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August 13, 2003

PLANET SCHWARZENEGGER

Putting it to Arnold, Slate reminds us of his inflated, risk-averse business reputation. Writer Daniel Gross recalls the bankrupt wreckage of Planet Hollywood and what a "glory hog" our celebrity of the people was as that '90s restaurant chain went belly up.

Arnold never had to put up a dime. (That was lucky, not smart.) All he had to do was publicize his involvement with the chain. As a so-called "celebrity investor," he receive "options representing 20 percent of the  company's stock" -- now worthless. 

Gross suggests that Arnold is pulling a Planet Hollywood rerun with his gubernatorial candidacy. He put up none of the capital for the recall and he's hogging the limelight. If he were to win election, why wouldn't the likely outcome for an already bankrupt California be Planet Hollywood II?
 
Another hopeful sign that Arnold's free ride might cost him is Bob Herbert's column "The Art of the False Impression" in The New York Times (free registration required). It underscores the news media's misplaced attention, pointing out that Al Gore's non-candidate attack on the "false impressions" Bush has foisted on the nation was pretty much ignored.  

"Mr. Gore has never been mistaken for an entertainer," Herbert writes. "In the superamplified media din created by the likes of Arnold and Kobe and Ben and Jen, it's very difficult for the former vice president, a certified square, to break into the national conversation."

The shame of it is, Shwarzenegger is not much of an entertainer either. He's just a shrewd Hollywood ornament.

Posted by at August 13, 2003 11:41 AM

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