TheAgitator.com
Classic
Wednesday, October 8th, 2003“When asked how much of his victory Schwarzenegger owed to his celebrity status, state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, who played Zelda on the 1950s TV series ‘Dobie Gillis,’ said: ‘One-hundred percent. If this guy was not a movie star he would not be governor.’”
Just so I am clear, this is coming from the woman who played Zelda on ‘Dobie Gillis.’ And she gets to be a State Senator? People in glass houses Sheila. People in glass houses.
but he is, and that says everything…
Would Fred Grandy have gotten into office had he not played Gopher on Love Boat?
How about Sonny Bono?
Jack Kemp?
Jesse Ventura?
All answers would be subjective but think about it. . .in America would a porn star be elected to office? Italy elected one. . .
Sonny Bono, Jack Kemp, and Jesse Ventura also played Gopher on Love Boat?
Man, I knew I was out of it in the 70s, but not that out of it.
[cliff claven]
It’s a little known fact that not only did they play Gopher but, eh, they also shared the role of Fonzie on Happy Days as well!
[/cliff claven]
Well, now you know! I knew I was going to get nabbed for that one. . .
I hate to bring up the obvious, but Ronald Reagan, anyone?
Arnold is no Ronald Reagan.
J.C. Watts, Steve Largent, Tom Osborne, Connie Mack (grandson with same name), Clint Eastwood, Fred Thompson, the guy who was on Dukes of Hazzard (can’t remember his name but he was a Congressman from Georgia)
Was Jesse Ventura any different? Was he as bad a governor as you say Arnold will be?
If we’re talking about movie stars turning politicians, why not mention Reagan? There’s no real comparing Reagan and Arnold in any other respect, but they both clearly broke into politics via showbiz.
“the guy who was on Dukes of Hazzard (can’t remember his name but he was a Congressman from Georgia)”
Ben Jones (Crazy Cooter comin’ at ya!) was a Member of Congress, 4th district of Georgia, 1989-1993(D) according to IMDb
At least she has an open mind.
not.
I think the Zelda lady is an out lesbian, which kinda gives her an interest-group constituency.
Arnie’s is, what, meatheads?
Fred Grandy was also on Monster Squad. Anyone actually remember that?
Down with Brian M. Westhoff!
Danno49,
Nice pick up on Cooter. I was too lazy to look up his name.
JD Hayworth was a pretty well-known teevee sports guy in Phoenix before he became a House Rep. Mark Dayton was the well-known professional charitist-activist scion of the Dayton-Hudson retail corp here in Minnesota before he became a senator. Local celebrity is plenty to be elected, it’s just that Schwartzenegger was plenty plus some celebrity to be elected governor of just one state. There’s little difference, far as I’m concerned.
This is dumb. If Westhoff had bothered to do any research–other than in his nether regions, he might have learned that she had far more experience in law and government than Arnold. And that she was elected to the state assembly before the senate.
http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/servlet/gov.ca.senate.democrats.pub.members.memDisplayBio?district=sd23
Even Jesse Ventura had more experience in government (he had been a mayor) than Arnold.
raj,
My point was not that Zelda is a bad State Senator, or that she doesn’t have expirence herself. Nor was it that Conan will do particularly well as governor. My point was only that it seems like most those involved in California politics were involved in show business at one time or another, so discrediting someone as ‘famous’ may not be the best line attack.
If you want to discredit them as inexpirenced, that is something entirely different. If you look at the quote though, that is not what she is saying.
I also found it amusing the dig that the writer of the article seemed to be taking at Zelda, by bringing up her own claim to fame right along side her quote.
Finally, I have yet to blog on my ‘nether regions’ but believe you me, when I do, that research I’m doing will most decidedly pay off.
PS - Up with Richard White!
Bobby,
What? We’re supposed to work during work hours? LOL =
PPS. . .
Bryan and Richard:
UP WITH PEOPLE!!!!!
Sorry. Seeing as there were some 70’s icons invoked. . .I couldn’t help myself.
I live in Europe - you should see the news here — the Austrians are delighted about Arnold’s success!! Regardless of how he got there - they think it’s super.
I think if anyone has been researching their nether regions, particularly with their head, it’s “raj”. If anyone thinks for one minute that Kuehl didn’t cash in on her celebrity status (even if it was playing dorky dyke Zelda on “Dobie Gillis”) in order to get elected to public office, then not to put too fine a point on it, you are an idiot. Clearly Kuehl was being a hypocrite with her statement, as it equally applies to her, certainly when she was at the beginning of her political career (just as Schwarzenegger is now).
