The Blue Voice

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

100% Americanism: Arnold Schwarzenegger version

Schwarzenegger's little racial crack should show that, despite being a wealthy movie star, on matters of race there are a lot of backwoods hicks who have a more sensible and realistic view of the world.

But it's beginning to look like a Karl Rove special. Now, I have to agree with Josh Marshall that it's foolish to look for Karl Rove's puffy face behind every odd thing that happens in politics: "forget the cult of Rove," he advises Democrats. Chance, miscalculation and regular old blunders play a much bigger role in political affairs than most of us would prefer to think. A complete lack of understanding of that fact is how conspiracy nuts manages to invent imaginary plots and ignore real ones.

Still, the whole flap about Schwarzenegger's comment is a commentary or how dumb our politics have become and how clueless our "press corps" can be.

As a I said in my earlier post linked above, Schwarzenegger's "apology" was not an apology, it was a sneer. One so obviously meant to signal to mean-minded Republican white folks that he's really one of them, even though he's having to support some "girlie-man" environmental policies and things like that to hope to get re-elected, that I immediately thought it might well be his own campaign that leaked the tape.

Here's a few obvious conclusions and questions that I see in this story that our "press corps" seems to be choking on:

1. What kind of fool actually thinks like this? Here's what Schwarzenegger said, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times (Gov.'s Candid Moments Caught on Audiotape by Robert Salladay 09/08/06):

Referring to Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, the California legislature's only Latina Republican. he said, "I mean, they are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

From this version quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, which is presumably the same passage, the Los Angeles Times politely softened the statement without adding an elipsis. Here's the Chron's version:

"I mean Cuban, Puerto Rican, they are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

Good God! I dance the comma-dance below. But does anyone in their right mind seriously think that a person's debating style or emotional make-up is caused by their parents' racial complexions? It may have been a respectable sentiment for British colonialists a century ago. But even then it wasn't anything but blind racial prejudice and any literate person had good reason to know better.

An audio of the file is available along with the Sacramento Bee story I link below, although the link hasn't worked for me yet.

2. Schwarzenegger grew up in Austria. So not only did he grow up in a time and place in which public officials of both the social-democratic and conservative varieties were distancing themselves from any kind of racialist rhetoric after the experience of the Third Reich and the Holocaust. But back during his recall election campaign/coup in 2003, he managed to finesse questions about his pal-ling around with rightwing Austrian policitian Joerg Haider (who has actually turned out to be far more of a narcissistic clown than a present-day Mussolini) by getting testimonials from various people who assured us he was pristinely free from prejudice.

In my early days of blogging, even though I was very much opposed to him, I did link to stories in which one of his bodybuilding mentors in Austria claimed that one one occasion, Schwarzenegger joined some others to rumble in the streets with a gang of neo-Nazis. See here and here.

And Schwarzegger was shocked to hear his own words sounding so crude on racial matters? Please.

3. Old times here are quick forgotten. Remember this report from ABC News back in October 2003?

ABCNEWS obtained a copy of an unpublished book proposal with quotes from a verbatim transcript of an interview Schwarzenegger gave in 1975 while making the film Pumping Iron.

Asked who his heroes are, he answered, "I admired Hitler, for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education, up to power. I admire him for being such a good public speaker and for what he did with it."

He is quoted as saying he wished he could have an experience, "like Hitler in the Nuremberg stadium. And have all those people scream at you and just being total agreement whatever you say."

Yeah, that Arnie, he's a real chamption of racial justice.

4. You shouldn't try the same thing at your own workplace: "I mean Cuban, Puerto Rican, they are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

Any manager in state government, local government or the corporate world (in California in particular but also in other states as well) who made a statement like that at work would be risking a reprimand, a sexual harassment charge (yes) or even a lawsuit against the company. At a minimum, getting a reputation for saying crap like this at the office is not generally a career enhancer.

Any supervisor with a high-school education has probably heard something like the previous paragraph at a company presentation on a supervisor's duties. But the Republican Governor of California doesn't know better? Apparently not.

5. Schwarzenegger the pore persecuted white guy. Now there's a report that the story may have come from someone hacking the computers of the Governor's Office: Police Investigating Schwarzenegger Tape San Francisco Chronicle/AP 09/11/06

Now Arnie's the victim of some nasty hacker? If you just ignore that Schwarzenegger's "apology" was actually a "non-apology apology" sneer, this seems perfectly plausible. If you look at the fact that it gave Schwarzenegger a chance to give a wink-and-a-nod shout-out to the racist and xenophobic elements of the California Republican Party, you have to wonder whether that story isn't a bit too convenient.

The rival Phil Angelides Democratic campaign says that it was publicly available on the Web site of the Governor's Office: Angelides camp denies hacking by Kevin Yamamura Sacramento Bee 09/12/06.

Again, not discounting the possibility of regular old mistakes, this would be consistent with a desire by Schwarzenegger's campaign to have the tape "leak" out.

Via Daniel Weintraub's California Insider blog (Hacks and Flacks 09/12/06), Donald Lathbury of the California Majority Report argues that the recording could resonably have been obtained from the Governor's Office Web site without any "hacking" going on.

