Schwarzenegger shot by Smoking Gun!

August 28, 2003 4:34 PM

Schwarzenegger shot by Smoking Gun! Mugged by Fox News! Called "a vulgar, low-class neophyte". Ouch...
posted by insomnia_lj (41 comments total)

FOX News is uniquely qualified to detect and identify vulgar, low-class neophytes. plo chops for everyone!
posted by quonsar at 4:38 PM on August 28, 2003

So, now that Fox has identified him as a vulgar, low-class neophyte, do you think that if he isn't elected governor, they'll offer him his own news show?
posted by insomnia_lj at 4:41 PM on August 28, 2003

So now that Fox News has dissed Arnold, will everyone here like him any better?
posted by Durwood at 4:42 PM on August 28, 2003

I'm actually impressed they even printed the story... Haven't seen it anywhere else, other than Fark.
posted by Espoo2 at 4:42 PM on August 28, 2003

FOX News is uniquely qualified to give me plo chops - anything to shut them up for a bit.
posted by trondant at 4:43 PM on August 28, 2003

Arnold clarifies his position on gay marriage. quicktime mp3 thingy
posted by elwoodwiles at 4:44 PM on August 28, 2003

It was on Slate too, Espoo2
posted by zekinskia at 4:45 PM on August 28, 2003

I am just ticked off that FOX News seems to think any fans of Johnny Cash are "juvenile delinquents, parolees, underage teens and lip-synchers."
posted by Razzle Bathbone at 4:46 PM on August 28, 2003

The smoking gun mentioned his word coming back to haunt him, how would he explain this to his wife & kids. Wouldn't the Kennedy's have known this w/o it being printed in Oiu?
posted by thomcatspike at 4:54 PM on August 28, 2003

That's the first time I've ever actually read Playboy (Oiu is/was published by them right?) for the articles.
posted by Grod at 5:00 PM on August 28, 2003

wow... after reading thesmokinggun article, i actually have a lot more respect for arnold - honest and blunt (now now, don't think dirty thoughts)... perhaps a little? too blunt - than i did 3 minutes ago.

double wow! o'reilly actually defends the arny man! who wuda thunk it?
posted by poopy at 5:11 PM on August 28, 2003

Confirming he's got impeccable credentials for a full and rewarding career in politics.
posted by marvin at 5:18 PM on August 28, 2003

I think it would be great if pot-smokin', chick-bangin' Arnold's numbers went up after this. Not that I want him to win, but maybe it would show the political interests that we the voters can handle a little reality in our candidates. Enough watered-down weenies who didn't inhale, fer chrissakes. Yeah, I winced at a few of his 70s male sexist comments, but I share poppy's admiration of Arnold's candor.
posted by squirrel at 5:20 PM on August 28, 2003

Hmmm... this actually makes me want to vote for Arnold, not that I could, and not that I think he'd make a competent Governor.
posted by gyc at 5:25 PM on August 28, 2003

Ahnold Shmahnold. I'm still going to vote for Angelyne.
posted by homunculus at 5:36 PM on August 28, 2003

I second poopy. He just seems to be speaking his mind (leaving aside the question of whether or not you like that mind or not). If I were the Republicans though I think I'd be starting to freak out, cuz while this is not enough to stop him getting elected, it is enough to indicate he could be a loose cannon if he gets in. Perhaps we'll see the right wing starting to sabotage his campaign ...
posted by carter at 5:42 PM on August 28, 2003

"I share poppy's admiration of Arnold's candor."

Except, of course, that Schwarzenegger later denied having ever used recreational drugs and having done nude photos.
posted by insomnia_lj at 5:46 PM on August 28, 2003

let me clarify... i admire the 'pumping iron' arnold. i could care less about the politician (or any wannabe/realblood politician, except well, coleman).
posted by poopy at 5:59 PM on August 28, 2003

Lets see: You have:

I second poopy. He just seems to be speaking his mind

Then:
Schwarzenegger later denied having ever used recreational drugs and having done nude photos.

Now, if Arnie had said 'damn straight I used pot'.....then yea, you could respect the man. Instead, he lied.

