Arnold’s biographer beats up on his old buddy. Good!

Sept. 17

By Chris Reed

Arnold Schwarzenegger was such a disappointment as governor that it’s somewhat of a disappointment that the reason the media have turned on him has to do with his personal misconduct, not the bait-and-switch he pulled on California voters. His decision to switch from a libertarian-lite, pro-business governor to the champion of AB 32 and his version of Obamacare was an utter betrayal. But if you want 21st-century Benedict Arnold to take some deserved abuse, even if it is for other sins, then you’ll enjoy the cattiness and bile of this Newsweek article by Lawrence Leamer, who wrote a highly favorable biography of Arnold after his election as governor:

I hadn’t seen Schwarzenegger since 2004, when I was researching a biography about him, Fantastic. As I greeted him at Caffé Roma in Beverly Hills, I saw a man who appears a diminutive, action-toy version of the movie and bodybuilding Arnold. He is devoid of his once-bulging muscles, and his face looks as if a master taxidermist has been at work. In the ’80s, you would often find Schwarzenegger at his special table in the back of the restaurant, schmoozing with his bodybuilding buddies, smoking a stogie and commenting authoritatively on the breasts and buttocks of women who walked by. Schwarzenegger is still a fixture at Caffé Roma, dropping in after having his hair tinted at a salon behind it. But times have changed. When the scandal broke, a woman shouted “pig” as he walked to his favorite table, says a longtime friend of his. Schwarzenegger has said that he did not hear the remark. But he has heard of the widespread public disgust, especially among women, at the betrayal of his wife in such a spectacularly sordid fashion.

More here.