GERRYMANDERING IS ABOUT TO BE TERMINATED! ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER SAYS YOUR DAY IS DONE! MEANWHILE? INDIANA JONES TAKES ON CLIMATE CHANGE..
Big Arnie’s latest mission has been announced. He is to eliminate ALL Gerry Manderings! Now, I dunno what Mr/Mrs Mandering did to piss him off. But NOBODY gives SCHWARZENEGGER a RAW DEAL! So, if YOU happen to be Gerry-Mandering? I would run. Quite fast!
And if you have any notions of outrunning him? I would point you to the following examples illustrating that such attempts are entirely futile..
This guy took out Skynet; bullied Satan; defeated the PREDATOR! Taught KINDERGARTEN! Survived being CLONED! Endured heart surgery, twice! GOVERNED CALIFORNIA!! So tell me, Mr/s Mandering? WHAT CHANCE TO DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE? Answer: NONE! You are TERMINATED!
On serious note? Gerrymandering in this context is NOT a person. Stand Down! It’s actually referring to the manipulation of district boundaries in electoral politics. As in: YOUR votes; YOUR parties and thereby, in effect, YOUR future and its democracy could be at stake, should the practice go unchecked. The main symptoms include concentration / focus on or, by contrast, spreading of particular interest groups and demographics within /away from certain districts. That in turn makes it easier, in theory, to get the result that a Party wants: playing the system without ever actually cheating or rigging an election explicitly.
The logical and also, the ethical thing to do, is to change the system to make it truly egalitarian and expressive of public will in any given sector? Except that is NOT an easy thing to pull off. Even for SCHWARZENEGGER! It needs research, preparation, a war for hearts and minds and awareness.
It won’t be done overnight. But he believes it CAN and indeed MUST be done. If ANYONE can talk about achieving the seemingly impossible? It’s ARNIE!
In context: the man is at war with TRUMP. Their politics on the environment simply do not match up. Trump did not help things by teasing Arnold about Celebrity Apprentice ratings? But to be fair to both sides, Schwarzenegger was known for that very kind of macho name calling and playful banter. It just did not work with him and Donald? One of you LOVED using the phrase ‘girly little men’ about competitors / opponents/detractors and it was not the Donald. Just sayin’, like? 😉
There may also be a pang of regret: the Terminator star could and should have been a Presidential candidate. But for not being born in America; a painful irony for a country built on the immigrant? Surely THAT was another campaign to wage: the constitutional amendment? Perhaps he could cross the floor, turn Democrat and run as a vice president /running mate to the next Presidential candidate? Imagine George Clooney running for the top job at the White House; supported by Arnold? A BATMAN AND ROBIN reunion?
Of course, Schwarzenegger has bigger fish to fry than Trump. And besides; gerrymandering existed long before the current administration; trick is to ensure it cannot keep a stronghold in generations to come. He has an innate political insight; not always correct imho (I think Big Arnie = myopic on education spending / teacher recruitment, despite his excellent after-school stars initiatives). But he ‘gets’ how the system works and doesn’t. An inspirational man and a walking lesson in life and leadership.
This is a very specific cause and even if he cannot prevent the practice altogether, Arnold is surely boosting awareness and discussion and that in and of itself, via mix of charitable drives and mainstream, viral entertainment (building hype also for his next TERMINATOR film) can only be a ‘good’ thing. It is political, sure yet transcends the divide of left/right. If you value democracy in its truest sense? Then you WILL join this crusade against Gerrymandering.
Speaking of worthy causes and crossing political boundaries? Must be something in the air? Literally as in clean air! This same week, HARRISON FORD has been lecturing on climate change.
He took a pointed swipe at the current White House policies but sensibly avoided bandwagon hopping or personal attacks. Like Arnold, Harrison knows his subject. They are both men of experience and know their respective crafts. For all his shrug of shoulders casual charm and hints that he might have many methods with which to relax, so to speak..Ford is a consummate professional. Not an evangelical worker (he always averaged just one film a year so he could, by his own admission, spend the rest of the time enjoying his Ranch) but always in shape, well versed in the history and mythos of each character he played, without going full on method. A career actor that just happened to be a movie star.
Harrison has a lifelong love of the outdoors, from his days as a nature counsellor at summer camps when he was a kid, through his days building houses as a carpenter and, more recently, helping search and rescue missions as a Pilot. Heck, he even landed his own plane in an emergency scenario with great skill. Point is? He knows the wilderness, nature, the outdoors and yes, the ‘science’ behind climate change. Just as Arnie has not selected Gerrymandering at random; so Harrison has very pointedly chosen to speak out on the dangers of global warming.
Global warming and climate change are threats, albeit perhaps possibly manipulated by various interested parties both for and against the very concept. Ford is seeking a platform for objective, empirical data to take centre stage. Arnold is clearing the way by ensuring local regimes can dictate their own terms on such issues, regardless of whose regime is running Washington and the world.
On a FUN note? BOTH Arnie and Harrison NEED to lose za beards! Honestly, a T-800 can do many things but grow facial hair? Nah! And Indiana Jones, though prone to allowing a day or two of stubble to grow, would NEVER go full on Captain Birdseye /Uncle Albert off Only Fools and Horses! Razors are available, lads!
If you DO donate to the Schwarzenegger led camapign?
You are in with a chance to meet him and the cast (including Linda Hamilton and Gabriel Luna) on the set of TERMINATOR 6. Sounds like an amazing opportunity and worth a shot, knowing your donation is helping a worthy cause, in any event.
COME WITH HIM IF YOU WANT TO GIVE!
HASTA -LA-VISTA, BABY! 😉
JAMES MURPHY VILL BE BACK.
