Arnold

It was the third day of the Republican convention and I was I was sitting in Burnie’s Bar trying to ignore the whole damn thing when Mario came in. Mario is an educated man, holding a number of degrees, and the Principal of one of our Catholic High Schools. And, though it might seem a contradiction in terms, he is a Republican and a strong supporter of George Bush. He’s not a regular at Burnies, but he stops in from time to time to pick on me.
“Max did you see the great speech on Television last night,” he asked.
“Do you mean Mrs. Bush’s speech? No I avoided it. She’s prejudiced.” I responded, pulling his chain.
“ No, Arnold Schwarzeneggers speech. It was great.”
“ Yes, Mario, I did see it. I’ve always admired the man, what he’s made out of himself. You got to admit he a great man, so I was very disappointed by him lowering himself like he did.”
I thought Mario would have a stroke. He turned pale and started to shake. “What are you talking about? You’re crazy. His speech proved the world that the American dream lives.”
“ It didn’t take him two minutes to reveal he wasn’t going to level with us. He said the country was in good hands. How can he say that when there are 35.9 million people living below the poverty line in our country today and Bush’s only program to help them is to give colossal tax cuts to the mega rich, like Arnold Schwarzenegger,” I answered.
“ You liberals don’t understand anything,” Mario shot back. “The point is that under President Bush the climate is set so that people who want to get ahead, can. Arnold did. He had nothing when he came to the states and he made himself a multi-millionaire.”
“ He made it sound like he was a poor waif when he arrived on American shores, hell he was Mr. Universe, a man with a fantastic body—made in Europe, under socialism—and a big rep. There were a lot of people here looking to make money out of that. I’ll give him credit for making sure he got his share. But, it’s right there that I have problems with his version of the American Dream. Those that have the stamina to climb to the top make up only a minute portion of the total population of America. The country just cannot be completely devoted to supporting their efforts; it has to also provide a decent life for everyone else. That’s not what’s happening under George Bush, nor has it ever really happened in the past. The history of America is comprised mostly of average people trying to make some kind of life for themselves and the big money hustlers united with the politicians getting in their way, ” I responded.

“Max, you’re a communist,’ Mario shot back.
“No, I’m an American. I believe in a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Schwarzenegger and Bush believe in a government of the rich people, by the rich people and for the rich people. The hell with the rest of us.”
“This country was built by men fighting to climb the economic ladder. That’s what America is all about.”
“That’s strange; I didn’t see that anywhere in the constitution. Yet I know what you’re talking about. You take edifices like, the New York Central, Standard Oil, Enron, all built by men fighting to climb the economic ladder, every one of them a pirate. Considering his disposition in such matters it’s not surprising to me that Schwarzenegger’s hero was Richard Nixon, the only American president forced to resign because of his dishonesty.
“There’s no sense talking to you Max Angst. You just don’t understand what America is all about,” Mario said, and he got up and ran out the door looking a little blue in the gills as he went.
“Mario’s wrong. I do know what America’s all about. Every day I see the working and middle class people in this country being lambasted by a system under the control of the Multi-National corporations. I hope and pray that some day soon that is changed. I’m saddened that a man who has been kind of a hero to me, Arnold Schwarzenegger, would support a system that hurts so many people.