On Arnold

[Ivo Skoric]

If Arnold would have appeared in full SS uniform, I think, he would 
be forgiven. People would take it as a joke. He looks as close to an 
'uebermencsh' as it goes. If he lived in the Reich, he'd be an 
official mascot. With his heavy German accent and a father that was a 
member of NSDAP, the 'Nazi' stuff will simply always be associated 
with him. It is just unavoidable.

But he is also a public figure, a celebrity, and his opinions and 
character are widely known to great masses of people around the 
world. More people know more about him than about any bleak figure 
from American political life. And the general judgement is that he is 
not a Nazi. After all, like many young men from Europe at that time, 
he came to the US precisely because he was enthusiastic about the 
freedoms and opportunities it offered.

As, Anneliese Rohrer from Die Presse wrote for New York Times - 
"Austria is basking in Mr. Schwarzenegger's California triumph. We 
are enjoying the moment. But although we admire Mr. Schwarzenegger 
for what we are not, unlike Americans, we'd never elect him." True - 
in an orderly Western-European country this would sure not be 
possible.

Recall elections, musclemen/actors, who are bragging about smoking 
dope and groping women, becoming political leaders - one would expect 
to see that in some emerging democracy like Serbia, not in an orderly 
state where professionals are supposed to run the business. Well, for 
better or worse, California retained some of this early democracy 
gold-rush enthusiasm.

He won in all areas except San Francisco - it seems that people 
elected him based on curiosity, like, let's see what would happen if 
we elect someone as unusual as him. With all the lines from his 
movies that everybody knows by heart, there is an endless supply of 
jokes for any writer who would comment on his governorship.

And there is something about the hard work and dedication that he 
most obviously invested in his life first building the ultimate 
phisyque, then becoming one of the biggest male stars in Hollywood 
(despite the accent), becoming a rich real-estate developer, marrying 
a Kennedy, and, finally becoming a governor, that people respect and 
like about him.

He has what he wants in life, because others believe that it suits 
him. He can grope women, and they talk about it only twenty years 
after and because they were prodded by journalists to do so during 
his political campaign. I've heard malicious tongues saying that 
those who spoke are those who were angry that Mr. Universe only 
groped them.

And the story about the gang-bang, where he said that not all body-
builders participated, because some men cannot get a hard-on in a 
group situation, due to their inner insecurities about the size of 
their penis, implying that, obviously, he does not have that 
insecurity. 

When he said that, he was a young athlete aspiring to become an 
actor. Flaunting his machismo suited him well. He probably did not 
think then that one day he would run for a governor, and that this 
would sound disgusting in his new role. The voters just sucked it up.

And nobody else running for an office in the US would be given a pass 
with the Hitler statements in his past. Although, what he said - that 
he admires Hitler for his efficiency in acquiring power, does not 
neccesarily makes him think that Hitler was a good guy. And Hitler 
indeed was very skilled in acquiring power. But just having your name 
associated with his in the same sentence would kill anyone's else 
political career. On the other hand, who else with an unpronouncable 
last name, like Arnold's, would stand any chance in American 
politics?

Let's face it. He is special. Arnold is simply loved by the people. 
His transgressions are taken as a joke. And he is just viewed as a 
perfect father, great actor, and a work-out freak. This flies well in 
the US - muscles sell well: Jesse Ventura, another governor, was a 
pro-wrestler. But the most important part is being known - we all 
feel we know about Schwarzenegger practically everything. And we are 
too curious to see how would he perform as governor, not to let it 
happen. 

The results tell more about voters than about Arnold. In the end - 
maybe other actors will run for governors as well. Let's see how 
Arnold would do against Tom Hanks, or Sly Stallone.

Of course, he may be a quite different Republican than Bush. The 
later didn't have to do a day of hard work in his life. Let's see 
whether Arnold will manage to twist Bush's arm into giving some 
Federal money to California (it would be really amusing to see Arnold 
getting his paws on Bush and holding him for his ankles over a 
canyon..).

ivo