"Arnold: The American Dream": A new glossy "magazine" went on sale September 15th and I was lucky enough to nab a copy today at my local CVS. It's called "Arnold: The American Dream."

It's more than 120 pages of prime propaganda about the life and times of Arnold Schwarzenegger, complete with "never-before-seen photos" and excruciating detail about the milestones in Arnold's life -- including his decision to run for Governor of California.

This fawning special edition "magazine" was "compiled" by the editors of two muscle mags ("FLEX" and "Muscle & Fitness") as well as the gang at AMI (American Media, Inc.) who bring you The National Enquirer, among other pubs.

Of course, you wouldn't know any of that by reading this rag since there's no masthead or anything else tying the publication to anyone. I wonder if this type of material is regulated by California election law? Maybe Arnold paid for it himself or his buddy and magazine publisher Joe Weider (whose company Weider Publications publishes the two muscle mags and was bought by AMI) foot the bill.

In any event, this is setting new standards for candidate self-promotion. But we shouldn't be surprised. As one of the quotes appearing in the "magazine" from an anonymous "friend" mentions:

"Everybody enjoys Arnold. He's so much more than you expect."

Update -- Muscle Cramp: Looks like they redesigned the Flex magazine Web site and in the process pulled down the magazine cover photo, promotional text and any other sign of "Arnold: The American Dream." If I'm the big guy, I'm hoping my run for the statehouse doesn't fade as quickly.