PM and Blogging the Newsbusters

Sewing with Al Sharpton at 3PM and Blogging the Newsbusters.......it's a tough job but someone has to do it.

 It took a lot of thinking to reply and thank you for your beautiful response.  Actually I did not watch Rev. Al Sharpton too often as it did not fit in my day schedule, but after Bill kept berating him I became more curious, even though I basically did enjoy Rev. Al and liked him.  

 I also watch Chris Matthews each day on MSNBC so I changed my routine so I could see what was going on.  Well, as a dem I did like his show and then as time passed i noticed Reverend Al Sharpton was quite an inspirational and humble individual, as I just kept casually listening to his words.  

 He has said he has made errors and he is sorry about that, he has said he likes to keep fighting for civil rights not just about race but about anyone that has been judged unfairly and he also used Gandhi and non-violence as a model.  

 He is also quite inspirational talking about his diet and like me, he did not have a dad and he really enjoyed and valued the attention he received from James Brown.  

 I do not know if you listen to the Jesus Christ Show but like that radio show on Sun mornings right before CBS Sunday Morning, Rev Al has offered me a certain peace--not just talking about politics but about life, in general.  

 I do not think anyone could say he has not worked hard for civil rights--agree or disagree--and it is a wonderful thing to have the first African-American President in the White House.  I imagine he was very proud to go to the state dinner.  

 On that idea, alone, regardless of political affiliation, can't Bill O'Reilly, Levin and others be happy for Reverend Al and other people that are simply so happy about President Obama.  

 For Bill O'Reilly to constantly try to minimize the effects of past racism in America is just not right or realistic.  

 Just in South Africa in recent times people have suffered.  

 Not talking about politics, now, but shouldn't we acknowledge this injustice just as Jesus would have noticed these situations.  

 So again, why does Bill constantly have to rant about his hatred of Reverend Al Sharpton and call him a thug.  It is hurtful to me.  

 Again, Bill is acting like an arrogant teenager in the ilk of Eddie Haskell who cannot come to terms with life.  

 This is where I am coming from........

 and now I have Sewing with Al Sharpton at 3PM and 

 the tea party with Chris Matthews at 4.  

 Bill O at 5, finish with 

 Piers Morgan at 6 and then the 

 big dog walk at 7.........unless Ronnie starts bugging me earlier then everything gets all messed up.  

 Yes, I do find the words of Al Sharpton to be soothing.   

 I hope you respond      and thank you for your discussion.
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Bill Maher is the ultimate democratic ball and chain.

Bill Maher is the ultimate democratic ball and chain.
First, he donates his big money to the party as if that gives him leave to open his big mouth and we are obligated to listen due to his generosity.
This is a case of obvious self-promostion not even thinly veiled.
While I do not agree with Mrs. palin she does get to talk. Women in politis are talking these days without fear of a a sexual slur as retaliation.
I have said this sooooo many times. If Bill Maher is such a talented comedian let him find a different way to anser back in disagreement.
If he wants to be funny, fine--politics, fine--but for what he said there was really no answer back. He is disgusting. He effectively ended the conversation.
I would defend Sarah Palin any day--I do not have to agree but I definenitely want to hear what all sides have to say. The political conversation moves things forward.
We are all talking, now, and we all make mistakes.
Shall women not join in the political conversation due to a possible disgusting retribution from Bill.
As a dem.....Bill Maher qualifies as a jerk. Now, Bill, to that you can answer back.


here we go with the newsbusters.......

Jake Tapper Goes Easy on Bill Maher, Omits His History of Defaming Republican Women

By Matt Hadro | February 14, 2014 | 17:54
A  A
CNN's Jake Tapper didn't ask guest Bill Maher once about his vile rhetoric against conservative women in a lengthy, two-segment interview on Friday's The Lead.

Tapper asked all soft questions of the liberal comedian who gave $1 million to President Obama's super PAC in 2012. He also brought up the Lewinsky scandal, which enabled Maher to laud Bill Clinton as "respectable" and a "great guy." This from a man who has a history of despicable vitriol against Republican women.
"Bill Clinton, let's be honest, at some point if you hang around long enough like an old building, they say, you become respectable and that's Bill Clinton now," Maher said. "Somehow the guy, who the Republicans accused of everything from rape to murdering Vince Foster and the most corrupt guy, he's great now. He's a great guy. They love him."
As NewsBusters has documented, Maher has received a warm welcome from the network before, including when Piers Morgan wished he would "remain gloriously uncensored on HBO."