6. Why can't our "press corps" see what any ordinary voter can see without a lot of painful thinking? Here's the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle (Flies on the wall 09/12/06). They say that they're shocked, shocked at "the fact that a governor would believe and express such nonsense". (I guess that Hitler quote is, like, so three years ago.) But then they manage to conclude, "Schwarzenegger further contained the damage with a rapid and forthright apology."

Yeah. There were WMDs in Iraq, too. And I'm Britney Spears' love-slave. That is, as long as we're creating our own reality here, aka, making s*** up.

Oh, and then there's that little matter about Schwarzenegger's pandering as Governor to the xenophobic, vigilante-minded anti-immigrant zealots. But, to our "press corps", that can't have any relationship to his making overtly racist comments about blacks and Latinos. No, nothing at all to do with that. In today's LA Times, in a column ludicrously titled Keep the Immigration Debate Civil, Schwarzenegger himself gives some friendly advice (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) to immigrants to stop waving them there Messican flags:

To the immigrant rights activists I say: Change your message. When I came to America, I wrapped myself in the flag because I wanted to be a part of the American dream. I worked hard, learned English and followed the laws. I learned the customs and culture of my new country. I spent time with English-speakers just so I could hear them talk and learn the language from them. ...

What people see today when immigrant rights activists march in the streets carrying Mexican flags and angry signs is that you do not want to join America's house. The message that sends is that you do not want to learn our language or our culture. Unlike the message sent by the masses of Irish, Italian, German and Asian immigrants, whom Americans now proudly call our "melting pot," these images suggest that Mexican immigrants do not want to make that effort.

No, they suggest that Schwarzenegger is pandering like mad to the xenophobes. Look up some pictures on the Internet of St. Patrick's Day and Columbus Day and Chinese New Year's parades and see if the images there are exclusively red-white-and-blue.

My wife is an Austrian immigrant, too, who has lived and worked and paid taxes in California for the past 12 years. But she has a European Union sticker on the bumper of her car. I suppose in the Republicans' eyes, that means she doesn't "want to make the effort" to be a responsible employee and resident of California.

I'll have to agree with their concluding point in the Chron's editorial, though:

It's obviously past time for the governor to bring his office's computer software - as well as the sophistication of his views on race and ethnicity - into the 21st century.

Actually, bringing his racial views into the 20th century would be an improvement.

7. Dancing with commas. Okay, let's go through the ritual. I'm going to borrow the abbreviation John Dean uses for the majority of today's Republicans, RWA (Right Wing Authoritarian).

RWA: But, but, Bonnie Garcia, the assemblywoman who he was talking about said she took it as a compliment.

Me: Yes, and that illustrates...

RWA: SHUT UP!!!

Me: As I was about to say before RWA was temporarily sedated, if you are going to be a Latino Republican or - even more so, an African-American Republican, be prepared to leave any old-fashioned personal dignity at home. This is the Christian Republican White People's Party we're talking about.

RWA (groggily): But, look, that La-TIN-a woman, whatever her name is, said she says the samething about herself. Even in that article you cited from the liberal, terrorist-loving Los Angeles Times said:

Garcia said the conversation didn't bother her in the least. She called herself an "unpolished politician" and said Schwarzenegger had shown nothing but respect for her.

"I love the governor because he is a straight talker just like I am," Garcia said. "Very often I tell him, 'Look, I am a hot-blooded Latina.' I label myself a hot-blooded Latina that is very passionate about the issues, and this is kind of an inside joke that I have with the governor."

Me: Garcia's own sense of dignity is up to her. But anyone who speaks English - actually, anyone who understands the concepts in any language - can tell the difference between someone describing herself as "hot-blooded" (passionate, tempermental) and a grown white guy saying, "I mean Cuban, Puerto Rican, they are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it." One is a conventional figure of speech. The other is bonehead racialist nonsense.

So, Mr. RWA, why don't you take an extra dose of OxyContin and go watch your favorite Ann Coulter videos now?

8. Business as usual. Schwarzenegger has at least been consistent about one thing: With Bills in the Balance, Arnold Hauls In Checks: Groups with an interest in pending legislation help California's governor raise $26.4 million by Dan Morain Los Angeles Times 09/11/06.

As legislators were approving more than 1,000 bills in August, Schwarzenegger was crossing the state, and the country, soliciting campaign cash. Now, as he decides whether to sign those bills into law or nix them with a veto, he will be cashing checks from scores of contributors whose interests intersect with legislation.

Schwarzenegger is vastly out-raising his Democratic challenger, state Treasurer Phil Angelides. He has taken $26.4 million into his reelection account so far this year, compared with Angelides' $13.4 million, according to records filed with the Secretary of State's office.

Last week alone, the Republican governor held five fundraisers, including two on Friday in the Central Valley, two in Los Angeles and one in suburban Sacramento. He has scheduled at least 22 such events this month.

"This is exactly the kind of practice he said he was going to Sacramento to end," said Angelides consultant Bill Carrick.

As a candidate in the 2003 recall campaign, Schwarzenegger called for fundraising blackout periods covering times when weighty decisions were being made. The proposal was a swipe at then-Gov. Gray Davis - the man Schwarzenegger ousted - who used the months when he was signing bills as prime fundraising season.

Schwarzenegger never followed through on his own idea.

And we can also be confident that he won't if he's elected to a second term, as well.

posted at 1:27:00 PM by Bruce Miller

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