Arnold calls political opponents "Girlie Men"

[MrBug708]

Democrats are accusing Arnold of being Homophobic and Sexist when he referred to legislatures who refuse to pass his budget, Girlie Men.

Pretty funny stuff

[MrBug708]

Some California legislators are angry with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger after he referred to them as "girlie-men" during a speech on Saturday.
The movie star-turned-politican used the term to describe opposition Democrats he said who are too weak to stand up to unions and trial lawyers demanding changes in the governor's state budget proposal.

The phrase comes from an old television comedy routine where two Schwarzengger-like bodybuilders use it to mock those who lack their bulging muscles.

Several Democratic lawmakers say the remark was insulting to women and homosexuals. State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez said the comment was "beneath the governor."

But a Schwarzenegger spokesman says the comment was the governor's way of saying that legislators are "wimps" (weaklings) by giving into special interest groups.

[rkmsuf]

It would have been funnier if he had said "Instead of passing this bill do you want to touch my monkey?"

[Wolfpack]

This from the same group that has no problem using "Hitler" and "Bush" in the same sentence ad nauseum....

[Franklinnoble]

Bah. Schwarzenegger has done an outstanding job in Sacramento since he took over for Gray Davis. If he runs for re-election, he'll win in a landslide.

[Glengoyne]

Bah. Schwarzenegger has done an outstanding job in Sacramento since he took over for Gray Davis. If he runs for re-election, he'll win in a landslide.
That's right. He will beat any Girlie Man the Dems put up against him. Even if it is a Girlie Woman.

[Lorena]

LOL, that's hilarious!! More politicians should be like that

[rkmsuf]

Imagine back in 1985 if someone travelled back in time and told you Arnold was governer of CA in 2004. You'd have said "...and I suppose the Senator from CA is Sylvester Stallone and the Major of LA is Dolph Lundgren..."

[PsychoCop]

Well, if we follow the line of thinking from Stallone's 'Demolition Man', Arnold's popularity is going to force a new ammendment to the constitution, and be the next president. :)

[mckerney]

Imagine back in 1985 if someone travelled back in time and told you Arnold was governer of CA in 2004. You'd have said "...and I suppose the Senator from CA is Sylvester Stallone and the Major of LA is Dolph Lundgren..."

"Then tell me, 'future boy', who is president in the United States in 1985?"
"Ronald Reagan."
"Ronald Reagan? The actor? Who's Vice President? Jerry Lewis?"
"What? "
"I suppose Jane Wyman is the first lady. And Jack Benny is secretary of the treasury. I've had enough practical jokes for one evening. Good night, future boy."

[clintl]

The "girlie man" comment is no big deal, but I think Arnold's approach to governing is running out of steam. We'll see. Plus, the things holding up the budget are really things that are pitting two sets of special interests against each, and so when Arnold is accusing the other side of giving in to special interests, he's being a little hypocritical.

As of right now, though, my opinion of his is on the way down, and I don't think he actually has a plan. I think he's winging it, and doing a lot of the same things that got Gray Davis into trouble.

[chinaski]

This from the same group that has no problem using "Hitler" and "Bush" in the same sentence ad nauseum....

That commercial was no group, its was a single person who entered his commercial into a moveon.org contest. It didnt win and was never aired.

[Wolfpack]

Oh, and all those posters I see at every demonstration? The numerous bumper stickers around my house that say "Bush/Satan 2004"? Hardly one guy thinks that.

[Warhammer]

Not going to say I was a saint in how I referred to Slick Willie, but it was not nearly as bad as the way people are referring to Bush now.

[chinaski]

Oh, and all those posters I see at every demonstration? The numerous bumper stickers around my house that say "Bush/Satan 2004"? Hardly one guy thinks that.

Your quote was "this from the same group".. In the context of this thread, the 'group' is the DNC. I was just pointing out the DNC had zero to do with the hitler/bush commercial.

[Wolfpack]

Fair point. Though I'm sure some chunk of the DNC probably thinks it, no one's been on record as saying it AFAIK (in all fairness, there's probably a chunk of the RNC that views Kerry as a pinko traitor who would turn this nation into a godless communist state if he wins). Even so, the firebombings that Bush has endured, even in polite political terms rather than "Bush=Hitler" type hate, has been far more extensive than this one remark by der Arnold. I just get tired of this sort of whining about wording when far worse is mentioned about the guy I support and almost none of it gets stifled by media pressure. I dunno. I guess living in a liberal college town makes me more sensitive to these kinds of things.

[bigdawg2003]

i saw a bumper sticker the other day that said Enron/Halliburton '04

i thought it was funny

discuss

[SFL Cat]

Man, the Democrats sure pick the stupidest things to get their panties in a wad over. It wasn't like Arnold was pointing to his crotch and making jokes about the Dems or anything. You guys need to learn to pick your fights better.

[Leonidas]

If anything I would think this would actually work to Arnnie's favor. But then again I'd never try to make any money from trying to guess the average Californian's reaction to anything.

[Glengoyne]

The "girlie man" comment is no big deal, but I think Arnold's approach to governing is running out of steam. We'll see. Plus, the things holding up the budget are really things that are pitting two sets of special interests against each, and so when Arnold is accusing the other side of giving in to special interests, he's being a little hypocritical.

As of right now, though, my opinion of his is on the way down, and I don't think he actually has a plan. I think he's winging it, and doing a lot of the same things that got Gray Davis into trouble.
I don't know what special interest Arnold is cowtowing to in this case. The principle issue he was addressing in the girlie man speech was a provision that would prevent the state government from raiding the coffers of the cities and counties. It is essentially a wired in spending control. I did hear a dem, declare that the Gov. was attacking organized labor, but I honestly don't know what that issue he was talking about.

also Chinaski, Haven't Nancy Pelosi and a couple of other Dems played the Bush/Nazi card?

