Granted, Ronald Reagan was an actor so, technically, an actor has already ruled the world. But, this whole Arnold thing has me pondering a national political theater in which celebrities are a shoo in for elections.
You know, I'm thinking Ben Afleck as a senator and J-Lo as the governor of Missouri.
Is it just me, or it just a tad creepy that Arnold won the California recall election based almost solely on movie catch phrases? As far as I've read, he never really said anything of substance during the debates. He never really showed that he had a grasp of anything even remotely related to the nuances of running a state government. And yet, there he is.
Granted, we had Jesse "The Mind" Ventura" over here in Minnesota-land, but at least he had some level of political experience prior to our monumental fuck up electing him to our governorship.
I guess I'm glad that it's California's turn to experience the ego of a celebrity intent on pursuing his own agenda of promoting himself, but I certainly don't envy that state. They'll learn, soon enough, what it's like to have an idiot in office.
As for our next president? I'm thinking Clint Eastwood. I think he'd rock.
UPDATE: I should note here, lest I call down the lightning bolts of Zeus from you politically-attuned readers out there, that I'm not making a political judgement here. I'm merely marveling at the apparent power of celebrity status when it comes to modern politics. The Terminator, much like the "The Mind" before him, apparently inspired a turnout of younger, atypical voters. I haven't closely followed the California recall because, well, I don't LIVE there, so there may be more to the election than simply celebrity status. But, from where I sit, that seems to be what most voters recognized, and that just strikes me as creepy.
Posted by Ryan at October 8, 2003 09:47 AM
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