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posted by Steve Sebelius
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 at 5:32 PM
We caught some of the Republican presidential debate on Wednesday before dashing out for dinner, and we’re a little confused. It seems U.S. Sen. John McCain (he’s the old one) was lambasting former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (the good looking, deep-voiced one) because Romney allegedly wanted to abandon the war effort before we were in Iraq for 100 years, or something. McCain kept bringing up an old Romney quote that said we should have timetables, but which never indicated what should happen in those timetables, i.e. getting out of Iraq.
Oh, no, Romney assured McCain and the good Republicans in the audience. I’m for staying in Iraq forever, too! Republicans seemed to like him, and boo McCain for what even we think is a stretch attack against Romney. And we think Romney is a complete horse’s ass! How bad, how desperate, does your campaign have to get that you have to make up shit about Romney? There’s tons of actual shit to use against him! Why, he’s flip-flopped so often, we think he used to be black!
Anyway, when the old one and the good-looking one finally shut up, the real one spoke up: U.S. Rep. Ron Paul laughed at the debate and said they were both for the war, which is too bad, since the war is unconstitutional! Bam! Now that’s some good old-fashioned debating, people! We know Paul has some issues, but damn, he’s hands down our very favorite Republican, you know? (And we’ve got to say, not wanting to blow a lot of people up overseas makes him at once the best, and the worst, War Party representative we know.)
Oh, the churchy one was there, too, and he said some stuff.
Anyway, we read the blogs and see that the old one is now the front-runner? That he got lots and lots of endorsements? That he might be the next president? Seriously? The "bomb Iran" guy? Say it isn’t so, Republicans! Yes, we know you’ve got shit to choose from, but c’mon! Paul is clearly better than any of the rest! Nominate him, why don’t you?
posted by Steve Sebelius
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 at 5:19 PM
If you check out this week’s CityLife (and of course you should do that every week), you’ll learn some sad, depressing news: MGM Mirage has decided to close The Reading Room bookstore inside the Mandalay Place mall.
We’ve got to confess, when MGM Mirage took over Mandalay Resort Group in 2004, we worried The Reading Room would be an instant casualty. A bookstore in a casino, just feet from video poker machines? Who would think of such a thing?
Answer: Former Mandalay President Glenn Schaeffer, a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop and patron of letters, that’s who. No matter how many Mirages, Luxors, CityCenters or Bellagios go up on the Strip, the small, independent bookstore that was The Reading Room will always be — in our view — the finest accomplishment ever in Las Vegas. Many local writers who had book signings there no doubt agree, as do members of the soon-to-be-displaced Socrates club, who gathered there for debates.
When The Reading Room stayed open, we thought we’d dodged a bullet. To show our appreciation, we patronized the store frequently, and rarely left empty-handed. Alas, MGM Mirage is looking for a younger demographic, and we know the young people don’t read books. Or at least no enough to keep the store open. We’re guessing it will become a hip clothing store or somesuch soon.
And there’s even more bad news: We learned this week that the venerable 55 Degrees wine store (located just above The Reading Room) has already closed, which seems to suggest MGM Mirage management is trying to crush our dreams into powder. Hell, if it wasn’t for the Burger Bar and the Davidoff boutique, we’d never have a reason to visit Mandalay Place ever again! Why, MGM Mirage, why?
There may yet be some good news: Schaeffer isn’t done with casino development yet: His next project is the Fontainebleau. Perhaps we’ll see The Reading Room there? If so, we know where we’ll be going when the irrational urge to visit the Strip strikes us.
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