"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
says marijuana is not a drug, a British magazine reported Monday. But his spokesman said the governor was joking.
"Schwarzenegger told the British edition of GQ magazine that he had not taken drugs, even though the former bodybuilder and Hollywood star has acknowledged using marijuana in the 1970s and was shown smoking a joint in the 1977 documentary 'Pumping Iron.'
"'
That is not a drug. It's a leaf,' he told GQ. '
My drug was pumping iron, trust me.'
"
Aaron McLear, Schwarzenegger's press secretary, said the governor made the comments in a lighthearted context, noting that his interviewer was
Piers Morgan, one of the judges on 'America's Got Talent.' Morgan is a former British newspaper editor.
"'The governor was doing an interview with the host of 'America's Got Talent,' the newest version of 'The Gong Show,' ' McLear said. '
I think it's important to keep that quote in the context of the environment where it was said.'"
Meanwhile, in another talent competition, a former secretary of state did his best imitation of the guv last week.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, touring fire evacuation centers in Southern California,
was forced to cancel his Wednesday night appearance at the dinner for the Hoover Institution's Second Nuclear Non-Proliferation Conference at Stanford.
"But former Secretary of State
George Shultz stepped in, to great hilarity, and
opened his reading of the prepared script with a Austrian-accented welcome to the state of 'Cal-ee-for-nia.'"What the older Hoover fellow lacked in pecs, he made up for with punch lines, doing his best bodybuilder-turned-action-hero-turned-governor-of-California imitation for the crowd. ('George Shultz is one of the people I admire most in the world, someone for whom I feel great affection,' Shultz deadpanned.)
"Then it was Henry Kissinger's turn for laughs: When introduced to the crowd, the German-born former national security adviser and secretary of state protested that he hadn't been invited to step in for the Terminator.
"'I'm still recovering from the fact that I wasn't asked to read the Schwarzenegger speech,' said Kissinger, with his own heavy accent."
The Bee's Shane Goldmacher
looks at relatives of legislators running for the Legislature, including
Dean Florez's mother,
Fran Florez.
"If she wins next year, it will mark the first time the mother of a sitting California lawmaker would take office herself.
"But, in another way, her candidacy is hardly blazing new ground. It's yet another sign that running for political office in California has increasingly become a family affair.
"From husbands and wives to brothers to cousins to sons and daughters and now even a mom, a growing number of legislative candidates are following in familial footsteps.
"In fact, if all the all-in-the-family candidates win in 2008, as many as one in six California lawmakers could have – or have had – a relative in the Legislature."
"The secretary of state
has compiled the latest voter registration numbers for the Feb. 5 presidential primary election, and there's good news and bad news. You decide which is which," writes Steve Wiegand in the Bee.
"As of Sept. 4, overall registration is down a bit from the 2004 presidential contest: About 67.8 percent of eligible Californians have bothered to register, compared with 70.7 percent in 2004.
"The
decline-to-state-a-party-affiliation folks comprise 19.2 percent, more than double their numbers in 1992. Democrats have decreased from 48.5 percent to 42.5 percent in the same period, whilst Republicans have gone down from 39.1 percent to 33.8 percent."
George Skelton
looks at the role of governors as counselers in chief. "No governor I've ever covered, back to Pat Brown, has done the hand-holding as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's inherently upbeat, super-confident and loves the gig.
"
Pete Wilson looked awkward at disaster scenes, although he began his political comeback by exhibiting strong leadership after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
"
George Deukmejian appeared aloof, his natural personality.
"
Ronald Reagan conveyed shock. He might have grabbed a shovel and filled some sandbags for the cameras, but was at a loss for words without the Democrats or Commies to blame.
"
Pat Brown famously committed the all-time verbal fumble, at a North Coast flood: 'This is the worst disaster since I was elected governor.'
"But all these governors conveyed hope. And their very presence kept subordinates and bureaucrats on their toes during relief efforts."
Finally, from our
CraigsList Files: "A man
was arrested after a government agent allegedly found him in an office building restroom lying next to an inflatable, anatomically correct doll with his pants down.
Craig S. McCullough, 47, was charged Wednesday with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor.
"The criminal complaint against McCullough says he was discovered in the public restroom by an agent for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, which is one of the federal agencies that rents space in the Hach office building.
"McCullough was arrested, and Cedar Rapids police took him to the Linn County jail. His arraignment was scheduled later Friday, police spokeswoman Cristy Hamblin said."