Friday just marked the latest CNN welcome. Tapper asked Maher easy questions about his "new plot" to flip districts, if he would run for Congress, his "favorites for 2016," and his "frustration" with the administration's marijuana policy. Below are Tapper's questions (the question about Monica Lewinsky was incomplete due to a broadcasting issue):
CNN
THE LEAD
2/14/14
[4:35 p.m. EST]

JAKE TAPPER: Why just hurl your comedic barbs from the sidelines when you can directly tamper with how Washington works? Well that's the new game plan, anyway, for liberal comedian Bill Maher host of HBO's Realtime with Bill Maher. He says this year his show will be entering into the exciting world of outright meddling with the political process by working with his fans to flip a district and knock a lawmaker of his audience's choosing out of power. I spoke with Maher and asked him to explain his new plot.
(Video Clip)

TAPPER: So Roll Call, one of the newspapers of Capitol Hill, asked some Republican members of Congress what they thought. Congressman Steve King, Republican of Iowa, he said you should run. He said quote, anybody that would put their name on the ballot is deserving of our respect. So let's see if I can start to respect Bill Maher. That was his thing. And then he said also, then all of the comedians can make fun of you. Have you ever thought about running for office?

TAPPER: So you were active, as you mentioned, in the 2012 election. You gave $1 million to Priorities USA, the pro-Obama super PAC. Do you have any favorites for 2016? Is there anyone you want to see run, not for comedic purposes but for leadership?
                                  
TAPPER: I remember a time when you were more of a libertarian and you didn't like either party. Do you think that you have changed in your politics, or do you think the parties have changed?   

TAPPER: You're outspoken on the issue of marijuana. The President made headlines recently by saying that marijuana, in his view, is no more dangerous than alcohol. I interviewed him not long ago and I asked him about that. (...) So it is within the power of the Attorney General to change the classification. Are you frustrated, though, more largely, about the President's position on marijuana legalization, or do you support where he is because he has changed a bit?

[Commercial Break]

TAPPER: You're still doing a lot of standup on the weekends, and you've got some dates coming up in some pretty red states. Greenville, Suth Carolina, February 22nd. And at the BJCC Concert Hall in Birmingham, Alabama, on February 23rd. When you go into these red states, how do the audiences receive you?

TAPPER: Finally, what is it like watching all this intense winter weather coverage from sunny Los Angeles?
 
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Feb 14, 2014

Bombastic Bill O'Reilly: Bashed by his Favorite Paper The New York Times


The Opinion Pages|CONTRIBUTING OP-ED WRITER

Bill O’Reilly’s Gift for the Ages


    It’s been nearly two weeks now since Bill O’Reilly’s interview with President Obama on Super Bowl Sunday, and in the No Spin Zone of the host’s pretend world he’s still spinning the chat as the greatest conversation since Winston Churchill dined alone.
    His sit-down with the president, he said, “is going to go down in journalistic history as what should be done.” And in case historians are late to the same conclusion, O’Reilly is auctioning off the notes of his questions — “they are obviously one of a kind,” he says.
    Let us now praise the Bombastic One’s gift to posterity. His interview, his notes, all the ephemera should be preserved and studied. The sickness that infects news and politics, and its commensurate cynicism, can be directly traced to the creation of Fox News — “a political operation that employs journalists,” in the words of Gabriel Sherman, author of the new book on Roger Ailes, “The Loudest Voice in the Room.” There is no bigger media story in the last 50 years than the creation of a news network run by political hacks, says Sherman. I’m inclined to agree.
    But just as important, civility itself took a dive with the rise of Fox, and has never recovered. The shouters, the boasters, the haters who show up at town hall meetings or pollute the Web with dark fantasies get their behavioral cues from Fox. O’Reilly is famous for telling guests to “shut up,” for cutting off people he disagrees with, for smugly praising his own performances and bringing on sycophants to do the same. By comparison, Ron Burgundy is a model of humility.
    A congress where members can shout “You lie” at a president, or tweet “socialist dictator” and “Kommandant-in-chef” (sic), is another result of the vulgar forces unleashed by Fox.
    Imagine Walter Cronkite, Diane Sawyer, Terry Gross or Tim Russert devoting entire shows to praising their own work. A good interview makes news, or reveals something fresh about the subject.


