Arnold’s Vacation-less Fantasy World

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Remember when Arnold saved the life of a struggling swimmer last April? He was on a 10-day Hawaiian vacation, right?

So what did the Gov mean when he told radio listeners of the Tony Snow
show this morning: "Well, I mean, I was elected to be the Governor of
this state and to fix the problems of this state and to spend the time
here in Sacramento and all over the state and not to travel around the
country. I haven’t even taken a vacation yet. I have not gone anywhere.
I don’t have the time for anything, because there’s so many things that
we have to fix here. And I’m like a machine. I will not let go until
those things are fixed. It’s that simple."

OK, maybe you forget a week and a half at your Maui retreat. But what
about that 12 day winter vacation in Sun Valley, Idaho around New
Years? Or the weekend in Ohio for the Arnold Classic, a weightlifting
contest? True, he was doing some work then – he accepted the post of
Executive Editor of two fitness magazines on that trip. So what about
the trip to Israel? Or Austria? Or how about his east coast fundraising
swing in February?

Arnold has been Governor of California for less than nine months, yet
he has taken three to four weeks vacation (depending on whether or not
you consider it work to make a fundraising trip to New York and the
trip to Austria for a politician’s funeral). How many Californians
would love to get a month of vacation in their first year on the job?

At Arnold Watch, we think it has to do with the Gov.’s acting
background in which it doesn’t matter whether the script is true or
realistic as long as you deliver the lines well: "I haven’t even taken
a vacation yet." "I am kicking the special interests out of
Sacramento."

Another example of Arnold’s call on all Californians to suspend
disbelief succeeded yesterday, when the State Senate Rules Committee
confirmed the appointment of Charlene Zettel, a former Assemblywoman
who voted against important consumer protection bills almost 90% of the
time as the new Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Zettel’s nomination fits perfectly into that same world where cyborgs
return from the future (Terminator), commandos battle alien warriors in
the jungle (Predator), men get pregnant (Junior) and 10 days on Maui is
not a vacation. In the Zettel fantasy, a politician who supported
special protections for pharmaceutical companies that make dangerous
drugs, opposed improvements to the automobile lemon law, fought against
protections from predatory lending practices and sided with banks and
insurers to stop consumer financial privacy laws is the best person to
lead the state’s chief consumer protection agency.

Consumer Watchdog
Consumer Watchdoghttps://consumerwatchdog.org
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