The media's swooning for Arnold Schwarzenegger began long before his victory, with nothing even remotely resembling an expose about the stealth-like candidate until the L.A. Times' revelations of alleged on-the-job sexual harassment, a story that ran only days before the election. Critics charged it was dirty tricks since it came so late in the campaign—a campaign that was only nine damn weeks old!—but actually, the lateness of the story benefited Arnie completely. After all, most people, including Davis and the other candidates, didn't have weeks to yammer on about the Gropenator's penchant for taking ownership of women's breasts and asking them, in the middle of the work day, if they'd like having a man's tongue up their assholes.
But now, ever since his supposed 'landslide' election, media pundits—including the so-called liberal ones—seem to have dropped Gropergate entirely and have become completely and utterly starstruck.
'When the spotlight hit Schwarzenegger, he performed magnificently,' gushed Richard Cohen in the Washington Post last week. The veteran columnist actually said that after watching a Biography-channel piece on the movie-star-turned-governor on election night, he 'can't help liking the guy,' even though he disagrees with 'some of his policies.'
Schwarzenegger's treatment of women, as described by those who came forward to the L.A. Times, is now described by Cohen, who fancies himself a liberal, as merely 'boorish' behavior. That's not a far cry from what most conservatives said, having endlessly railed against Bill Clinton's supposed depravity for engaging in consensual oral sex, while now excusing Arnie's workplace sexual harassment and abuse, dismissing it with a 'boys will be boys' grin.
It might be the glitter of Hollywood—and all those hip catchphrases, from 'total recall' to 'governator'—that got in many editors', reporters' and columnists' eyes, just as it seemed to blind 49 percent of California voters, who actually believe this guy will balance the budget. But you can't discount that much of it might have had to do with the new first lady of California, Maria Shriver, being one of the corporate media elite's princesses.
When the longtime NBC correspondent attacked the L.A. Times for engaging in 'gutter journalism'—for actually doing its job and exposing some alleged truths amid the nine-week Arnie lovefest—you just had to figure that all of her buddies up at NBC and beyond, were saying, 'Oh, poor Maria.' And certainly there must have been much sympathy from her employers, for whom Shriver would become a bigger asset if her husband did indeed become governor of California. Sure, they had to cover the groping once it became news. But their relationship with the candidate's wife surely made all the difference between pursuing the story with passion and covering it as more of the 'dirt' that was coming in the campaign at the last minute.
That was evident when one of Shriver's bosses, Tom Brokaw, interviewed Arnie in prime time and asked for a response to the specific charges by the various women. When the (once) steroid king said he'd answer the charges after the election because he just couldn't focus on them right now, Brokaw dutifully accepted the response. And come on, you have to believe that Tom and Arnie have hung out before, with Maria and Tom's wife and probably with Katie and Matt and the rest of the gang, no? Why the hell was Brokaw doing this interview, anyway?
Meanwhile, as The New York Times reported, Schwarzenegger is sloughing off those who are asking for a response to the specific charges now that the election is over. Can we expect Brokaw to now demand the answers as promised? Don't hold your breath, particularly since Shriver is coming back to NBC, her star rising ever higher. Is it any wonder why so many people in America have so much disdain for the media these days?
Liberal pundits like Richard Cohen, meanwhile, are even saying that Arnie's win should teach Democrats to 'learn the virtue of his moderation,' and to start to compromise on issues like abortion, observing that 'late term abortion' is 'unsettling.' So, women are not only going to get shafted by the press and its pundits regarding the new governor's alleged lawlessness when it comes to sexual harassment, but now they're supposed to learn from Schwarzenegger that they should be moderate on a fundamental issue all about keeping other people off of their bodies too. With liberals like Cohen, who the hell needs the Family Research Council?
The alleged moderation that Cohen is talking about, of course, has to do with the mantras that he and the rest of the media pack spun out regarding Schwarzenegger. And it was based on little more than the fact that he is married to a member of the Kennedy clan, something that supposedly paints him as a moderate Republican even as he courts right-wing kooks. As soon as Schwarzenegger announced that he was running, we heard over and over again that he is 'pro-gay,' with not a shred of evidence brought forth. After some time Schwarzenegger claimed he'd support 'gay relationships' and slapped it up on his Web site, even though he told Sean Hannity he was opposed to gay marriage, saying, 'I believe gay marriage is between a man and woman.' Yes, that is the actual quote.
From this, we're supposed to glean that though he doesn't support gay marriage—like most of the leading Democratic candidates for president—he supports domestic-partnership laws, something the Log Cabin Republicans and others touted. But in the last weekend of the campaign, after Gray Davis signed a sweeping domestic-partnership bill and after the groping charges were surely making some right-wing Republican voters skittish, Schwarzenegger's campaign manager put the word out, under the radar, that the candidate wouldn't have signed the pro-gay legislation. When gay leaders asked for clarification and a statement from the candidate, none was forthcoming.
Now Schwarzenegger has named arch-homophobe, Rep. David Dreier, to head his transition team. Dreier, who consulted for Arnie throughout this madness, has led many a campaign against gay rights, and it's highly doubtful he's going to advise the new governor to bring prominent open gays into his administration. Also on the transition team is Bill Simon, the far-right wacko whom even Davis defeated and who has been a fierce antigay crusader for a long time. Sure, there are some moderates and even Democrats on the team too. But bringing Dreier or Simon into one's camp is equivalent to bringing a racist on board and claiming to be supportive of African-Americans. If the liberal pundits could get the glitter out of their eyes, maybe they'd see that a bit more clearly.
Michelangelo Signorile hosts a daily satellite radio show on Sirius OutQ, 149. He can be reached at www.signorile.com