    So, the first point for historians sniffing the odor of O’Reilly’s time capsule in 2114 is that the interview made no news. No ground was broken. It was a journalistic dud. O’Reilly himself spoke for about 40 percent of the time, and devoted 90 percent of the interview to “the full Fox scandal grab bag,” as Jon Stewart called it.
    O’Reilly, in four days of talking about himself after the interview, said his role is to hold politicians accountable. If only. Remember how accountable he held George W. Bush when the president took the country to war on a lie, bankrupting the nation in the process? You don’t? Here’s a sample, from a 2004 interview with Bush, then in a heated election contest with John Kerry. That September, a series of incendiary ads, questioning the military service of Kerry in Vietnam, was a hot topic.
    O’Reilly: “You didn’t know anything about the Swift Boat ads before they went on the air, did you?”
    Bush: “No, I didn’t.”
    O’Reilly: “Did Karl Rove know anything about it?”
    Bush: “I don’t think so.”
    In fact, records show that the bulk of the funding for those smears came from two men with close ties to Bush — one a longtime associate of Karl Rove’s, something that was easily found by a document search.
    O’Reilly then dismissed as “propaganda” questions about whether the combination of massive tax cuts and two costly wars might leave the country broke. But he did drill Bush on why there are so many liberal college professors and “pinheads” at Harvard and Yale.
    The biggest issue at the time was how the United States could be fooled into going to war over nonexistence weapons of mass destruction.
    O’Reilly: “What happened to Saddam’s chemical arsenal? Do you know?”


    Bush: “No, I don’t.”
    O’Reilly: “He hasn’t given us much, has he?”
    Other news organizations, The New York Times among them, were less watchdog than lapdog at times as well. But from beginning of this debacle to the mission-accomplished end, Fox worked closely with the White House. Ailes offered strategic advice in the run-up to the war, and Fox was the lead cheerleader. The same Fox host who says his job is to hold politicians accountable actually warned his fellow citizens not to raise questions or protest.
    “Americans, and indeed our allies who actively work against our military once the war is underway, will be considered enemies of the state by me,” said O’Reilly. “Just fair warning to you, Barbra Streisand, and others who see the world as you do.”
    Since Benghazi dominated O’Reilly’s interview with Obama, it’s fair to check how many times O’Reilly asked Bush about at least six attacks on United States embassies and consulates during his first term. Zero. It never came up in three long interviews, according to the transcripts Fox posted.
    Little wonder that Bush felt right at home with O’Reilly. “I really enjoy how you interview people and I appreciate you giving me a chance to come on and have, what we say in Texas, ‘just a visit.'”

    Just a visit for one president, a trip to the scandal trough for another. Should O’Reilly ever sit for an interview on his own past, on terms he applies to Fox’s enemies, it would include questions about the lawsuit from a former subordinate who complained of “constant and relentless sexual harassment.” No spin there. No questions either. After a reported $10 million settlement was paid to keep the details inside Fox, O’Reilly said, “This brutal ordeal is now officially over, and I will never speak of it again.”
    We could ask O’Reilly about the softball interview he did with former Governor Mike Huckabee concerning the felon he let out of prison early in Arkansas who went on to murder four police officers. This kind of politician should be a punching bag for O’Reilly, Willie Horton-ized to a pulp. Unless, of course, he worked for Fox. O’Reilly praised his colleague as “a stand-up guy.”
    From the War on Christmas to the Frankenstein monster of the Tea Party, Fox’s creations have been uniformly bad for American life. Regular viewers of Fox are less-well-informed than people who are exposed to no media. So yes, future generations should study O’Reilly’s interview. Learn from it, as with all mistakes of history, lest it be repeated.
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