When Arnold Schwarzenegger successfully entered politics, it was proof that the American dream was still very much alive. The Austrian-born actor started his career as the star of Conan the Barbarian. He didn’t speak a word of English. From loincloth to politics, he is now the Governor of California twenty-one years later. Greased up to show off a glistening six-pack, he wore nothing more than a loincloth for covering. But that was okay.

A bare-breasted picture of Lenore Zann is apparently not. This actress and now NDP candidate in Nova Scotia is being attacked for her work on the tv show The L Word.

A Liberal campaign staff member is responsible for circulating this photo, evidently uncomfortable with any L word other than his own. Stephen McNeil, the Liberal leader, denies involvement in this act of dirty politics and apologized personally to Zann on behalf of his party.

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists is outraged. ACTRA National President, Richard Hardacre, commented, “We are alarmed that someone would exploit an individual’s professional performance in an attempt to smear their character for political gain.”

Alarming indeed. Sadly, she is not the first. These kinds of attacks are becoming more frequent, both in Canada and the US, as more women enter politics. Belinda Stronch, the Conservative-gone-Liberal, has been renamed the “Paris Hilton of Canadian Politics” and referred to as “a Liberal whore.” Sarah Palin, vice-presidential nominee for the Republican party, was criticized more for the expense of her wardrobe than her platform in the last election.

In the famous words of Conan, the best in life is “To crush your enemies — See them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!” Let us hope not.

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Tags: arnold schwarzenegger, lenore zann, NDP, nova scotia

This entry was posted on Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 8:33 pm and is filed under Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.