Yes, but what do you think his chances of winning are? And how is the treatment afforded movie stars any different from that of politicians? Not trying to argue, I just think your second paragraph could just as easily apply to most national level office holders on both sides of the aisle.

Your post reflects mostly only your general sense of resentment toward movie stars, and says very little about Schwarzenegger. When he gets some hostile interviewer playing hardball, he's liable to duck and weave a bit. That's how the game is played.

What do you expect him to do when he's attacked, hang his head in shame and say "yes, I'm no good"?

I also must say that I doubt your claims of empathy with Arnold. You clearly despise him, and communicate a strong sense of being happy to see him getting raked over the coals.

Not that I mind seeing him roasted a bit. You want to be governor, you know that's the game going in.

Uh, Al? The "attack" you refer to was, "Arnold, will you be making your tax returns public?"

His "duck and weave" in response to that, er, attack was to pretend there was an audio problem--and he did it horribly. I would estimate approximately .00000001% of viewers were fooled by it.

My involuntary twinge of sympathy was very real, just like when I hear President Bush struggle at a press conference with a concept he isn't smart enough to understand. I don't like the man, but I can't help but feel sorry for him.

It's ok to hate the president, but few things annoy me worse than fake expressions of sympathy. You hate Bush and Schwarzenegger. You express nothing but contempt for them personally, and for everything that you think they stand for. You clearly long to see these two guys in particular brought down.

Then you declare that one of them has embarassed himself in public, and declare that you "feel sorry" for them. No. You wish to condescend to them by pretending what you think will be the moral superiority of appearing to be sympathetic even to those you hate.

I didn't see this particular appearance of Arnold's that you are describing, so I can't say anything about this particular performance one way or another.

However, I feel like I'm on pretty safe ground to say that you are very anxious to take anything he says or does in the worst possible light.

"I didn't see this particular appearance of Arnold's that you are describing, so I can't say anything--"

Oh, but you can, Al. Oh, how you can.

Yes I can, oh how I can smell fake liberal sympathy from a distance. Oh, yes indeed.

So Al, when did you mind meld with Brian?

If he says he doesn't hate Arnold and Bush, he doesn't. It is possible to disagree with people without hating them. Just because some conservatives and even some progressives spew venom and hate doesn't mean everyone does.

From seeing Journeys With George, he is clearly a nice guy. A bit full of himself, but still someone who would be fun to hang out with and discuss baseball or the recall. But his views are mostly wrong and he has been a bad president.

I'd probably agree with Arnold more than Bush and it would be fun to talk about some of his good movies (including Total Recall & Pumping Iron), but I don't think he is qualified to be governor. If I want to vote for someone who isn't qualified, it would be Georgy or someone else I agree with on the issues.

This actually reminds me when the conservative Illini Review ran a David Letterman style top ten list of the reasons people should subscribe. Number two or three was "Steve Rhodes hates our guts."

I wrote them a letter saying I didn't hate them, I just disagreed with them. And that I was actually fond of some of them, but I didn't want to name any names.

Oh, Brian will make a brief display of "feeling sorry" for Dubya, but every goddam sentence he writes about the president, and now Arnold drips with hatred and contempt. I'm not reading his mind- just his writing.

I repeat Steve's question:

So Al, when did you mind meld with Brian?

Nowhere in his writing does Brian say he hates anyone. That's what you infer. Your inference could be wrong. Since Brian says straight out that he doesn't hate either man (and, for that matter, neither do I), and I don't believe for one minute that Brian is a liar, I must then believe that your inference is wrong.

It is possible to disagree with someone -- and to hate what they do or the movies they make -- without hating him or her.

Steve, thanks for reminding me of the one Schwarzenegger film I did like (apart from the violence depicted). Total Recall was a hoot.

Steve and Natalie--

Thanks for coming to my defense, but I have to disagree.

Al clearly IS psychic. He consistently reaches these amazingly broad conclusions without citing a scrap of evidence.

How else could he do this if he weren't psychic?

I would agree that we mere mortals should continue to restrict ourselves to the claims for which we can cite evidence, but if we did that to Al he'd never be able to post again.

It just wouldn't be fair.

And, besides, he's psychic. I had no idea I hated anybody, but if Al says so, it must be true.

Talk about "mind-melding." Brian's just making up the evilest shit to put into the president's mind and mouth- yet I am just making stuff up out of the air to infer a strong personal dislike for the president from Brian's numerous statements like these:

THESE COMMENTS for example hardly sound like dispassionate policy disagreements:

a woefully inexperienced, prone-to-deceit, probably heartless child of privilege

a cynical, deceitful President who has manipulated an emotionally vulnerable nation, for which he has contempt

Nor does THIS:

"democracy" is just a word, and you don't really give a shit about it

THESE COMMENTS hardly seem to represent the thoughts of a dispassionate opponent either:

While it's likely, given the standard position of Christian extremists on the issue, that George W. Bush and his close spiritual advisor Franklin Graham privately speak about homosexuals the same way that Graham's father and Richard Nixon spoke about Jews, Bush no doubt values the fag-sympathizer vote.

Sorry, I do not get the message that "Brian hates Bush" from those statements. Saying that someone is "cynical," "deceitful," "manipulative," "bigoted," a "terrorist," etc., does not mean necessarily that one hates the person to whom those traits are attributed. Timothy McVeigh was a mass murderer. While I hate what he did, it doesn't mean that I hate him. My teenager can be very manipulative at times; lord knows I don't hate her.

And where did Brian say he was dispassionate? Obviously, he holds strong feelings against Bush's activities and Schwarzenegger's candidacy. All he said, however, was that he doesn't hate Bush or Schwarzenegger. There is a difference, Al.

Taking this a wee bit further, Al, I hate many of the things you express here on Blogcritics, and you know darn well that I do not hate you. If I were to swing through Indy and see you on the street, my impulse would be to give you a big bearhug.

Don't forget the name of that street is "Barger" - Al owns the street. I wish I owned a street.

Al owns the street? He must really be Da Man!

Doggone your hide, woman. It's difficult keeping up the proper toughness when you get all affectionate.

You even suggested some possible glimmer of personal approval for Dubya, like he'd be fun to hang out with, etc. Yet you are consistently opposed to his policies. That is an example of just what you're saying. Hate the sin, love the sinner, as it were.

However, Brian has done NO such thing with Dubya. He not only disagrees with his policies, but attributes the worst possible (and largely unfounded) motivations and feelings to the president, ie "contempt" for the nation. Just exactly this kind of thing is what I'm being totally incorrectly accused of.

My street address is indeed on Barger Road. Oh, the prestige.

Well, Al, I tend not to hang out with terrorists.

I suspect horrible things about Bush's motivations too. Doesn't mean I hate him. You still haven't made your case.

Barger Steet. That is cool.

Strong criticism is not hatred. You may not like Bryan's language about Bush, but it actually seems relatively mild for him (after all, he made a mockumentary about the assasination of Bill Gates and I doubt he even hates him).

I actually lived in Indy for nine years (until I graduated from North Central High School in 85). Last time I was back was to interview to be online editor of Nuvo in 2000 (they decided they couldn't make money online and didn't hire anyone).

I cannot understand how he got infor a second term after showing his economics to California the first time around. we're further in the hole than ever, even with the money he's stealing from pensions and benifits. Also, look who's in his court. The same people who gouged California
in the first place. I know I'll get a lot of disagreement over this, but I really believe Davis walked into a land mine. Look who shot down
all his proposals to correct the deficit. His plans weren't nearly as lousy as Arnold's.