奥巴马劝国人不去赌城 得罪市长忙道歉

Viva Las Vegas! Obama apologizes to 'Sin City'



An undated image shows a poster in Las Vegas. US President Barack Obama has contritely urged tourists to visit gambling heaven Las Vegas after recent remarks that were interpreted as telling Americans to shun recession-battered "Sin City".





US President Barack Obama has contritely urged tourists to visit gambling heaven Las Vegas after recent remarks that were interpreted as telling Americans to shun recession-battered "Sin City."

Obama offended Las Vegas officials during a visit Tuesday to New Hampshire, where he warned "you don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college."

His comments -- the second time in 12 months that Obama has disparaged Las Vegas -- drew an outraged reaction from elected officials in the hard-hit city and from Nevada's representatives in the US Congress.

"Lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn't be spending their money," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who faces a tough reelection battle this year, urged the President.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a Democrat-turned-Independent, denounced Obama's "vendetta" against the city, and declared the president "has a real psychological hangup about the entertainment capital of the world."

"When he comes, I'll do everything I can to give him the boot back to Washington and to visit his failures back there," Goodman said. "This president is a real slow learner."

Obama wrote Reid Tuesday to insist "I wasn't saying anything negative about Las Vegas."

"I was making the simple point that families use vacation dollars, not college tuition money, to have fun. There is no place better to have fun than Vegas, one of our country's great destinations," the president said.

"I have always enjoyed my visits, look forward to visiting in a few weeks, and hope folks will visit in record numbers this year," said Obama.



contrite: very sorry for something bad that you have done 深感懊悔的；痛悔的

disparage: to suggest that somebody/something is not important or valuable 贬低；轻视

poster child: one who is a prototypical or quintessential example of something 典范

vendetta: a long argument or disagreement in which one person or group does or says things to harm another 积怨；宿怨；长期不和

hangup: a psychological or emotional difficulty or inhibition 心理的或情绪的问题

近日，美国总统贝拉克•奥巴马发表的一番言论被理解为让美国人别去拉斯维加斯。为弥补自己的失言，奥巴马日前又大力宣传该市，号召人们前往该市旅游。有“罪恶之城”之称的拉斯维加斯是一个赌博天堂，在经济危机时期受到了重创。

奥巴马于本周二访问新罕布什尔州时提醒民众说：“如果你想为上大学存点学费，就不要把钱浪费在拉斯维加斯。”这一言论引起了拉斯维加斯官员们的不满。

此番言论触怒了该市的当选官员和美国国会中内华达州的代表。这是12个月以来奥巴马第二次“诋毁”拉斯维加斯。

今年面临艰难的再选大战的民主党人、参议院多数派领导人哈里•里德表示：“总统需要淡化拉斯维加斯，不能再将其作为一个吸引人们乱花钱的典范来宣传。”

原民主党人、后转为独立党人的拉斯维加斯市长奥思卡•古德曼讽刺地说，奥巴马跟拉斯维加斯“有仇”，并称其“对这一世界娱乐之都有抵触情绪”。

古德曼说：“他下次访问拉斯维加斯时，我会尽我所能把他踢回华盛顿，让他回去好好想想自己做错的事。这个总统真是不懂得吸取教训。”

奥巴马于周二致信里德，坚称自己“并没有发表任何诋毁拉斯维加斯的言论”。

他说：“我只是想表明一个简单的观点，就是让民众最好用度假经费而不是大学学费来娱乐。没有哪个地方比拉斯维加斯更有意思，它是美国最棒的旅游胜地之一。”

奥巴马说：“我每次去拉斯维加斯都很开心，也很期待几周后访问该市，希望今年拉斯维加斯的游客数量能创纪录。”