Will voters terminate Arnold's campaign?
8/10/2003
A dozen Lemmon Drops to nibble on while waiting for the year's first 9/11 television special:
I'm working on a theory that goes something like this: Your level of hypocrisy is proportional to the “extremism” of your political ideology.Take hard-line conservatives, for example. How in the world can they be supportive of Arnold Schwarzenegger's bid to become California's governor when they were so arrogantly dismissive of the political views expressed by Hollywood types, such as Susan Sarandon and Martin Sheen, before we invaded Iraq? Oh, that's right -- Mr. Schwarzenegger, a “Hollywood elitist” if there ever was one, is a Republican.
Can you imagine the mocking Ms. Sarandon or Mr. Sheen would have been subjected to had they announced on The Tonight Show that they were running for governor? Mr. Schwarzenegger does it, and he's hailed as “another Ronald Reagan.” Go figure.
National Amusements, Inc., wants to serve alcohol at its movie complex in Maumee. Some people are upset because they believe alcohol and underage patrons are not a good mix. If that's the case, then shouldn't alcohol be prohibited at Fifth Third Field? I'm all warm and fuzzy over the decision by the Lucas County commissioners to return Children's Wonderland to the Lucas County Recreation Center. Now if only Tiedtke's would reopen. ... Did I read this right? Toledo Mayor Jack Ford's executive assistant received a $13,000 raise -- going from $52,000 a year to $65,000? Looks like the budget's belt-tighteners may have missed a loop. I wonder how much money Big Tobacco will funnel into Toledo in an attempt to repeal the city's smoking ban. At the place where I purchase my morning coffee, these words on the entrance and exit doors serve as a daily reminder that Toledo might yet catch up with the rest of the country: “For everyone's comfort, this McDonald's is smoke-free.” What a concept -- for everyone's comfort. A question for anyone who opposed the election of the Rev. Gene Robinson as the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop: Would it be better to have a closet homosexual in this position? After all, the Rev. Robinson could have kept quiet -- as countless members of the clergy have done through the years. Hopefully, society learned something from the Catholic Church's sex-abuse scandal. I'm thinking Toledo would make for a good case study in “levy fatigue.” Ditto for Otsego. Something tells me that if voters approve the levy for Toledo Public Schools in November, the smoking ban will be upheld. And if the levy fails, the smoking ban will be repealed. President Bush has taken a monthlong vacation in August in each of his first three years in office. I'm guessing he won't do that in 2004. The only question is, will he focus on the country's problems then or be out campaigning? Memo to Jerry Springer: You made the right decision. You saved Ohio from being the laughingstock of the nation. Toledo's Tall Ships festival lost $80,000? Good thing it was only a five-day event. Or maybe that was the problem.
