New York, NY —
Well, this has been such a mixed up week in the news, I am now having trouble separating real life from the movies.In True Lies, Arnold plays an undercover CIA agent, whose wife doesn't know that he's searching for nuclear weapons, believed to be in the hands of Arab terrorists. In real life, Ambassador Joseph Wilson was searching for nuclear weapons material believed to be destined for Arab terrorists, while his WIFE was really working for the CIA.
In True Lies, Arnold's wife thinks he's a boring civilian and engages in extramarital sex for scintillating fun. In real life, Arnold claims to find his wife scintillating, but admits to sexually harassing other women over a 30 year period.
In True Lies, Arnold uses his skills as a CIA agent to track down the hidden nuclear weapons. He finds them and disarms the terrorists.
In real life President Bush's Chief Weapons Inspector David Kay uses his skills to try and track down Saddam Hussein's alleged nuclear weapons, but says he can't find any evidence of them.
In True Lies, the boyfriend is a car salesman but he dresses up as a CIA agent to impress people. In real life, the President was suspended from flying in the Texas Air National Guard, but he dresses up in a flight suit and lands on an aircraft carrier to impress people.
In True Lies, Arnold's wife thinks she could go to prison unless she bugs someone's phone for the CIA. In real life, someone leaks Mrs. Wilson's CIA status to columnist Robert Novak, and might actually go to prison.
In True Lies, Arnold's CIA cover is his job as a nerdy computer salesman.
In real life, nerdy computer salesman Bill Gates donates millions to the New York City Education Department to create smaller high schools. On stage with Chancellor Joel Klein he looks as humorless and nerdy as ever. Do you think maybe, just maybe, underneath that mild veneer nah, couldn't be
Yes, the movies and real life are getting harder to tell apart.
WNYC's Brian Lehrer. You can his call-on show weekdays at 10am.