Divided by more than an ocean

[tinyjo]

So Californians have elected Arnie to run their state. Good luck to them. The report on the radio left me with the impression that his qualifications for this are slim to none but the fact that people liked the Terminator films means they're happy to vote for him.* Like the difference in our reactions to David Blaine, this illustrates the very different ways we view our celebrities over here. Can you imagine the mockery and derision if David Beckham stood as an MP? Americans seem to revere their celebrities. Here, we're all too aware of their shortcomings.

* I'm happy to be corrected on this point.

Comments

[jinty]

I object to your selection of UK-equivalent -- Beckham is always having the piss taken out of him for being thick. Substitute someone like Glenda Jackson (MP) or John Cleese or Michael Palin (the latter two having no political qualifications that I know of, and so being a fairer comparison) and it's a different story.

Not that I'm endorsing Arnie by this argument. I certainly sighed in a 'god, what do people get up to' sort of way when I heard the news this morning, though. But I think you have to appreciate that as they said on the Today program, despite their ditzy reputations it's not going to be the case that California overall as a state seriously believes that Arnie will 'terminate' their problems or anything.

[zotz]

Well, he's got a degree in economics, so he's not as unprepared as some. That ought to be helpful, a little. On the other hand, he said that over-regulation was a major problem, which is usually the political mantra of idiots (especially just after under-regulation has been seen to have wrecked their electricity supply . . . )

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

Ah, I didn't know that. The fact that he's said so little specific about what he would do made me very suspicious as to how much he knew what he was doing. Perhaps it's just that no-one is interested in his qualifications to govern other than his popularity.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Is it a real degree, or an honorary one? :)