Now, one can say she has “more experience in law and government than Arnold”, given that she’s been involved in California state politics for some years now. But this is rather like saying a 26 year old with a driver’s license is a “more experienced” driver than a 16 year old with the same sort of license. This by no means proves the 26 year old is a good driver.
I don’t live in California (thank God; I’ve been there and was not impressed; they don’t call it the “Land of Fruits and Nuts” for nothing), hence it’s politics are of, at best, mild interest only. However, based on what has come out in the past year or so about the soon-to-be-former governor, not to mention the breakdown of Tuesday’s vote, it seems unlikely that Arnold could do any worse as governor than Gray-out Davis…:)
Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger will be well served by the same thing that made Reagan a great leader; a moral compass and some common sense.
I’ll bet it was a lot more like 50-50 in the ‘gropings’ that have been alleged; you can bet Arnold never groped that thing who used to play Zelda. Ewwwww!
Bryan Westhoff on October 9, 2003 09:17 AM
“My point was only that it seems like most those involved in California politics were involved in show business at one time or another, so discrediting someone as ‘famous’ may not be the best line attack.”
Don’t dig yourself into a deeper ditch, or you’ll probably embarrass yourself even more.
You drew an equivalence between Sheila Kuehl and Arnold Scharzenegger based on what you perceived to be their notariety in their acting careers when they were elected to office.
Arnold was last in movies, what–a year ago? Two years? Irrespective of when he was last in movies, the fact is that his movies are shown on TV on a regular basis.
Sheila Kuehl was last in TV, what, 30 years before she went into politics? How many people would have heard of the Dobie Gilles show at that point? Probably far fewer than those who would have heard of Arnold.
And, unlike Arnold, she started in the lower house of the state legislature. Unlike Arnold, who wanted to start at the top.
“My point was only that it seems like most those involved in California politics were involved in show business at one time or another, so discrediting someone as ‘famous’ may not be the best line attack.”
That’s bullshit, and you know it. You made reference only to one other person–Sheila Kuehl. Not to anyone else who had been involved in show business and who later became involved in CA politics. And to suggest that Sheila Kuehl–at the time she was elected–was famous as a result of her stint in the 1950’s show “Dobie Gilles” is idiotic in the extreme.
“If you want to discredit them as inexpirenced, that is something entirely different.”
Sorry, dear, but you are the one who is suggesting that Kuehl’s statement should be discredited because she was in the same situation as Arnold when she was elected. You have not shown that. And stop trying to change the subject–that is dishonest.
I clicked on here because someone had suggested that there was some intelligent liberatarian discourse here. Obviously, that person was an idiot.
The Captain on October 9, 2003 04:45 PM bloviates
>If anyone thinks for one minute that Kuehl didn’t cash in on her celebrity status (even if it was playing dorky dyke Zelda on “Dobie Gillis”) in order to get elected to public office, then not to put too fine a point on it, you are an idiot.
Your evidence for this being—what? How many people do you think (a term I use with trepidation) had even heard of Dobie Gilles when she first ran for office?
Typical right wing bloviating. And your reference to “dyke” is even more telling.
Too be honest raj, I find it difficult to believe I am even responding to this line of attack. I do so only because of the sheer fervor you seemed to have worked yourself into over my simple observation that there is something funny about Zelda complaining that Conan’s election might have benefited from his fame. Just to be clear, I meant this post as ha-ha funny, rather than “there’s something rotten in the state of Denmark.”
Apparently however you have taken great offense that I would even brush up against questioning Zelda’s credentials, so let’s look at your points.
1) Arnold is more popular (well-known) so the criticism is valid. Nobody remembers Zelda was Zelda so her fame doesn’t matter.
I disagree. First, my guess is that the newspapers and television stations remembered that she was Zelda. (This is evident by the fact that this article referenced her role even when taking her comment about Conan. You think they didn’t realize that when she was running?) My guess also is that they paid more attention to her campaign than they otherwise might have. Even if the general public didn’t remember her as well, they got to hear her position more than other candidates because of her fame.
Second, the fame of the candidate is relative to the office they are seeking. Arnold is going for governor. No way he wins if he is a washed up has-been. See Gary Coleman. Zelda is going for State House Rep. My guess here is that the person she is running against was equally inexperienced at the time so her small amount of fame was enough in the minds of some voters. Also, again, it was enough to get her greater press coverage over the ‘former head of the small businessman’s association’ or whomever she was running against.
Is that preferable? No. I don’t like it any more than you apparently do that someone who is more famous and inexperienced got to be governor, while someone less famous had to start in the State House and work her way up. Still, fame did play a big role in both of their initial campaigns. You seem okay with it for Zelda because it was a lower office. Fine, fair point. But you can’t deny that she benefited from fame.
