Arnold's Task

After Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected governor of California, he'll have to work with a legislature that is capable of passing some wacky laws.

Example:

There's a bill pending in Sacramento (their state capital) that will outlaw the hand-pulling of weeds.

The Senate passed the measure, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed it, too, and it awaits a final vote of the entire legislature.

The sponsor, an LA Democrat, says it will protect farmworkers from back injuries.

Opponents say it will result in heavier use of chemicals, the only other effective way to combat weeds, which will put more poison in the water. The late Cesar Chavez, the famous farmworker champion, led a long and arduous struggle to limit the use of pesticides and herbicides, since they made his people sick, but that was in the '70s and now, apparently, chiropractic issues have caught the fancy of urban Democrats.

We guess supporters of bill want farmworkers on weed-pulling duty to be supplied with one of those gadgets that are advertised on TV, the thing that's plunged into the ground and grabs the weed "roots and all."

What would Arnold do?

We're really not sure.

But the weed thing is just a sample of the kind of bills he'd have to either approve or veto.

Our view is this: Arnold is a centrist, politically speaking, who will appeal to both Dems and GOPers. Examples: he's pro-choice and pro environment.

But more than that, he's a cheerleader, kinda like Reagan was, who'll bring unbridled optimism to California's daunting problems. How can the professional politicians complain that he doesn't have the experience necessary for the job? Look at the mess the pros got the state in.

What's the deficit out there? Something like 38 BILLION DOLLARS!

Arnold will get a lot of smart people to work for him to figure it out, while he handles the public relations.

California can't turn to a regular politician at this stage. They're ready for a Super Hero.

Gray Davis, the governor who's facing the October recall vote, came out and tried to match Arnold on the the public relations front today.

He balled up his fist and jabbed it out in front of him to make his point, sorta like Clinton used to do, and announced, in that tinny voice, "Terminate the Terminator."

Then he gave that Eddie Haskell-ish smile, to let us know that he has a sense of humor and might have even come up with that witty quip all by himself.

The man is doomed!

It's over.

Turn out the lights.

Ask yourself this, friends.

Would you call Eddie Haskell to get your state out of its unprecedented hole or would you call this guy?