Commentary by H.G. Listiak

Monday 4/5/2004

Welcome to My World, where there was a time when Arnold Schwarzenegger would market every bulge of the bicep, every tremble of the tricep, all the bumps in the abs, hell, even the space between his teeth might have been for rent. He was a money machine, but not anymore. Now, as his Honor the Governor of California, he has become a lot less commercialized and very political-image aware. He has refused his 175 thousand dollar a year salary as Governor and put his financial assets into a blind trust. But not only is Arnold changing his personal image from the inside, his hardball playing lawyers are doing it from the outside. An Oregon brewery came up with what they called "Governor Ale" advertised as a "no girly man beer" designed especially for California guzzlers under the pumping iron label. The rough house Arnold lawyers quickly terminated the macho malt saying it hurt the Governor's image. But that was only one case. There have been many business ventures trying to profit from Arnold's image as a body builder, tough guy, tax cutting politician. All of them, even a car dealer thanking him for reducing registration fees and a greeting card company, were stopped by his honor's lethal legal legions. Ah but you see, these companies don't have to take it. They don't have to lose the revenue for their products and advertising campaigns. They can keep the tough guy Governor, the no girly man beer, terminator image. The answer is simple. All they have to do is cross the border, promise to hire illegal immigrants, have a good long talk with Governor Jan, and hey, let's party, as I see it ... I'm H.G. Listiak.