Obama’s Las Vegas remark exposes “stupid” Senators, “stupid” journalism
Political blogger Oliver Willis, who works for the left-leaning Media Matters organization and has published columns on the liberal news site HuffingtonPost.com called the fracas over President Barack Obama's latest Las Vegas remarks phony and said it shows the Senate "is stupid, led by stupid people like Harry Reid and payoff man John Ensign," a reference to Ensign's extramarital affair and alleged lobbying law violations.
On Tuesday Obama said during a speech in Nashua, N.H., "Responsible families don’t do their budgets the way the federal government does. Right? When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices. It’s time your government did the same."
It was the second time Obama had used Las Vegas as the butt of an applause line about wasteful spending. Both remarks brought responses from Reid, Ensign, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and many other Nevada politicians alleging Obama was discouraging Las Vegas visitation, the cornerstone of the state's economy.
Willis said Obama "was drawing a parallel between doing something foolish instead of exercising financial restraint."
He continued slamming Reid and Ensign as well as news coverage of the fallout.
"And yet, like dopes, both Harry Reid and John Ensign fell for the fake story hook, line, and sinker – propelling an already mind-bendingly stupid bit of journalism on for another few hours," Willis wrote.
