{"id":296,"date":"2003-01-30T14:56:34","date_gmt":"2003-01-30T14:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.ruudmedia.com\/gsc\/?p=296"},"modified":"2017-12-06T15:24:48","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T15:24:48","slug":"thin-skin-may-terminate-schwarzeneggers-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/thin-skin-may-terminate-schwarzeneggers-hopes\/","title":{"rendered":"Thin Skin May Terminate Schwarzenegger\u2019s Hopes"},"content":{"rendered":"

S<\/span>o, governor-wannabe Arnold Schwarzenegger is suing an auto dealer in faraway Akron, Ohio, for $20 million. The offense? Using a thumbnail-sized picture of the Terminator in an otherwise full-page newspaper ad hawking cars.<\/p>\n

To those familiar with his \u201cswat a fly with a sledgehammer\u201d history, Schwarzenegger\u2019s overkill will come as little surprise.<\/p>\n

During most of his movie career, the megastar has kept at the ready a platoon of high-priced lawyers and public relations flacks poised to pounce on anybody who dared utter a word that flies in the face of the former Mr. Universe\u2019s rather lofty self-appraisal.<\/p>\n

In an eye-opening 1992 account of Arnold Inc.\u2019s maniacal attempts to control his press, Spy magazine detailed numerous efforts to browbeat or deny access to journalists or publications that had the audacity to criticize him. One executive from Paramount was quoted as saying that \u201cArnold exercises power the way old-fashioned moguls did \u2014 they could cover up anything, make any problem go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was the intended target of one such attempt two years ago.<\/p>\n

Schwarzenegger had called up Los Angeles Times political columnist George Skelton to badmouth Gov. Gray Davis. Among other things, he threatened to run against Davis unless the governor shaped up according to Schwarzenegger\u2019s standards. The nonpartisan National Journal called it \u201cthe most definitive attack any Republican governor candidate-to-be\u201d had made against Davis up to that point.<\/p>\n

In response, I faxed out to a few dozen political reporters a then-current article from Premiere magazine alleging indiscretions in Schwarzenegger\u2019s personal life. The Schwarzenegger machine\u2019s hysterical overreaction bordered on the ludicrous.<\/p>\n

His Century City attorney sent me a five-page letter by registered mail (return receipt requested) threatening to sue me for libel, and also for \u201ccopyright infringement\u201d if I made the letter public.<\/p>\n

All this over disseminating an unflattering article in a reputable, glossy publication available at any newsstand.<\/p>\n

If the image-obsessed Schwarzenegger decides to run for governor in 2006, he\u2019s in for the shock of his life.<\/p>\n

Commonplace actions like mine in 2001 will be multiplied a hundredfold. Resourceful, well-paid \u201copposition researchers\u201d \u2014 not to mention a phalanx of hungry political reporters \u2014 will turn over every rock in Schwarzenegger\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Maybe in the movie business you can try to bully and intimidate your way into total control over your image. But in a political campaign, it\u2019s a jungle out there. Heavy-handed attempts to silence detractors are more likely to make a monkey out of you than out of them.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s \u201cThe Running Man\u201d going to do when another candidate\u2019s young staffer \u2014 who makes maybe $1,500 a month and bunks in somebody\u2019s basement \u2014 is quoted making a crack about Schwarzenegger\u2019s spotty record of voting? Sue him for $20 million?<\/p>\n

How will \u201cConan the Barbarian\u201d respond when some volunteer for an opponent shows up at a Schwarzenegger event with a sign containing crude, critical limericks about him?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still questionable whether Schwarzenegger will throw his hat in the ring during the next race for governor \u2014 which will not include Davis because of term limits.<\/p>\n

But if Schwarzenegger does run, here\u2019s some free advice from someone who works in the Democratic trenches: That hat had better come from a head significantly less swollen than the one it now occupies. And he\u2019d better be prepared to get off his high horse and take the low blows.<\/p>\n

If not, it may well be \u201chasta la vista, baby.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, governor-wannabe Arnold Schwarzenegger is suing an auto dealer in faraway Akron, Ohio, for $20 million. The offense? Using a thumbnail-sized picture of the Terminator in an otherwise full-page newspaper ad hawking cars. To those familiar with his \u201cswat a fly with a sledgehammer\u201d history, Schwarzenegger\u2019s overkill will come as little surprise. During most of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":325,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions\/325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrysouthconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}