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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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1 7 - 0 4 - 2 0 0 6 Governor's Penchant for Taking Big Steps Has Tripped Him Up
George Skelton
At this juncture, Arnold Schwarzenegger has to be judged a weak governor. I blame that mostly on his bodybuilder's mentality. The former Mr. Olympia believes everything he does must be the greatest, the grandest, the most colossal. He shows little patience for merely "good." Schwarzenegger also must always be an action hero. The screen star came to Sacramento seemingly larger than life, demanding in his first meeting with legislative leaders: "Action, action, action, action." Never mind that American democracy isn't set up that way. No star can dictate the script. Supporting players also have decisive roles. Checks and balances encourage caution before action — and incrementalism, rather than Mao-like "great leaps forward." In this country, true greatness emerges during times of true crisis: Washington in the revolution, Lincoln in the Civil War, FDR during the Great Depression and World War II. Pat Brown was a great governor — a historic builder — but even he moved incrementally. He didn't muddy up his water bond with highways or schools. Add to California's inherited checks and balances some additional, self-imposed, paralyzing rules — such as the Legislature's two-thirds majority vote requirement for money bills — and even incrementalism becomes difficult. But Schwarzenegger hasn't understood this. He has insisted on achieving the biggest and the most — an instant chapter in the history books. He hasn't figured out that what works on Muscle Beach and in Hollywood isn't necessarily the formula for Sacramento.
This all came to mind recently when I read something Schwarzenegger had
said early last month at the Arnold Classic A reporter asked the governor about intense negotiations in Sacramento over his unprecedented $70-billion-plus infrastructure bond proposal, part of a gargantuan $222-billion plan to build highways, commuter rails, bike paths, schools, levees, water facilities, jails, courtrooms and fire stations. Would he be disappointed if the Legislature scaled that back to, say, $30 billion? "Yes, yes," Schwarzenegger replied. "Because you can't with $30 billion build what we need to build. "It's the same thing if I go to you in a bodybuilding competition and I say, 'Would you be happy with a huge muscular chest and triceps and lats and deltoids, but no abs and no thighs and no calves?' You would say I would look very odd. I would look very top heavy. "Would you be really happy if your body functions very well, but your brain is not functioning very well? "It's a half thing. It's off." I don't pretend to know about lats and abs, but I do understand how the body politic works. It usually can't digest a large platter of varied substance. Soon after his return from the Ohio muscle show, the Legislature — Democrats and Republicans — emphatically rejected Schwarzenegger's big bond package. Legislative leaders, without the governor, today will resume trying to negotiate an infrastructure plan pared to around $30 billion, still a record. It would be more narrowly focused on levee repairs, highway building, transit help, school construction and some affordable housing. Schwarzenegger may be learning his limitations. Aides say he'll probably wave the white flag and accept whatever infrastructure proposal the Legislature sends him because, after all, any bond bill will require some Republican support.
Politically, the governor would benefit as he seeks reelection And California would benefit because it badly needs to start rebuilding its infrastructure. |
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