TOTAL RECALL
Lileks has really been hitting everything out of the park this week. Take today's Ahnuld bleat:
Listened to much radio commentary today on the Arnie candidacy, and as usual there was much lamenting and rending of garments on the ironclad right; he’s not this, he’s not that, he said this, he sleeps with a Shriver, etc. I am always mystified by people who would rather die pure than live with imperfections. Every candidate will always disappoint, somehow. Any candidate with whom you agree 100% is probably unelectable. If your bumpersticker says DON’T BLAME ME, I VOTED FOR AYN RAND I'm not particularly impressed . ‘Cause she’s dead and none of that stuff is going to happen. Doesn’t mean we can’t keep the ideas in play, but if you don’t vote because no candidate vows to privatize the sewage systems and disband the Food and Drug Administration, don’t come crying to me when your marginal tax rate hits 71 percent.
Ever since Ahnuld's stunning announcement, I've kicked around thoughts of who would like him, who wouldn't, who would support him, etc. I have to admit that though I'm pro-life and anti-gay marriage, Ahnuld would probably get my vote if I lived in Crazyfornia. Would I prefer the conservative Tom McClintock? You bet. Do I think he'll win? Um, no. Yes, he's well-known out there and without Ahnuld in the race he'd have a shot, but let's face it--Ahnuld is running and if you've seen that footage of him registering for the ballot you already know he's the 800-pound well-cut gorilla in the race now. The ladies at the registration office were taking pictures of the guy as he asked for his paperwork. They were smiling and giggling and carrying on like it was the prom and they were all lining up to dance with him. The guy is arguably the most popular actor in the world, has a great rags to riches story, actually chose to become an American, and is just cool. Ahnuld for governator.
The blogosphere's Mark Twain also grand-slammed the Episcopaleans' new bishop. Forget the gay part for a minute--Bishop Gene Robinson is a divorced father, having left his family to "follow his heart," as too many addle-brained say these days. The man left his family for sex, yet the Episcopalean church deems him worthy enough to make him a leader. What part of 1 Timothy 3--the chapter that lays out the qualifications for church leadership--do they not understand? Or have the Episcopaleans just discarded the verses they don't like? That's what cults do. And churches that have become politicized into apostasy. Anyway, Lileks says it better than I:
The guy left his wife and kids to go do the hokey-pokey with someone else: that’s what it’s all about, at least for me. Marriages founder for a variety of reasons, and ofttimes they’re valid reasons, sad and inescapable. But “I want to have sex with other people” is not a valid reason for depriving two little girls of a daddy who lives with them, gets up at night when they're sick, kisses them in the morning when they wake. There's a word for people who leave their children because they don't want to have sex with Mommy anymore: selfish. I'm not a praying man, but I cannot possibly imagine asking God if that would be okay. Send them another Dad, okay? Until you do I'll keep my cellphone on 24/7, I promise.
Robinson lives his entire life outside the teachings of scripture, yet his church not only thinks that's okay, but they chose to honor him for it. Somehow because he's gay (mumble that's also not exactly encouraged in the Bible mumble mumble) he can get away with infidelity, abandonment, you name it. Whatever. The PoMos have their own church now. Or, they have another one.
MORE: Go read Spoons too. He squashes girly-man Tim Noah like a little bug, links to a Ferarri piece that bats Katy Couric like a hapless kitten and lands one on Andrew Sullivan too.
MORE: On the other hand, serial liar Robert Scheer backs Ahnuld. That's a problem.
MORE: So why do I, a conservative Republican, an evangelicon, support Ahnuld for gov? Is it just the (R) after his name? Well that is part of it, but not all of it. If you changed the (R) into a (D), would I still support him? First, Ahnuld does have a degree in economics and has turned his muslces into a global empire, so he's not entirely clueless when it comes to handling money. But about that (R)--can you imagine what it must have been like for him all these years to be married to a Kennedy yet be a Republican? Imagine what family reunions must be like for him--everyone else, to a man, woman, child and pet is a Democrat down to the very cells in their blood. Ahnuld is the lone Republican there, and you know he must have taken a lot of grief for it. Can't you just imagine old Teddy sidling up to the Terminator and harranguing him over those horrible right-wing fascists, that moron Bush and his irresponsible tax cuts, the immoral war, etc etc. Yet faced with that, Ahnuld remains a Republican. That says something about him. He may not have much in common with an evangelicon like me, but when it comes to choosing between me and the wackos that pervade the Democrats, Ahnuld decides leaning right is better than leaning left, even though doing so has undoubtedly made family life less than comfortable over the years.
Are there things I'd like him to see differently? Of course--lots. He's almost a Democrat on policy, but not quite. He's hawkish, and seems pro-business and ready to take on the unions--those stances put him at odds with most Dems. And he chose to associate himself with the GOP side of the aisle, and his candidacy will probably bring Californians around to take a second look at the GOP as a whole. And he has a very good chance of winning, and doing well after he wins.