Joe Scott 3: The Body Politic

Arnold the Gladiator

02 March 2006 |permalink | email article

Just asking: Is Arnold Schwarzenegger really serious about being governor or is the former world-class bodybuilder and Hollywood action star reverting to type? Barring a last minute stay for critical state business, he’ll star as a ìgladiatorî god to launch a weekend fitness expo in Ohio.

A blood-and-guts gladiator match is touted as the spectacular kickoff of the annual Arnold Fitness Expo and Arnold Classic, a mixture of competitions and challenges in 30 sports this weekend in Columbus.

But critics wonder anew whether his current political role is really a cover for an unrequited passion for an emergent sport, touted in ads, the San Francisco Chronicle noted, ìas pure might battling pure fear,î a marriage of ìraw power and brute forceî complete with girls, guts, blood and plenty of grit.

Last fall, the governor signed legislation paving the way for gladiator fighting to be legal in California ñ where the first such state-sanctioned card, described by a pay-for-view fight promoter as ìlegalized barroom brawlsî, is planned for next week in San Jose.

The sport is also known as cage fighting or mixed martial arts. Arizona Sen. John McCain, who will headline a $$$$ fundraiser for the governor this month in Beverly Hills, has condemned it as ìbarbaricî cockfighting with humans.

Schwarzeneggerís fascination with bread and circuses comes as a new Field Poll reveals that while he’s still unpopular with voters, his studied remake has given a slight boost to his re-election prospects. Field pollster Mark DiCamillo says many voters are still reappraising him. It’s not surprising.

ìTheyíre a little puzzled because theyíre not sure which Schwarzenegger theyíll see, the more bipartisan governor or the partisan Republican of 2005.î Hereís a hint: On ìMeet the Pressî this past Sunday he described himself as an ìArnold Republican.î

Will his machismo play, especially with women and conservative voters, succeed? He needs 80% of the Republican vote to win re-election. The new survey notes his conservative support has fallen from 61% last fall to 54% today. Perception matters in politics and the image of the ìgladiatorî card, which finally caught up with Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, could send Arnold back to Muscle Beach. 

Otis Chandler

28 February 2006 |permalink | email article

The Los Angeles Times produced an epic tribute Tuesday to honor Otis Chandler, its legendary publisher who inherited a stodgy family jewel in 1960 and, for the next 20 years, transformed a parochial, right of center, broadsheet into a major American paper.

If a Pulitzer Prize is awarded for obits, the draft filed by the late David Shaw before his death Aug. 1, and Mitchell Landsberg, who re-wrote the text and did additional reporting, qualifies ñ and not just because the farewell runs 13,500 words.

It’s a candid, revealing piece - warts and all ñ about the tumultuous history under three Chandler publishers, starting with Harry Chandler, Otisí grandfather; Norman Chandler, his father - and very influential mother, Dorothy ìBuffî Chandler. How Otis followed an unexpected path as a maverick to remake the paper over 20 years with top talent, often to the displeasure of many family members, is riveting.

That the family, majority Times Mirror stockholders, sold out to the Tribune Co. in 2000, and Otisí disenchantment with its management leading to his praise for the merger, is covered in unvarnished detail.

For a city with so little understood history, the obit is mportant to educate a new generation of readers, and for newly arrived editors and reporters to grasp in the wake of Tribune-mandated buyouts which cost the paper valuable institutional memory.

It was refreshing for many of us who remember the Otis era to see the Timesí former Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Paul Conradís soaring eagle tribute on the op-ed page. Conrad, love him or loathe him, made these pages sizzle. It’s no longer true.

Red-Flag Port Warning Ignored

27 February 2006 |permalink | email article

A just released Dec. 13 intelligence assessment by the U.S. Coast Guard of Dubai Ports World and its United Arab Emirates owners raises new questions about the White House deal.

ìThere are many intelligence gaps, concerning the potential for DPW or P&O assets to support terrorist operations, that precludeî the completion of a thorough threat assessment of the merger. ìThe breath of the intelligence gaps also infer potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities.î

The Coast Guardís red-flag warning was completed just over a month before the six-port deal received government approval Jan. 17, with W. out of the loop. Before a bipartisan uproar, the deal was to become effective this week.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Senate Homeland Security Chairwoman, asked, ìHow could there not have been the 45-day investigation thatís clearly required by law?

Is it any wonder that W.ís approval ratings have reached an historic low?