Anybody else totally not surprised by the “shocking revelation” from Arnold Schwarzenegger? Was anybody actually surprised by this, except for maybe Ms. Shriver and their kids? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?
It has come to my disappointed attention that politicians and other public figures aren’t reading my blog and structuring their lives around my sound judgment and sage advice. To wit, this post. Once again, I am obliged to be aware of the sexual misadventures of an aging, political Lothario. Thanks a fat, freakin’ lot Arnie!
While democrats have our share of entitled old tom cats ruining lives and shaming wives, it’s more salacious coming from republicans. Republicans have this annoying habit of harping about “family values” and “sanctity of marriage.” For the uninitiated, these phrases translate to “we hate gay people, oh, and women.” Whenever I hear some right-wing pissacre touting the superiority of his moral positions, and how X (gay marriage, science, birth control, what have you) is destroying our country (which we are then required to “take back”), I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Countdown to his arrest for indecent exposure to minors in 3…2…1….!
So, the Governator’s admission (made only after he was safely out of office, btw) that he betrayed his wife and family with his cheatin’ dog-ways wasn’t a surprise. In fact, my first response to Mr. Prairie was, “How very republican of him.”
And since this was a right-wing dalliance, there had to be some extra unsavory aspect to the whole thing. Larry Craig-busted in an airport bathroom; Newt Gingrich-dumped a cancer-stricken wife for a younger, healthier model (did John Edwards borrow this playbook?); John McCain-dumped an injured wife for a younger, healthier, wealthier model; Mark Sanford-dumped his uber-supportive wife for the “love of his life” because cheating on your wife isn’t insulting enough.
Schwarzenegger, being European, decided to add a little classist, upstairs-downstairs action to the whole sordid mess. He fathered a child with a household employee. So the Lord of the Manor got caught boffing the chamber maid. How very cliched.
I know that nobody really knows what happens inside a marriage, except for the two people in it. But I have to wonder exactly what prompted this hurtful revelation after so many years. Ms. Shriver has reacted exactly as you expect her to react to a slap in the face. And just as my opinion of Jenny Sanford increased exponentially when she refused to play her part as the dutiful wife, so has my opinion of Ms. Shriver since she left him.
I mean, really, what did he think was going to happen?