At some point, someone is going to have to point out that Schwarzenegger's brave $15-billion bailout for the state is only mortgaging California's future, that his valiant bid to slash the car tax for the good of all is actually falling back on the shoulders of cops, firefighters and city governments struggling to do more with less - and that - to sum it all up with an apt cliche' - the fame-drunken emperor has no clothes.
L.A. blogger/filmmaker Brian Flemming has published an e-zine containing letters from Schwarzenegger lawyer Martin Singer threatening to sue bobble-head manufacturer Todd Bosley. The cover bears a nude photo of Schwarzenegger from his bodybuilding days, and in large, cheerful letters, the words Sue Me Asshole (link not safe for work, in that it shows the future governor's completely naked genitals.)
The synopsis of the .PDF book ($1 for the 300dpi version, though the 72-dpi version is free) says:
Please buy a copy of this humiliating mini e-book (all net proceeds will go toward further advertisement). Print it out and display it proudly on your coffee table. Pass it around via email. Put it on your blog. Make Martin Singer's tactics explode in his red face. And help expose Arnold Schwarzenegger for what he really is: A big bully with a tiny, little penis. CONTENTS OF PREMIUM EDITION
Color Cover...1
Public Domain Notice...2
Dedication...3
Table of Contents...4
About This Book...5
About Arnold's Penis...6
Threat Letter...7
Related Links...11
Final adding injury-to-insult footnote - the governor's johnson has been shrunk via Photoshop in the cover image, according to the site.
Flemming's shield appears to be the public domain notice, an admirably gutsy gambit that should - as this falls within the realm of political satire by use of publicly available imagery and pointed criticism - protect him in the long run. It will be interesting to see how Singer and Schwarzenegger respond, and whether Flemming will have to spend thousands of his own dollars to defend himself in court to prove it.
This celebrity-as-armor stance is wearing thin. You're in charge of the fifth largest economy in the world and you're behaving like - well, like a preening movie star on a junket.
If that's taxpayers' money you're spending to crack jokes for homesick G.I.s more than 8,000 miles from California, perhaps you should consider paying more attention to your own employees, the underpaid teachers and school administrators who are struggling to groom the next generation of Californians for jobs that you're not exactly going out of your way to help create.
We need you here at home, Arnold. Get back to work. You're starting to deserve the tweaks.
Posted by: mack_reed on Tuesday, May 04, 2004 - 12:01 AM
