Arnie
Commentary by PAT MURPHY
Remember Democrat-actor Warren Beatty’s playful taunts
about maybe running for president in 2000? Now it’s Arnold
Schwarzenegger hinting he might be a Republican candidate for California
governor in 2002.
Actors aren’t new to California politics, of course.
Ronald Reagan was California governor. The late song-and-dance film actor
George Murphy was a U.S. Senator from California. TV comic-singer Sonny
Bono was a congressman when he was killed in a skiing accident.
Although Schwarzenegger is well-known as a Republican
political junkie, his making necessary sacrifices to become governor is
far-fetched. He’d have to abandon his lucrative movie career to pore
over the nation’s largest state budget, deal with politically unpopular
energy crises, deliver State of the State speeches, make promises to
campaign donors, spend his waking hours as a public figure wrestling with
the problems of 32 million Californians.
That means lost film roles; few fly-away vacations in his
jet to his Ketchum home, and good-bye to carefree days hanging out on
Baldy slopes and driving his Hummer around town.
I saw Schwarzenegger the other day at Christina’s,
relaxed and leisurely reading The New York Times over lunch in his
grungies, passersby granting him his privacy, and no urgency to rush
anywhere.
Why would anyone sacrifice all that to run for California
governor?
#
Hardly had Ketchum Postmaster John McDonald been asked by
the city council about door-to-door mail delivery for businesses when the
U.S. Postal Service produced the probable answer: another rate increase
may be on the way because of higher costs.
Door-to-door delivery for Ketchum businesses would lead to
demands for residential delivery.
And then Sun Valley would want equal treatment.
Imagine the number of additional personnel and vehicles
needed for door-to-door delivery and their costs.
Beyond that, though: why can’t those who’re so
impatient for change appreciate the present system?
Going to the Post Office to pick up mail preserves some
semblance of our friendly small town character and gives residents a sense
of community.
It’s a lifestyle that helps bolster friendships,
provides time to exchange gossip and community news, creates a setting
where newcomers can get a grasp of what we’re all about.
#
When someone wrote an obscure bill for this year’s state
Legislature making a minor adjustment to the boundary shared by Blaine and
Minidoka counties, Blaine came out "Blame County" – not once
but twice.
Maybe a Freudian slip by a bureaucrat who dislikes Blaine
County?
#
Buried in the 73-page Otak report studying Wood River
Valley transportation and road problems is a recommendation for a weekend
and evening shuttle between the Bellevue-Hailey area and Ketchum for
teenagers to attend events otherwise inaccessible to them.
A dandy idea. Some families lack the luxury of carting
offspring around the county, which means some youngsters are left to
create their own entertainment ¾ or mischief.
Businesses that’ve happily helped build recreation
facilities could get this shuttle idea up and running to once again show
young people that adults in this community care.