[MrBug708]

Arnold's popularity will steamrole him into another term without much of challenge. He's done a good job thus far and has been vocal about passing a budget. The legislature is struggling right now though and it seems they are losing a foothold and are grasping at straws. To compare him to Davis is absurb. Davis screwed up this state so badly.

[clintl]

I don't know what special interest Arnold is cowtowing to in this case. The principle issue he was addressing in the girlie man speech was a provision that would prevent the state government from raiding the coffers of the cities and counties. It is essentially a wired in spending control. I did hear a dem, declare that the Gov. was attacking organized labor, but I honestly don't know what that issue he was talking about.



What I'm reading is that the roadblock has shifted somewhat from the local government funding problem to a couple of laws that business groups want repealed (one involving school districts and restrictions on outsourcing bus service to private companies, and the other expanding employee rights to sue employers for violations of labor law). Regardless of the individual merits of the laws in question, there is no doubt in my mind that if you are going to classify unions and other organizations looking out for employee rights as special interests, then business groups have to be considered special interests, too. As one Democrat put it, what the main beneficiaries of of repealing the first law would be private bus companies. How much more of special interest can you get than passing something that helps one small industry? Furthermore, neither one of those issues should be a pressing issue as far as getting the budget done. It is just another example of the kind of crap that both sides do to get something passed that can't stand on its own, and I think, an indication that contrary to the persona he is projecting, he is falling into the old "politics as usual" trap as time goes on.

Now, the local government funding issue is a different matter. That's clearly something that has to be addressed.

[clintl]

Arnold's popularity will steamrole him into another term without much of challenge. He's done a good job thus far and has been vocal about passing a budget. The legislature is struggling right now though and it seems they are losing a foothold and are grasping at straws. To compare him to Davis is absurb. Davis screwed up this state so badly.

Don't count on it. One, I'm reading he may not run for another term. And two, no one knows how popular he will be two years from now. Right now, I'm still hopeful, but on the budget, I think he has stumbled badly, and that he needs to reassess his approach. He does have a lot of things going for him, though, and he's still learning. He has done a lot better than I expected. And, by the way, it is a fact that the budget he ends up signing is going to have a lot of the same kind of gimmicks that were in the Davis budgets, so the comparison in that respect is not absurd, and it's going to catch up with him if he doesn't do a better job next year.

[MrBug708]

Don't confuse Arnold's popularity to that of a normal political. He didn't get elected so much on what he planned to do in Sacramento as he did on just who he was. His comment was more from a movie so I'm willing to guess that everyone just attributes it to something he would say regardless. I think his popularity is rock solid til he;s out. He's talked about wanting to make it legal for people not born in the US to be President, so I doubt he's leaving Political life after this term.

[clintl]

Nobody's popularity is rock solid until they're out unless things go well, and if you think that Arnold can be an exception, you're wrong. If things go badly, Arnold is going to be unpopular.

FWIW, I hope he succeeds, both because the state needs him to succeed, and because I am not all that thrilled with the alternatives. Arnold is the kind of Republican I could support if he's doing a good job, and of the leading Democrats who might run in 2006, Steve Westley is the only one that I think has the potential to be a really good governor. And I'm not sure he'll be quite ready yet.

[MrBug708]

Eh, I didn't vote for Arnold personally. I wasn't thrilled with the recall election. I figured California screwed itself when they voted for Davis the second time around. It was a train wreck waiting to happen. I voted for McClintock, because in every debate, he came across as the lone guy who actually had figures and numbers worked out instead of theories on how to fix the budget. He'd be way to conservative to win in California though.

[Sharpieman]

The problem right now is that Arnold is out in the public bashing the Democratic legislature and not in Sac-town negoiatiing and trying to work out a budget. Plus everyone is giving Arnold an easy time because he's Arnold. The media hasn't been very critical of him at all. He's done an OK job so far, although he did mess up negoiations with the Prison Guards (They still get a lot more money than they're supposed to get). A real threat is that if Arnold doesn't convince the prison guards to take another pay cut or he doesnt convince the judicary to stop threatening to hand over the prisons to the federal government, he could be in real big trouble.

[MrBug708]

Except that he has been be negoiating and that didnt get him anywhere. No one has been able to get a budget in on time for the longest time. Who controls the California Legislature these days anyways?

[clintl]

Except that he has been be negoiating and that didnt get him anywhere. No one has been able to get a budget in on time for the longest time. Who controls the California Legislature these days anyways?

The voters had a chance to fix that problem in March, and didn't do it. The reason the budget is always late is the ridiculous 2/3 requirement to get it passed, so the minority party can block it indefinitely if that's what it wants to do. I guarantee you that if it wasn't for the 2/3 vote requirement, the budget would be on time every year, and the voters would know exactly who to blame for what's in it if they didn't like it.

[Dutch]

Basically, if it's 50/50, Los Angeles County gets whatever they want and to hell with the rest of California! :)

[MrBug708]

I believe it's 6 votes off

[Glengoyne]

Basically, if it's 50/50, Los Angeles County gets whatever they want and to hell with the rest of California! :)
Ding Ding Ding..We have a winner

[clintl]

Au contraire. You are forgetting the time we Northern Californians rose up and defeated the Peripheral Canal by voting 90-10 against it, while the evil water-stealing Southern Californians were voting 60-40 for it. LA can be defeated.

[Glengoyne]

...LA can be defeated.
I don't think LA and SF can be though. And that leaves a lot of the state out of the equation.