24
2004
Reporter still don’t get Gov. Terminator.
He’s so honest and open about his willingness to be less honest and open, they’re not sure what to do. So they write it all down, throw in a few caveats, and, it seems, hope for the best.
I kinda feel sorry for them. They’re really confused. I mean aren’t politicians supposed to pretend to be honest, self-effacing do-gooders? Yeah. In the movies.
Today, Schwarzeneggers’ biking buddy Charlie LeDuff goes out on the smoking terrace – when I was in prep school that’s what we called them, regardless of where they were – and notices an “expensive” cigar. I’m going to take that as being an expensive, illegal Cuban cigar because that’s the only kind I ever see. But, well, I travel in rarified circles.
During the course of the interview, which appeared on the front page, Gov. Terminator throws down a bid for a primetime appearance at the Republican National Convention and talks about the ins and outs of Hollywood deal-making. It’s well worth reading.
I hate to use the term “meta” but Arnold really is a meta politician. And the ironic distance that come with that term? Well, he’s got it in spades. You watch, he’s gonna get his convention gig and, well, it’s going to have to be in prime time because otherwise the Republicans will have wasted some star power and they’ll look stupid. Which mean Schwarzenegger wins. And wins again.
And, if you’re a Democrat and you’re not worried about the ambition this moderate Republican is showing in this large state, we’ll you’re not thinking very far ahead. This is, more and more, a nation of immigrants; in 2002, their number was put at over 11 million – that’s legal resident, the total’s higher and so, for the most part, are birthrates -- and Arnold is their man, their success, in more respects than I think professional pols recognize.