April 10, 2004
Arnold to the Rescue
By Byron LaMasters
Good lord, this is crazy. Why can't Arnold be a Democrat? I kinda like the guy. Not only is he a Hollywood star, but he married a Kennedy and he saves the lives of random people:
He has saved the world from nuclear terrorists in "True Lies," invisible monsters in "Predator," futuristic machines in "Terminator 2."
This week, the legend of Arnold Schwarzenegger grew when California's governor helped a weary swimmer to shore during his family's tropical Hawaiian vacation.
"And you thought he only did this in movies," quipped Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson on Friday.
[...]
As the story goes, Schwarzenegger was taking an early afternoon swim near his Maui retreat Wednesday when he passed a man clinging to a boogie board about 100 yards from shore.
The Republican governor asked the man if he was OK and the swimmer said he had cramps and couldn't swim back to the beach.
With no lifeguards in sight, Schwarzenegger took matters into his own hands and helped the man safely back to shore.
What else can I say?
Posted by Byron LaMasters at April 10, 2004 05:54 AM
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Come on. It's not like that's super heroic- it's what any one of us would have done.
Let's not act like he ran into a burning building or anything. He was out that far and happened upon the guy who HAD A BOOGIE BOARD. A very nice thing that he did, but hardly something he'd do in the movies.
Funny, I just posted about him in my livejournal. Sounds like he may sign a bill allowing gay marriage if it passes through the CA legislature.
I think it's still something to report on because it's 'out of character' for high level public officials to be thought of as 'normal' people. I mean, if Gov. Good Hair jumped into the sea to help someone, it would seem just a bit out of the ordinary for his 'role' in society.
Perry would never jump into the sea like that - he might mess up his hair.
Yeah, I live out here in California, and I like Schwarzenegger so far. He swims a pretty centrist course. The conservatives don't like him much because he has made it so abundantly clear that he doesn't see any moral good behind keeping gays from getting married.
But you have to keep in mind, that in places like CA and MA (where I grew up), successful Republicans tend to be basically soft libertarians (Weld, as MA Governor, supported domestic partnership rights for gays back in 1990, and also said he had no problem legalizing medicinal marijuana). So if you placed someone with Schwarzenegger's viewpoint in Texas, he'd probably be a Democrat. Here, he's a Republican.
I just hope his brand of Republicanism tilts them more centrist. A guy like Delay having all the power he has is extremely destructive.
That reminds me of the bit in Al Franken's "Why Not Me" where his wife saves a guy from drowning and it saves his whole presidential campaign. Funny how life imitates comedy.
This clearly means that you're in the wrong party, Byron. Hate to have to be the one to break that to you. Come over to the Dark Side. ;}