Pehaps lying makes him qualified to be a Gov, but I'd like to think we should expect more from 'our leaders' than lying.
posted by rough ashlar at 6:19 PM on August 28, 2003

I've never done recreational drugs or done nude photos. Is it too late for me too run? Will FOX hail me as somehow more than a vulgar, low-class neophyte or am I being unrealistic? I'm getting so confused. Where's the candidate with integrity? Is it better to have not inhaled, gone AWOL, or banged the hot black chick upstairs in the gym? So many questions.
posted by filchyboy at 6:28 PM on August 28, 2003

good point rough ashlar, and if you find her/him then please let us know.

for the record: "i am not a crook"
posted by poopy at 6:39 PM on August 28, 2003

By constantly whinging about how wrong it was for Arnie to have lied, you keep re-enforcing the idea that "pot is bad, mmkay", as if smoking some ganja equates to Watergate.

Unfortunately, people still feel the need to deny their drug use in public. That says more about the anti-drug paranoia present in society than it does about the person telling the lies.
posted by Jimbob at 6:49 PM on August 28, 2003

"By constantly whinging about how wrong it was for Arnie to have lied, you keep re-enforcing the idea that "pot is bad, mmkay", as if smoking some ganja equates to Watergate."

Not true. The fact that Schwarzenegger and other wannabe politicians lie about having smoked marajuana is what reinforces the idea that drug use is bad.

I'm not critical of Schwarzenegger's drug use... I'm critical of his history of denial until he is caught in a lie.

Drug use wasn't the only thing he lied about, of course. At various times, he's lied about steroid use, nude photos, sexual harassment, infidelity, and statutory rape. Hardly a promising start for someone who isn't even elected yet.
posted by insomnia_lj at 7:01 PM on August 28, 2003

Schwarznegger's pre - "Pumping Iron" persona was sure a lot more appealing than the mendacious, vengeful candidate running for Calif. Go 'vnah.

He used to be honest about drugs, his drug use, and his sexuality. No more! ( what a shame. Plo Chops anyone? )
posted by troutfishing at 7:28 PM on August 28, 2003

I'm critical of his history of denial until he is caught in a lie.

insomnia_lj, you're not suggesting that good 'ole arny (a confessed republican) is in denial of some of his past behaviour? if he were already in office, would you vote to impeach?
posted by poopy at 7:28 PM on August 28, 2003

I wasn't too impressed with his discussion of group sex with the black woman at his gym.

I'm a loyal lefty, but would everyone hate Ah-nuld as much if he were a democratic candidate? I'd at least be embarassed.
posted by mecran01 at 7:28 PM on August 28, 2003

He never specifically says that he was involved in the sex with the black woman, just that it happened upstairs.
posted by ashbury at 7:58 PM on August 28, 2003

Arnold wouldn't exaggerate about sex and drugs in an interview with Oui, would he? Next you'll say that some of the letters they print aren't completely true!
posted by straight at 8:32 PM on August 28, 2003

While I too would appreciate a bit of honesty and humanity in political candidates, Arnold's exploits seem extreme. Indeed, in his description of the Gold's Gym gang-bang he sounds like a borderline sexual predator.

An aside: I rather wish Bush had been interviewed by Oui in the 70's. His stories would likely have been even more 'colorful'.
posted by aladfar at 8:49 PM on August 28, 2003

aladfar, one of my favorite reveries is Gee-Dub in the height of his Tony Montana years. If you take a look at this biography on on the whitehouse site, you'll see, well, a sparce stretch between the middle 70s and the late 80s. I like to imagine what those days looked like.

In my reveries, he's plowing through lost weekends in tennis shorts, hanging out mostly with his dad's re-assigned SecServ spooks. Stacks of useless papers on this all-glass desk.

Debaucherous good times, with an edge of megalomaniacal self-destruction. Everyone kinda worries about old George, but he's always the man to find at the party. I bet he was charming as hell, and the kind of guy who connected to people, who could make them feel special. Similar to the Pumping Iron Arnold in his candid love of people and pleasure and in his zest for life.

Who knows how it really was for Arnold or for George? People get older and they change. George and Arnold both had to take crash courses in curbing their honesty, and that experience appears to have stunted their spirits. Caging a free (perhaps too free) heart seems to turn jubilant, self-absorbed Dionysians into smirking, sanctimonious jerks. So it goes.
posted by squirrel at 9:45 PM on August 28, 2003

Now you too can own this interview. Someone on ebay is selling that copy of the mag. Last bid I saw was over $700...weird.
posted by dejah420 at 10:03 PM on August 28, 2003

they're clean but they're also batshit crazy from leading the uber-Jebus life.

