Columnist Jon Ralston: Suspicion abounds in wake of terrorist attack

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2001 | 8:40 a.m.

Jon Ralston hosts the public affairs program "Face to Face" on Las Vegas ONE and also publishes the Ralston Report. His column for the Sun appears on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ralston can be reached at 870-7997 or through e-mail at ralston@vegas.com

MUSINGS AFTER a weekend on the Strip, a conversation with a gamer and an interview with a couple of lawmakers:

* Terrorism-colored perspective: I took my daughter to Mandalay Bay this past weekend so she could enjoy the marvelous pool/beach/lazy river ride and delight in "Shark Reef." I also felt good that I was heeding Mayor Oscar Goodman's urge for locals to support the economy.

It was a wonderful weekend and it was heartening to see the place bustling.

But there was one awful moment that is seared into my brain -- and my guess is that I have not been alone in this post-Sept. 11 experience.

As I walked around the pool area keeping an eye on my seemingly amphibious 6-year-old, I nonchalantly surveyed the masses lounging in the area.

And then it happened. I saw a group of Arab-looking young men laughing and lollygagging on the edge of the pool and I stared. For more than a few seconds. "What if?" I thought and my stomach turned.

And then I became even more nauseated as I felt no better than hate-mongers such as Jerry Falwell, whose true colors have been exposed by the attacks on the East Coast. And then I wondered how many others around me were suspicious of the half-dozen Arab tourists, too. And how many people who get on airplanes now look around at anyone dark-skinned, especially if they are dressed in Middle Eastern garb?

It's sick. And, alas, it has become almost a reflex in the wake of what happened.

* Gaming is different: I had a conversation the other day with someone I know in the casino industry who had just returned from a trip to Southern California. That state, too, so reliant on tourism, has been devastated economically by the terrorism. In fact, Ernst and Young released a report that shows the California hospitality industry has hit a 10-year low.

San Francisco, already hit hard by the dot.com implosion, and the Los Angeles/Anaheim area, have been crushed by the lack of visitors, with occupancy rates dwindling.

My friend remarked on the media coverage in California and noted how sympathetic the newspapers were to the plight of the companies, many of whom had to lay off substantial numbers of workers. It was, he said, a marked contrast to the treatment the resorts have received here, where commentators and others have lambasted the insensitivity of the casino companies.

What's the difference? Image. And it is everything.

This is a company town. And when the company is in the business of extracting money from suckers and is both beloved and hated by the employees and the populace, this is what happens. No one doubts that the layoffs might have been handled more sensitively. But what does that mean? And amid wails for the elected officials to help, what more can they do? The governor has pleaded with the private sector to get involved and help. So have other local officials.

But if the gamers are looking fop sympathy, they will have a long wait in this town.

* The cyberspace savior? During an interview Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins and Assemblyman Bob Beers both scoffed at the notion, advanced by some opportunists, that the local gamers could use Internet wagering as a way to salvage their companies during this collapsing economy.

But both men suggested that Internet gaming was no threat to the long-term economic viability of Las Vegas, sounding a note that will be mellifluous music for MGM MIRAGE.

Then again, state lawmakers did pass a measure requested by the gamers, especially MGM MIRAGE, that paves the way for the locals to turn living rooms into casinos and geometrically increase the number of compulsive gamblers. (That law was passed in the sneakiest, most outrageous way of almost any legislation I've seen, but that's another story and already well told.)

Perkins and Beers gave the "Las Vegas is too unique" argument, saying that people will not sit on their duffs in their houses and not come to this destination resort community because they can gamble on the Internet. In fact, echoing a familiar refrain, they said Internet gaming will just create new players who will come gamble here.

Phew. For a minute there I was really worried.