How Do You Think He Got Where He Is?

Today's San Francisco Chronicle has another in their series about the Governator's meeting with the paper's editorial board: PUMPING HIM UP: Governor's position as a top editor at a pair of bodybuilding magazines may enhance his political celebrity. Ahnold is listed as "Executive Editor" for Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines, with "regular bylines, editorials and columns by California's Republican governor as well as a generous amount of Arnold-friendly copy."

The Chron gives Ahnold some heat about potential conflict of interest, and lots and lots of heat about drug use in the bodybuilding world. Are they surprised? The Governator admitted a long time ago to using steroids when he was a competitive bodybuilder. Anyone who didn't know that in the run-up to his election wasn't paying attention – they probably didn't know about the nude photos or the interludes with girly-men in gyms in Venice Beach, either.

I've never thought Schwarzenegger belonged in the Governor's office, and I still don't. But it seems ridiculous to me to castigate the author of The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding for an ongoing editorial presence in the weightlifting mags. Ahnold is responsible in part for the mainstreaming of weight training and bodybuilding, and has been since long before either his political or Hollywood careers took off. Why shouldn't he continue to do so?