Hmmm. So it's a lack of recreational drug use that makes you crazy?
posted by weston at 10:50 PM on August 28, 2003

Well, duh.
posted by squirrel at 11:59 PM on August 28, 2003

Schwarzenegger doesn't shy away from telling Manso about his substance abuse, either. He claims in the interview that he mixes whiskey in his protein drink -- and smokes both marijuana and hashish, "not hard drugs." This was not a mere passing fancy, but seemingly a regular habit.

"I get stoned. I do my own thing," Arnold boasts.

It should be interesting to see how the voters in California react to these quotes.
Positively, I expect.

The author of that article, Roger Friedman, comes across as a pious, obnoxious, sneering twit. No surprise there, of course, him being a mainstream journalist.

The snarkiness and cynicism in "who seems to have no clue that one day his words could be used against him" are just plain disgusting. I wish the world were full of people who spoke without the thought that their words might be used against them, because the way I would describe people like that is "forthright and honest".
posted by aeschenkarnos at 3:12 AM on August 29, 2003

These revalations have little impact on me, since I already deeply resented the fact that he was being considered as a serious candidate.

Arnold was a bodybuilder, then a movie star, and now he wanted to be a governor. What makes me crazy is that he had a good chance at that last one simply because of his celebrity. And how far would GWB have come without having a former president as his father? The fact that the rich and famous have such a leg-up when it comes to political candidacy really bothers me, especially since it seems to me that these people are usually the least qualified to consider the welfare of those on the opposite. or even the middle, end of the spectrum.

Do you know who I would want as governor? Dhartung. Maybe president. How famous is Metafilter? Do you think dhartung could get in on that whole "celebrity" thing? Are you with me? DHARTUNG MUST RUN!! DHARTUNG MUST RUN!!

/only half-joking
posted by taz at 4:21 AM on August 29, 2003

Not true. The fact that Schwarzenegger and other wannabe politicians lie about having smoked marajuana is what reinforces the idea that drug use is bad.
Exactly. I can't help but think that the world would be a better place if Clinton had just had the balls to tell his handlers to get bent then stand up and say "I smoked, I don't feel guilty. But I don't do it now because it temporarily impairs your judgement and gives ya the munchies. Which as leader of the free world is not a good state to be in at anytime."
posted by Mitheral at 11:03 AM on August 29, 2003

Instead of helping him or even politely declining to offer advice, Arnold instead deliberately chose to sabotage the bodybuilder's chances of winning or even placing in the contest by betraying his confidence (i.e., by deliberately misleading him under the guise of appearing to be his benefactor) and negating whatever serious efforts and preparations the bodybuilder had put into preparing for his first contest. In all likelihood, this individual never competed in bodybuilding again. As this bodybuilder was an amateur, and thus not a threat to Arnold in terms of being a competitor at the Mr. Olympia level of development, one might well wonder why Arnold would feel the need to act so maliciously and what benefit Arnold could have derived from subjecting the young man (and his psyche) to such public humiliation.

This is what bothers me about him-- what a mean spirited, sadistic creep he was when he was a bodybuilder, as noted and linked here. Jeez, Bush's obsession with revenge is at least about people who crossed him. Imagine what kind of hardball politics we'd see from this prick if he got in.
posted by y2karl at 11:37 AM on August 29, 2003

Do you think dhartung could get in on that whole "celebrity" thing? Are you with me?

That depends. Where does dhartung stand on plo chops?
posted by homunculus at 2:14 PM on August 29, 2003

Do they mean "neophyte" (which he is, in the political arena), or "parvenu" (which seems to go better with the whole "vulgar" angle)?
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:41 PM on August 29, 2003

Where does dhartung stand on plo chops?

At the corner of 5th and Main?
posted by taz at 10:30 PM on August 29, 2003

I agree with insomnia - the problem in public figure's life is not so much the act, it's the cover-up.

If people just came clean and said up-front "yah - i did that" - it would be acknowledged, and everyone can move on. Playing dumb and blowing off talking about touchy topics is a bad character trait that the press has taken to task on other elected leaders - Clinton, Nixon, Reagan, Davis, etc.
posted by pjammer at 3:49 AM on August 30, 2003