2) It is dishonest to say all california politicians were in show business.
I was not trying to be dishonest. I was thinking about Sunny Bono and Ronald Regan, and my general perception that there were others (although now that I am called out, was Bono Colorado? I really can’t remember). In any case, that is why I italicized “seems.” I know not every California politician was in show business. I just felt like enough of them were that it was not ‘abnormal.’ If that confused you, I am sorry. I’ll work on that.
3) I was trying to discredit Zelda.
I never said Zelda’s statement should be discredited. Only that she might not be the best person to make it. (Actually, truth be told, I simply found it funny that she was the one to make it. But let’s avoid my sense of humor since we apparently aren’t on the same page on that one.) I have said, I think I have shown, that at some point, probably in her race for State Rep., Zelda was in the same position as Conan. She was inexperienced and famous. You are exactly right that State Rep. is lower stakes and so the general public should be less concerned if someone less experienced is elected. It probably is better than Arnold getting elected. Doesn’t mean its not still somewhat hypocritical. Why not tell him to start somewhere lower rather than knock him for being famous?
Finally, just so I know, is Zelda your mom or aunt or something? I don’t want to unnecessarily piss you off if you both are related. If that’s the case, I’ll lay off laughing at articles that paint her as a hypocrite. Sorry again.
Bono was a Rep. from California as well as Mayor of Palm Springs previously. I think he died in Colorado, that might be where the confusion is.
Bryan Westhoff on October 10, 2003 09:37 AM…
…bloviates…
>Just to be clear, I meant this post as ha-ha funny, rather than “there’s something rotten in the state of Denmark.”
Liar. You meant to draw an equivalence between Kuehl’s statement and Arnold. There was no “ha-ha funny” about it. You intended to demean the Democrat in favor of the (nominal) Republican. You are a liar. And you know it.
Not unlike the other Republican, Rush Lamebrain.
As to your “jabs”
>so let’s look at your points.
>1) Arnold is more popular (well-known) so the criticism is valid. Nobody remembers Zelda was Zelda so her fame doesn’t matter.
Another lie. Not atypical of right wingers nowadays. Why do you not quote what was said, instead of doing your own spin on what was actually said? Moreover, why don’t you do your own research?
You said “Just so I am clear, this is coming from the woman who played Zelda on ‘Dobie Gillis.’ And she gets to be a State Senator?”
Well, it would be obvious to anyone who bothered to do any research that she did not “get to be” a state senator merely because she played Zelda on Dobie Gillis. She first became a lawyer–according to HER bio, a respected one–and then was elected to a spot in the lower house of the CA legislature. There is no evidence that she was elected merely because she had been on the Dobie Gillis show. Unlike Arnie, who was elected after his movie career.
>2) It is dishonest to say all california politicians were in show business.
>I was not trying to be dishonest.
That’s sweet. Set up a straw man. I did not say that “all california politicans were in show business.” Is it typical of people posting on this web site to set up straw men? You are a liar, and you know it.
>3) I was trying to discredit Zelda.
>I never said Zelda’s statement should be discredited. Only that she might not be the best person to make it.
Another lie. You tried to discredit her statement on the basis that she had, in her YOUTH. been invoved in a TV show. In contrast to your preferred candidate, who had been in movies what–six months ago?
Look, it is fairly clear that this place is a joke. You people lie. It is clear to me that any idiot can set up a web site, and more than a few people have. You are among the idiots who have.
Don’t be so hard on Brian. He can’t help it that he’s the idiot stepchild on this site. Just pay attention to who writes what and ignore his pieces, you’ll be a lot happier.
Raj needs to lighten the fuck up.
raj,
If the site is so stupid then why do I see your comments all over it? You can disagree with someone’s post and even believe it to be stupid but I assure you that there is less stupidity here than your broad brush has painted. If you disagree, you can always go to a more high minded, or more to the point like minded, website. I disagree with alot that is on this site but I believe it helps to spread around and see other points of view. This is a good resource for a number of issues, others are best at other issues, and some are complete propoganda for party lines. If you believe this to be a propaganda site I disagree, but if I did feel that way I would choose not to continuously return only to criticize. But whatever floats your boat.
Mate, if knew your stuff about Arnoold, you would know that he was ablet to pormote his child care program through his popularity and one the Humainty Awrad before becomeing Governor. So we see he used his name to support what he believed in, not to be bigger than he allready is.
Zelda doesn’t do Dobie anymore….
Instead, she attacks the Terminator! Arnold Schwarzenegger recently used the term “girlie men” in a disagreement with lawmakers, and for this he’s being denounced for “homophobia”: Democrats said Schwarzenegger’s remarks were insulting to women and gay…