It has not been a good week for Hollywooders. As we wait for details to see if Michael Jackson really had an X-rated version of Kindergarten Cop, I want to know if Jacko’s gone Asian Pacific American.
That mug shot reveals one scary looking dude.
He’s a spooky kabuki.
And then there’s Mr. Schwarzenegger, who has now officially dropped that unsightly appendage that sticks out of the word governor (”-elect”). He is now the man in charge.
And it’s a good thing he’s a bodybuilder.
Because soon most people will wake up from the recall fog, and the phrase “the emperor has no clothes” will come to mind.
And it won’t seem that odd because Schwarzenegger’s comfortable walking around naked without clothes.
Mr. Universe has had some practice at that.
He doesn’t have much practice at being governor, though.
But what he’s shown so far is that his “politics of change” looks a lot like “business as usual.”
Less than two weeks in office and the governor of the biggest Asian Pacific American community is clearly a groper in more ways one.
Now he’s groping for answers to California’s $10 billion to $15 billion deficit.
He has none.
His answer is just like everyone before him. He borrows. Schwarzenegger wants us to float a bond and go into debt.
Of course, he does this after rolling back the vehicle license fee, aka, the car tax. He couldn’t be a liar. He promised he would roll it back. So he chooses the easy course, preferring to be a debtor, not a liar.
Meanwhile, just where do you think he’ll start cutting back? On business and corporations? Don’t bet on it. He said he’d be business-friendly, remember.
Which leaves his budget axe squarely on the back of our necks — the little people he courted so diligently.
Make that the little people who are citizens.
The way Schwarzenegger is going after undocumented immigrants makes all the immigrant rhetoric he used in his inaugural address seem hollow.
After he talked about having the “optimism of an immigrant,” he made repeal of state Senate Bill 60 his legislative priority.
SB60 restored California’s pre-1994 law that allowed undocumented workers to have licenses. Eighteen other states have the same policy.
SB60 would have made the roads safer for everyone by assuring a standard level of knowledge and ability. And with a license, the undocumented can obtain auto insurance.
But Schwarzenegger’s riding the current wave of anti-immigrant feelings.
In bad times, it’s always present, so for him, it’s out with SB60.
Let the undocumented take Muni — back to Mexico.
When more people use the term “illegal” immigrant for undocumented, it’s a sure sign of a climate shift toward being cold, cruel and uncompassionate.
That’s what’s happening now.
When you say undocumented, people say, “What part of ‘illegal’ don’t you understand?”
The attitude shift is a significant thing.
And, of course, people forget that it’s not just the immigrant. Employers who hire illegally are at fault. They’re the ones who should be jailed and fined.
But that would be hard to do for a pro-business guy like Schwarzenegger. He likes to do the easy thing, preferring to go after the weak, the undocumented. He merely calls them “illegal” and turns them into his scapegoats.
That’s the M.O. of a “strong man.”
Of course, Schwarzenegger makes all those Democrats who reversed their votes on SB60 look as spineless as squid.
When civil rights laws passed in the ’60s, it wasn’t a matter of what was popular. But those principles aren’t at play anymore — another example of politics as usual, where votes and favors will be traded for consideration down the road.
And what do you think is down the road?
Now that Schwarzenegger has SB60 repealed, don’t think he will stop there.
He has too much money in the budget to cut.
So figure Proposition 187, the anti-immigrant measure that cut social services, will be re-born.
But wait, there’s hope.
If I win the tug of the wishbone, the following will happen:
When the business cycle kicks in, the economy will lift. And people will need service workers, maids and gardeners. The corporate ag guys will need farmhands. Everybody will still be selfish, but in a slightly more compassionate way. They’ll come to their senses and tolerate the undocumented again. We’ll realize we need them for business, and of course, Schwarzenegger will do what business wants. Those I-9’s you fill out at job sites. Pure show biz. No one goes after employers at any time. And in good times, no one goes after undocumented workers, either.
And then, just when Schwarzenegger thinks he can light up a stogie and coast in a run for his first full term — bang. He sees that huge Latino and immigrant vote explode in his face — the same force that never forgot the Wilson years and gave Democrats a landslide win in 1998.
“Hasta la vista, baby” will never sound sweeter.
That’s the only rosy scenario Arnold left me after his first two weeks.
It’s a little something to be thankful for, as I sit down to my holiday tofurkey. Now pass the cranberries. But first, let me see your papers.